Federal Agency Decisions
Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board, each with a plain-English summary, the standards it cites, and whether it counts as precedent. More agencies are coming.
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Khani Company, Inc.
Mine Act covers equipment setup before production starts
Khani Company was preparing to resume sand and gravel production at a crusher and screen operation in New Mexico when MSHA inspected the site. Judge William B. Moran held that Mine Act coverage begins during setup because equipment to be used in mining presents the same hazards before and after…
Wolf Run Mining Company
Sago reporting violations affirmed with mitigation later reversed
The Sago Mine investigation produced 15 citations and orders, although the Secretary did not allege that any of them contributed to the explosion that caused 12 fatalities and one serious injury. The parties settled 13 matters for $71,800, leaving two allegations that Wolf Run delayed notifying…
Secretary of Labor v. Carmeuse Lime & Stone
Withdrawal of dismissal motion allowed
MSHA sought a $138 penalty after an Excel Air & Oil Equipment worker stood on a bulk oil tank without fall protection while installing a flow meter. The Secretary first moved to dismiss because she believed Excel was a contractor, then sought to withdraw that motion after treating Excel as a…
Matter of Jorge ANYELO
In absentia removal order requires proper notice
The Board reviewed a Venezuelan respondent's appeal from an in absentia removal order and the denial of motions to reopen and reconsider. The Board held that its rule requiring receipt, or a proper basis to charge receipt, of the notice to appear's address warnings applies in the Eleventh Circuit…
Matter of Armando GARCIA
A petty offense does not trigger the stop-time rule
The Board reviewed a Mexican lawful permanent resident's appeal from the denial of cancellation of removal. The Immigration Judge found that a single misdemeanor assault and battery conviction made the respondent removable and stopped his period of continuous residence, but the conviction qualified…
Vulcan Construction Materials, LP
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Vulcan Construction Materials asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further…
Dayton Tire, Bridgestone/Firestone
Ninety-nine willful lockout violations affirmed
OSHA cited Dayton Tire after a fatal machine accident at its Oklahoma City tire plant, alleging widespread failures under the lockout and tagout standard. The Commission rejected Dayton's vagueness, applicability, minor-servicing, and infeasibility arguments. It also held that separate violations…
Secretary of Labor v. Knox Creek Coal Corporation
Default entered after unanswered petition and show-cause order
MSHA sought $25,996 for 11 citations at Knox Creek's Tiller No. 1 Mine. Knox Creek did not answer the October 2008 penalty petition and did not respond to a November 2009 show-cause order that warned default would follow, even though its safety director received that order. The company filed an…
Freedom Energy Mining Company v. Secretary of Labor, MSHA
Production records ordered for individual-liability investigation
MSHA requested Freedom Energy's contemporaneous coal-production reports while investigating possible individual liability connected to three unwarrantable-failure orders. Freedom produced some time and attendance information but refused the production reports, arguing they were not required…
Black Energy, Inc.
Late-received assessment treated as timely contested
Black Energy did not receive its proposed assessment when MSHA issued it. Months later, the contractor saw on MSHA's website that the penalties were listed as delinquent, requested a copy, and immediately filed a contest. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission held that the assessment…
Fulton Fuel Company
In re Fulton Fuel Company (EAB CWA Appeal No. 10-03): default and $32,176 penalty affirmed
Fulton Fuel Company was charged after an oil spill from its facility reached Fred and George Creek in Montana and after the company failed to maintain an SPCC Plan. Fulton did not timely answer the complaint and did not give good cause for its repeated missed deadlines. The Environmental Appeals…
Frost Crushed Stone Company
Civil-suit consequences do not justify late reopening
Frost Crushed Stone paid an assessment after an MSHA conference because it believed strict liability left no further way to contest the citations. After a related civil suit was filed, the company sought reopening and argued that an MSHA representative had misled it about its rights. The Secretary…
Petra Materials
Address disputes produce remand, denial, and timely contest
Petra Materials sought relief involving four assessments amid disputes over old addresses, receipt by people who may not have been its agents, and earlier misunderstandings about contest procedures. For the assessments in CENT 2008-735-M and CENT 2008-736-M, the Commission found the service record…
Hawaiian Cement Maui, Concrete & Aggregate Division
Two-year reopening delay is untimely
Hawaiian Cement contested four citations but mistakenly believed it did not also need to contest the corresponding proposed penalties. The assessments were delivered by certified mail, delinquency notices followed, and the company paid the other penalties while leaving the four disputed amounts…
Secretary of Labor v. Lehigh Cement Company, Inc.
Two vacated citations end penalty case
The case originally involved two citations assessed at $6,600 each. The parties filed a joint motion labeled as a settlement, but the Secretary had elected to vacate both citations and sought dismissal of the penalty petition. Judge William B. Moran explained that vacating citations is an exercise…
Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Unratified settlements vacated
The Secretary filed settlement motions for two Nelson Quarries citations, and the judge approved them the next day with $560 in penalties. Nelson then said it had not agreed to the filed terms and had told the Secretary's representative that approval was still pending. The representative's letters…
Arizona Materials
Claimed fax needs details before reopening
Arizona Materials said a former safety manager had faxed a contest for an assessment covering five citations, but MSHA had no record of receiving it. The Secretary opposed reopening because the explanation lacked details and the company waited after an October delinquency notice until the matter…
Mosaic Fertilizer LLC
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Mosaic Fertilizer asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. It…
Matter of Michael Raymund Aguirre LEGASPI
Marriage does not independently confer section 245(i) grandfathering
The Board reviewed a Filipino respondent's appeal from the denial of adjustment of status under section 245(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. His wife was grandfathered because she had been a derivative beneficiary of an older visa petition, but the respondent was not the principal…
Barrick Goldstrike Mines, Inc.
Modified reopening request granted and remanded
Barrick asked the Commission to reopen an assessment after an employee's attempted fax to counsel was not delivered. The Secretary opposed the original request and noted an earlier Barrick case involving similar fax problems. Barrick then narrowed its request to one citation and one order that were…
Bonita Steel Builders, Inc.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Bonita Steel Builders asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. It…
E.S. Stone and Structure, Inc.
Reopening requests denied without prejudice
E.S. Stone asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that became final when the company did not contest them within 30 days. The company said it faxed the underlying citations to counsel and mistakenly believed no separate response to the assessments was required. The Secretary did not…
Thomas Bewak v. Alaska Mechanical Incorporated
Safety complainant's discharge found discriminatory
Thomas Bewak raised concerns about task hazard assessments, structural bolted joints, and other safety conditions while working for Alaska Mechanical at the Rock Creek Mine. He also reported his bolted-joint concerns to an MSHA inspector after a manlift accident killed two employees. Chief Judge…
Mach Mining, LLC
Mistaken penalty payment reopened and remanded
Mach Mining asked the Commission to reopen penalties for two ventilation-plan citations that the company had already contested and that were under Commission review. The company said it mistakenly paid the penalties as part of an assessment covering 16 citations, overlooking that the two citations…
Lone Star Aggregates Acquisition, LLC
Reopening requests denied without prejudice
Lone Star asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments that became final after the company did not contest them on time. The operator attributed the missed assessments to information-sharing and recordkeeping problems during a change in mine ownership and workforce. The Secretary opposed…
Rome Construction, Inc.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Rome Construction asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. It…
Brooks Run Mining Company, LLC
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Brooks Run Mining asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. It…
Barrick Turquoise Ridge, Inc.
Missed contests reopened and remanded
Barrick Turquoise Ridge asked the Commission to reopen two penalty assessments after miscommunications between the company and counsel caused the contest deadlines to be missed. One lapse occurred while the safety director was away for emergency surgery, and the other occurred when counsel and the…
Naselle Rock & Asphalt Co.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Naselle Rock & Asphalt asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. It…
Carbo Ceramics, Inc.
One assessment reopened, two requests denied
Carbo Ceramics sought to reopen three penalty assessments after intended contests were not timely received. For the first assessment, the company sent its marked contest form to MSHA's payment address instead of the Civil Penalty Compliance Office, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. For…
City of Cambridge, Massachusetts
In re City of Cambridge, Massachusetts (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 09-17): review denied for permit challenges
The City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, held NPDES Permit No. MA0101974 for combined sewer overflow discharges from eleven outfalls into the Alewife Brook and Charles River during certain wet-weather conditions. Petitioner Stephen H. Kaiser argued that the permit needed additional conditions tied to…
Ohio County Coal Company, LLC
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Ohio County Coal asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. It…
Onsite Krushing Company
Reopening request moot and assessment remanded
Onsite Krushing asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that the company said it never received because MSHA sent it to an incorrect address. The Secretary did not oppose further proceedings but noted that operators must keep their address of record current. The Commission concluded…
Ardaman & Associates, Inc.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Ardaman & Associates asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. It…
Amerikohl Mining Inc.
Final assessment reopened and remanded
Amerikohl Mining asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment that had become a final order after the contest period expired. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded it for further proceedings. It…
Antrim Township
In re Antrim Township (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 09-14): appeal dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Antrim Township in Pennsylvania challenged an EPA compliance order related to its stormwater permit coverage and argued that it had no municipal storm sewer system or point-source discharges. EPA Region 3 argued that the Environmental Appeals Board could not review a pre-enforcement administrative…
Big Ridge, Inc.
Seven orders affirmed, five vacated
MSHA charged Big Ridge with 12 violations at the Willow Lake Mine, including combustible accumulations, examination failures, equipment conditions, roof hazards, and uncorrected hazardous conditions. Judge Gary Melick affirmed seven orders and vacated five after evaluating the evidence for each…
Town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire Public Works Department
In re Town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire Public Works Department (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 09-18): petition dismissed with prejudice
The Town of Jaffrey, New Hampshire, petitioned for review of its NPDES permit. After the Region modified the permit and the parties engaged in settlement discussions about an administrative compliance order, the Town no longer wished to pursue the appeal. The parties jointly requested dismissal…
Matter of X-M-C-
Withdrawal does not erase a frivolous asylum application
The Board reviewed a respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge found that she had filed a frivolous asylum application and denied her adjustment application. The respondent had submitted materially false information, received the required written and oral warnings, chose to proceed with the…
Blue Haven Energy, Inc.
Undelivered assessment remanded
Blue Haven asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment after learning about it through MSHA's website. The Secretary explained that a Federal Express delivery problem caused the assessment to be returned undelivered and did not oppose relief. The Commission concluded that the assessment…
Rogers Group, Inc.
Five assessments reopened and remanded
Rogers Group asked the Commission to reopen five penalty assessments that had become final orders after their contest periods expired. The Secretary did not oppose the requests. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened all five assessments and remanded them for further…
Matter of Jose CASILLAS-TOPETE
Agency knowledge can establish drug-trafficker inadmissibility
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's termination of removal proceedings against a Mexican lawful permanent resident. The respondent had been convicted of facilitating the unlawful transportation of marijuana and was later admitted as a…
James Hamilton Construction
Reopening request denied as untimely
James Hamilton Construction asked the Commission to reopen a penalty assessment more than a year after it became final. The company said it did not know about the assessment until a collection agency contacted it. The Secretary opposed reopening and presented delivery, delinquency-notice, and later…
Oak Grove Resources, LLC.
Oak Grove Resources, LLC (FMSHRC SE 2009-487 and SE 2009-261-R): Safeguard summary motions denied
Oak Grove moved for summary decision on a safeguard citation arising from a fatal haulage accident. It argued that MSHA had voided an earlier waiver without formally reissuing the 1986 safeguard and, alternatively, that a safeguard violation could not receive an S&S designation. Judge William B…
Summit Contractors Inc.
Multi-employer electrical citation affirmed
Summit Contractors supplied a generator and spider box without ground-fault circuit interrupter protection for subcontractor employees at an apartment construction project. The Commission overruled its earlier Summit decision and restored its precedent allowing citations to controlling and creating…
Performance Coal Company
Temporary relief from accident-control order denied
After the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion killed 29 miners, MSHA issued a section 103(k) order controlling access and participation in the accident investigation. Performance Coal sought temporary relief from protocols imposed under that order. The Commission majority held that a judge's ruling on…
Hydro Aluminum North America, Inc. and Hydro Aluminum Precision Tubing North America, LLC
In re Hydro Aluminum North America, Inc. and Hydro Aluminum Precision Tubing North America, LLC (EAB MM 10-01C): consent agreement approved
Hydro Aluminum North America, Inc. and Hydro Aluminum Precision Tubing North America, LLC consented to entry of a Final Order resolving an EPA enforcement matter under the Clean Air Act, EPCRA, RCRA, and Clean Water Act docket numbers listed above. EPA published notice of the proposed Final Order…
Consolidation Coal Company
Refuge-plan citation affirmed
Consolidation Coal Company operated the underground Buchanan Mine No. 1 near Mavisdale, Virginia. MSHA cited the company after concluding that its emergency response plan did not show that Strata refuge units would safely maintain trapped miners when mine temperatures exceeded 70 degrees. Consol…
ASM-Sanders, Inc.
Trench violations affirmed and pipe-testing item vacated
A subcontractor's worker was killed when a PVC pipe exploded during compressed-air leak testing at an Air Force base construction project. The judge vacated the general duty clause item because ASM-Sanders' superintendent had explicitly delayed testing until the next day and did not know the…
J.S. Redpath Corporation
Late penalty contest reopened
J.S. Redpath Corporation timely sent its contest of nine proposed penalties to an MSHA district office instead of the Civil Penalty Compliance Office. The company said it discovered the mistake after receiving a delinquency notice and promptly requested reopening. Although the Secretary opposed…
Cherry Berry B1-25-SWD
In re Cherry Berry B1-25-SWD (EAB UIC Appeal No. 09-02): review denied for nonspecific permit challenge
EPA Region 5 issued a Class II underground injection control permit for the Cherry Berry B1-25 SWD well in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. Grobbel Environmental and Planning Associates, LLC, petitioned for review, raising concerns about groundwater protection, the need for the well, and possible…
Power Holdings of Illinois, LLC
In re Power Holdings of Illinois, LLC (EAB PSD Appeal No. 09-04): review denied
Power Holdings of Illinois, LLC sought to construct a synthetic natural gas manufacturing plant in Jefferson County, Illinois, under a PSD permit issued by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The Sierra Club challenged the permit's flare minimization plan, the use of synthetic or natural…
Charles Scott Howard v. Cumberland River Coal Company
Camera-policy warning found discriminatory
Charles Scott Howard recorded leaking mine seals and later showed the video while testifying at an MSHA public hearing. Cumberland River Coal Company then placed a written warning in his personnel file for using a non-permissible camera and violating its photography policy. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon…
Matter of Hugo Heredia PEDROZA
Petty theft does not bar nonpermanent-resident cancellation
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal from the denial of cancellation of removal for certain nonpermanent residents. The Immigration Judge treated his California misdemeanor theft conviction as a bar, even though the offense qualified for the petty-offense exception and carried a maximum…
Matter of Maria De Jesus CORTEZ Canales
Welfare fraud conviction bars cancellation
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's grant of cancellation of removal to a Mexican respondent convicted of misdemeanor welfare fraud. The Board held that the conviction was for a crime involving moral turpitude punishable by up to one year in…
Peabody Western Coal Company
In re Peabody Western Coal Company (EAB CAA Appeal No. 10-01): voluntary remand granted
Peabody Western Coal Company operated the Black Mesa Complex, an existing surface coal mine near Kayenta, Arizona, under a Clean Air Act Title V permit issued by the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency under delegated EPA authority. Peabody challenged permit conditions that relied on…
City and County of Honolulu Sand Island Wastewater Treatment Plant and Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant
In re City and County of Honolulu wastewater treatment plants (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 09-07): variance denials upheld
The City and County of Honolulu operated the Sand Island and Honouliuli wastewater treatment plants under Clean Water Act section 301(h) variances from secondary treatment requirements. EPA Region 9 denied the City's requests to renew the variances after finding that the facilities could not…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lawrence Pendley v. Highland Mining Company, LLC
Retroactive reinstatement date left unchanged
The Commission revived Lawrence Pendley's temporary reinstatement and made it retroactive to May 28, 2010, the date of the court of appeals mandate. Highland Mining asked the ALJ to apply reinstatement only from July 2, when the Commission issued its order, because the company said it lacked notice…
Baker Rock Crushing Company
Two citations sustained, one vacated
MSHA cited Baker Rock Crushing Company for housekeeping, machine guarding, and electrical-conductor conditions at its Farmington Pit quarry. Judge David F. Barbour affirmed the housekeeping citation and assessed $100. He upheld the guarding violation but changed the injury likelihood to unlikely…
Frazier Masonry Corporation
Scaffold fall citation vacated for lack of employee proof
An OSHA compliance officer observed three people working near an unguarded opening on a 38-foot scaffold for about fifteen minutes without other fall protection. The judge found that the scaffold standard applied and that the observed condition violated its terms. OSHA did not identify the three…
What these documents are
- The agencies: Workplace-safety cases from the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (OSHRC), mine-safety cases from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission (FMSHRC), and environmental permit and penalty appeals from the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Each decision page names its agency.
- Commission and Board decisions: Rulings by the agency's highest review level (the Commission at OSHRC and FMSHRC, the Environmental Appeals Board at EPA). These are citable as precedent, though a decision may have been appealed to a U.S. Court of Appeals after issuance.
- ALJ decisions: Rulings by the agency's Administrative Law Judges after a hearing. When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.
- Why finality matters: Every page here says which kind of decision you are reading, so you know whether it is precedent you can cite or a final order that only shows how one judge ruled on one set of facts.
- Where they come from: Every page links the official public release from the deciding agency, and the full text on the page is that release. The plain-English summaries are written by Ezel.