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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Shamokin Filler Company, Inc.
Jurisdiction and testimony issues accepted for review
Shamokin sought reconsideration after the Commission initially refused interlocutory review of an ALJ ruling that its carbon plant was subject to MSHA jurisdiction. The company then disclosed that the issue affected many pending dockets and blocked meaningful settlement talks, and the Secretary…
Justin Nagel v. Newmont USA Limited
Late reconsideration request denied
Justin Nagel filed a discrimination complaint against Newmont USA Limited, and an administrative law judge dismissed it for failure to comply with discovery orders and lack of candor. The Commission had already denied Nagel's petition for discretionary review and his request for a new hearing. It…
Left Fork Mining Company, Inc.
Reconsideration denied for previously available evidence
Left Fork Mining sought reconsideration after the Commission denied reopening three final penalty assessments. Its original requests attributed the missed contests to inadvertence, mistake, or unknown reasons and did not explain why the company waited through delinquency notices until MSHA…
Agapito Associates, Inc.
Crandall Canyon citation contest stayed for criminal investigation
MSHA cited engineering consultant Agapito Associates after the August 2007 Crandall Canyon coal-pillar failure in which six miners died. Agapito sought an early ruling that it was not an independent contractor subject to the Mine Act, while the Secretary requested a stay because the same evidence…
Gabel Stone Company, Inc.
Reconsideration request denied as untimely
Gabel Stone asked the Commission to reconsider its direction for review of a backpay award and penalty. The Commission denied the motion because it was filed outside the 10-day deadline in 29 C.F.R. § 2700.78 and counsel did not provide a compelling explanation for the delay. The Commission also…
Island Creek Coal Company
Reconsideration motion denied as improper vehicle for new argument
The Secretary asked the Commission to reconsider a split decision that had affirmed in result a judge’s finding that Island Creek did not violate 30 C.F.R. § 75.1725(c). The Secretary argued that the Commission had failed to address whether the operator violated the standard because a belt was…
Arch of Illinois
Reconsideration denied as untimely
Gary D. Morgan asked the Commission to reconsider its denial of discretionary review and requested scientific analysis of test results in his discrimination case against Arch of Illinois. The Commission denied reconsideration because the motion was filed after the 10-day deadline in Commission…
Lion Mining Company
Unwarrantable roof-control violation affirmed
Lion Mining Company was cited after a continuous miner cut a notch without the roadway posts required by its approved roof-control plan at the Grove No. 1 underground coal mine. The ALJ found the violation significant and substantial and the result of unwarrantable failure, based in part on…
Lion Mining Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding affirmed
Lion Mining Company was cited after a continuous miner cut a notch without roadway posts required by its approved roof control plan. The ALJ found the violation significant and substantial and caused by unwarrantable failure, considering the presence of supervisors, the mine's history of…
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.