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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Little Buck Coal Company
Roof-control order vacated
MSHA alleged that a miner worked under unsupported roof while developing an angled heading at Little Buck Coal Company's anthracite mine. The agency proposed a $6,624 penalty for a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.202(a), after withdrawing its original flagrant designation. Judge Michael E. Zielinski…
Crawford Lime and Material, Inc.
Final penalty assessment reopened
Crawford Lime and Material asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after no timely contest. The Secretary did not oppose the request. The Commission reviewed the circumstances, reopened the assessment, and remanded the matter to the Chief…
Matter of David REZA-Murillo
Family Unity benefits are not an admission
The Board reviewed a Mexican lawful permanent resident's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him removable and denied his application for cancellation of removal. He argued that benefits under the Family Unity Program counted as an admission and started the required seven-year period of…
LandCoast Insulation, Inc.
Settlement approved after scaffold-collapse case
The case arose after a 165-foot scaffold collapsed inside a boiler, killing one LandCoast employee and injuring several others. The judge had affirmed serious violations concerning scaffold-component training and the use of preliminary engineering drawings and unapproved component substitutions…
Quikrete Companies, Inc.
Reopening denied without prejudice
Quikrete Companies failed to timely contest penalties for two citations and attributed the failure to absent decision makers and a misunderstanding. The Secretary opposed reopening because that explanation was conclusory. The Commission agreed that Quikrete had not explained its normal contest…
Basic Materials Corporation
Misrouted penalty contest reopened
After receiving a proposed penalty, the safety director for BMC Aggregates sent the contest to an MSHA district office instead of the Civil Penalty Compliance Office. The company promptly sought reopening after discovering the routing error. The Secretary did not oppose relief. The Commission…
Dolezal Sand & Gravel
Reopening request dismissed as moot
Dolezal Sand & Gravel asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that it believed might have become final. The Secretary's records showed that the company had timely contested the assessment and that an active penalty case was already proceeding under a separate docket. Because…
Pinky's Aggregates, Inc.
Second reopening request denied
Pinky's Aggregates failed to timely contest penalties for three citations and said the proposed assessment had been misplaced. The Commission first denied reopening without prejudice because that explanation lacked sufficient detail and invited a supported second request. The company then…
Matter of Graciela QUILANTAN
Procedural entry can satisfy admission requirement
The Board reviewed a Mexican respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge found her removable and pretermitted her application to adjust status. The Board held that an applicant seeking adjustment of status need only show a procedurally regular entry to establish that she was admitted, and need…
Town of Bethel
Final penalty assessment reopened
The Town of Bethel asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after no timely contest. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded the matter to the Chief…
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc.
Final penalty assessment reopened
Martin Marietta Materials asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after no timely contest. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded the matter to the Chief…
Service Oil, Inc.
In re Service Oil, Inc. (EAB CWA Appeal No. 07-02): liability and penalty remanded to the ALJ
The EAB had previously upheld findings that Service Oil, Inc. violated the Clean Water Act by failing to apply for a permit before construction, discharging a pollutant without the required permit, and failing to conduct or document stormwater inspections. The Eighth Circuit later vacated the…
BMC Aggregates LC
Final assessments reopened
BMC Aggregates asked the Commission to reopen penalty assessments that had become final orders after no timely contests. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the matters and remanded them to the Chief Administrative Law Judge. It…
Pan American Electric, Inc.
Unreceived assessment remanded
MSHA's proposed penalty assessment and later delinquency notice were returned undelivered, and Pan American Electric learned of the assessment only when a collection agency contacted it. The contractor then sought reopening and submitted an address change. The Commission held that the assessment…
Timothy S. Sheffer v. Advent Mining, LLC
Mine Act claim dismissed for no protected activity
Timothy Sheffer alleged that Advent Mining treated him unfairly and included him in a layoff because of a seizure disorder, an injured hand, and a supervisor's hostility. Judge Alan G. Paez liberally reviewed Sheffer's pro se filings but found no allegation that he made a mine-safety complaint or…
Consolidation Coal Company
Five S&S violations upheld and four citations settled
MSHA cited conditions at Consolidation Coal Company's Robinson Run No. 95 mine involving combustible accumulations, ventilation, a scoop's emergency brake, and an impermissible roof-bolter light. Consol admitted the five litigated violations but challenged their significant and substantial…
Genesis, Inc.
Mistaken conference request supported reopening
Genesis requested a safety and health conference and later sent MSHA's regional office a detailed letter stating that it wanted to contest citations. Its safety director believed that step also contested the proposed penalties, and the company later paid the violations it did not dispute. The…
Vulcan Construction Materials, LP
Final assessments reopened
Vulcan Construction Materials asked the Commission to reopen two proposed penalty assessments that had become final orders after no timely contests. The Secretary did not oppose the requests. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened both matters and remanded them to the Chief…
Dunlap Stone, Inc.
Penalty contest reopened with citation deadline
Dunlap Stone said an MSHA field office instructed it to contest the proposed assessment when received and that it submitted a contest as directed. After a later status inquiry produced no information, the company received a delinquency letter. The Secretary did not oppose reopening, but Dunlap had…
National Lime & Stone Company
Final assessments reopened
National Lime & Stone asked the Commission to reopen two proposed penalty assessments that had become final orders after no timely contests. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened both matters and remanded them to the Chief…
General Drilling, Division of GE
Penalty petition dismissed after 28-month delay
General Drilling timely contested a $2,000 penalty involving a cracked drill-cab windshield, but the Secretary filed the penalty petition about 28 months after its deadline. MSHA's records showed that the contest package was not transmitted to the Solicitor's Office and that no process caught the…
Mainline Rock and Ballast, Inc.
Citation assessment reopened
Mainline Rock and Ballast asked the Commission to reopen the penalty assessment for Citation No. 7885927 after it became a final order. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened that assessment and remanded it to the Chief Administrative…
Flint Hills Resources, LP
In re Flint Hills Resources, LP (EAB CAA Appeal No. 10-03): petition dismissed with prejudice
Flint Hills Resources, LP petitioned the Environmental Appeals Board to review a letter from EPA Region 6 concerning its Clean Air Act Title V permit. Region 6 later declared the letter void and of no effect. Flint Hills asked to withdraw its petition, and Region 6 did not oppose the request. The…
Eureka Rock, LLC
Owner hours had to be reported to MSHA
Eureka Rock argued that its local screening operation did not affect interstate commerce and that an owner-operator with no other employees did not have to report work hours to MSHA. Judge Gary Melick held that the operation fell under the Mine Act because local mines collectively affect interstate…
MVM Contracting, Corp.
Excavation violation restored to willful
MVM employees performed masonry work in an excavation deeper than five feet without cave-in protection. The judge affirmed the violation as serious, but the Commission found it willful. An OSHA compliance officer had explained the excavation requirements to MVM's superintendent, yet work continued…
Pinnacle Mining Company, LLC
Late penalty petitions accepted
The Secretary filed two penalty petitions after the 45-day deadline, and Pinnacle Mining moved to dismiss both cases. Pinnacle did not claim that the delay prejudiced its defense. The Secretary attributed the delay to an unprecedented number of contests and insufficient staff to process the…
United Rock Products Corp.
Assessment reopened after staffing transition
United Rock Products said the employee responsible for routing a proposed assessment was terminated in a reduction in force before bringing it to management's attention. A replacement later discovered the delinquency, and the company attempted to contest the eleven penalties. After MSHA rejected…
Eugene Badonie v. Peabody Western Coal Company
Shift-transfer retaliation claim dismissed
Eugene Badonie filed a life-threatening safety alert about haul trucks crossing rough windrows and learned the next morning that he would remain on the midnight shift. Judge Gary Melick found that the safety report was protected activity and that the close timing initially supported an inference of…
San Jacinto River Authority
In re San Jacinto River Authority (EAB NPDES Appeal No. 09-09): review denied in part and remanded in part
The San Jacinto River Authority operated a public wastewater treatment plant in Montgomery County, Texas, under an NPDES permit issued by EPA Region 6. The dispute concerned whole-effluent-toxicity testing requirements for fathead minnows and C. dubia, a water flea, including reporting methods…
Matter of Julio E. VELASQUEZ
Misdemeanor family assault is not categorically violent
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge found him removable and denied cancellation of removal based on a Virginia misdemeanor assault and battery conviction involving a family member. Applying the Supreme Court's decision in Johnson v. United States, the…
C.S. & S. Coal Corporation
Final penalty assessment reopened
C.S. & S. Coal Corporation asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after no timely contest. The Secretary did not oppose the request. After reviewing the circumstances, the Commission reopened the assessment and remanded the matter to the Chief…
Dodge Hill Mining Company, LLC
Reopening denied without prejudice
Dodge Hill Mining intended to contest six penalties from an assessment covering sixteen citations but failed to return the contest form. The company described the failure only as a clerical error, and the Secretary did not oppose reopening. The Commission held that the unexplained label did not…
Kirtley Sheetmetal, Inc.
Ladder and repeat roof-fall violations affirmed
Kirtley Sheetmetal employees used an eight-foot stepladder to reach a roof even though the ladder did not extend above the landing, was not secured, and was not designed for that use. Employees also worked on a low-slope roof 19 to 28 feet above the ground without being tied off while lifelines…
Secretary of Labor v. Knox Creek Coal Corporation
Second show-cause order issued before default ruling
The Secretary sought $25,996 for eleven alleged violations, but Knox Creek did not timely answer the penalty petition or respond to an initial show-cause order. The company answered only after the Secretary moved for summary disposition and said the case had not been assigned to outside counsel…
Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company
Partial settlement approved, one reduction denied
The parties proposed settling seven of eight citations by reducing total proposed penalties from $23,491 to $4,184 and asked to stay the remaining citation. Judge William B. Moran accepted most of the settlement terms and dismissed with prejudice a citation that the Secretary acknowledged did not…
Knife River Corporation, Northwest
Truck-scale guardrail citation dismissed
MSHA cited Knife River because the nine-inch rails on two truck scales were below the mid-axle height required for roadways with dangerous drop-offs. Judge Priscilla M. Rae held that the scales were part of the roadway because every loaded truck crossed them on the route from the pit to the…
Matter of Fidel Antonio SANCHEZ-CORNEJO
Simulated cocaine is not an aggravated felony
The Board reviewed a Salvadoran respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge classified his Texas conviction for delivering a simulated controlled substance as an aggravated felony and denied special rule suspension of deportation under NACARA. The Board held that simulated cocaine is not a…
Peabody Midwest Mining, LLC
Mine-tracking citations vacated for rote 200-foot rule
Peabody Midwest Mining operated two underground coal mines with working sections that used continuous mining machines. MSHA cited the company after its emergency response plans did not promise electronic tracking of miners to within 200 feet on those sections. Judge Richard W. Manning held that…
Justin Nagel v. Newmont USA Limited
Second temporary-reinstatement request denied
Justin Nagel and Newmont settled the Secretary's temporary-reinstatement application by providing economic reinstatement until the Secretary decided whether discrimination had occurred. The agreement ended that reinstatement when the Secretary found no discrimination, after which Nagel filed his…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Douglas A. Pilon v. ISP Minerals, Inc.
Temporary reinstatement ordered after safety report
Douglas Pilon reported that he inhaled steam he believed contained aluminum chloride while working at ISP Minerals' Kremlin Plant. ISP suspended him within days and later terminated his employment. Judge Priscilla M. Rae found reasonable cause to believe that Pilon's safety report was protected…
Secretary of Labor on behalf of Lawrence L. Pendley v. Highland Mining Company, LLC
Temporary reinstatement revived after court remand
Highland Mining had discharged Lawrence L. Pendley, who obtained temporary reinstatement while the Secretary's discrimination complaint was pending. His reinstatement ended after the Commission upheld an administrative law judge's ruling that the discharge was not discriminatory. The Sixth Circuit…
Monsanto Company
In re Monsanto Company (EAB FIFRA Appeal No. 10-01C): $2.5 million penalty ordered
Monsanto Company entered a Consent Agreement with the EPA in a Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act proceeding. The EAB incorporated the agreement into its Final Order. Monsanto was ordered to comply with the agreement and pay a $2,500,000 civil penalty within 60 calendar days of the…
Brody Mining, LLC
Late review petition dismissed
Brody Mining sought Commission review of an administrative law judge's order denying dismissal and accepting the Secretary's late penalty petition. The judge issued that order on April 9, 2010. The Commission did not receive Brody's petition for discretionary review until May 12, more than 30 days…
Elcon Construction, Inc.
Final penalty assessment reopened
Elcon Construction asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become a final order after no contest was recorded. Elcon said it mailed the contest form within the 30-day period but later received a Treasury collection notice. The Secretary had no record of receiving the…
General Chemical (Soda Ash) Partners
Penalty assessment reopened after missing contest
General Chemical asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment after MSHA treated it as uncontested. The company said it requested a conference on several citations and sent a contest form for the citation at issue, but later received a delinquency notice. It sought reopening within…
Alaska Mechanical, Incorporated
Fatal-accident settlement rejected for missing factual support
MSHA cited Alaska Mechanical after a manlift tipped over at its Nome Operations and two miners died. The parties proposed reducing total penalties from $115,000 to $80,000, including a reduction from $55,000 to $20,000 for a training citation. Chief Judge Robert J. Lesnick found that the parties…
DJ Drilling and Blasting, Inc.
Missing penalty contest reopened
DJ Drilling asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that had become final after MSHA recorded no timely contest. The company said it mailed a contest letter and form within the deadline. After receiving a delinquency notice, it contacted MSHA, learned that the contest was not…
Enterprise Mining Company LLC
Missed penalty contest reopened
Enterprise Mining asked the Commission to reopen a proposed penalty assessment that became final when its contest was not filed on time. The company attributed the missed deadline to confusion over whether outside counsel or its safety director would send the form and to a mistaken belief that it…
Secretary of Labor v. Manalapan Mining Co., Inc.
Wet belt conditions split four accumulation charges
MSHA issued four section 104(d) charges for coal accumulations along conveyor belts at Manalapan Mining's wet underground coal mine. Judge Jerold Feldman found that combustible material and ignition risks near the working face supported affirming the No. 4 belt citation as significant and…
Shelton Brothers Enterprises
Twelve-month penalty payment plan approved
An earlier settlement reduced Shelton Brothers Enterprises' penalty from $1,500 to $1,050 and required payment within 30 days. The company then requested permission to pay the reduced amount over twelve months. Judge Jerold Feldman held that he retained jurisdiction because the case was not to be…
7/11 Materials, Inc.
New owner given time to contest assessment
MSHA issued a proposed assessment to the Hiatt Ready Mix Mine before 7/11 Materials said it acquired the mine. The new owner stated that it had not received the citations or assessment and began contacting MSHA after receiving a delinquency notice. The Secretary did not oppose reopening and…
Bowie Resources, LLC
Seven missing penalty contests reopened
Bowie Resources said it marked seven citations and orders for contest on a proposed assessment form and mailed that contest to MSHA's Civil Penalty Compliance Office. It separately paid $3,974 for the remaining citations. MSHA received the payment but had no record of receiving the contest form…
ASARCO, LLC
Good cause for late contest sent to judge
ASARCO said it returned a proposed assessment form identifying the citations it wished to contest, but it did not state when the form was sent. MSHA had no record of receiving the contest. After receiving a delinquency notice, ASARCO sought reopening and also made a late payment of $28,197. The…
Aggregates USA LLC
Accounting omission reopened penalty contest
Aggregates USA timely contested Citation No. 6595211 before MSHA issued the related proposed assessment. The company then marked the $100 penalty for contest and paid $1,409 for the remaining citations, but its accounting office apparently failed to mail the contest form. MSHA received the payment…
Phillips Companies
Paid penalty reopened for contested citation
Phillips Companies requested a conference on one of five citations covered by a proposed penalty assessment. The company said it never received the assessment and paid it in full after learning it was delinquent, then asked to reopen the penalty for the disputed citation. The Secretary did not…
John S. Olynick, Inc.
Reopening denied after estoppel concern resolved
John S. Olynick paid a proposed penalty assessment and later learned that MSHA had begun a possible personal-liability investigation of the company's owner. The company asked to reopen the assessment because it had not understood that payment might be treated as admitting the violation and used…
Matter of Luis Felipe GARCIA ARREOLA
Post-TPCR release must be tied to the detention ground
The Board reviewed the Department of Homeland Security's appeal from an Immigration Judge's decision granting a Mexican respondent release from custody on a $3,000 bond. The Board held that mandatory detention under section 236(c) applies only when a person is released from non-DHS custody after…
Knife River Midwest LLC
Mistaken penalty payment reopened
Knife River had already contested a citation when MSHA later issued the related proposed penalty assessment. The company mistakenly paid that penalty instead of contesting the assessment. Counsel discovered the error on the day the assessment became a final Commission order, and Knife River sought…
Spencer Quarries, Inc.
Corrected order adds two citations and $200
Judge Richard W. Manning corrected an earlier decision that had omitted two citations resolved without a hearing. Spencer Quarries had agreed to pay the proposed $100 penalty for each citation. The Judge found those penalties appropriate, affirmed both citations, and corrected the total amount due…
Matter of Jesus INTERIANO-ROSA
Timely applications are not abandoned for missing supplements
The Board reviewed a respondent's appeal after an Immigration Judge deemed applications for special rule cancellation of removal under NACARA and voluntary departure abandoned because supporting records and a requested brief were missing or late. The Board held that when an application for relief…
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.