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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United Metro Materials
Civil penalty proceedings dismissed for delayed assessment
United Metro Materials challenged civil penalties proposed more than 15 months after MSHA completed its investigation of two citations arising from a fatal conveyor-belt accident. Judge August F. Cetti found that the Secretary did not provide adequate cause for the delay and that the proposed…
Performance Coal Company
Discovery motion partly granted
Performance Coal and Mark Allaman sought documents from MSHA in consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings. Judge Jerold Feldman ordered MSHA to provide a witness statement and a base penalty calculation, but protected an investigator's memorandum, a safety and health conference report, a…
Eagle Energy, Inc.
Discovery motion and subpoena request denied
Eagle Energy asked for an MSHA conference report and interview memoranda in three consolidated proceedings, while the Secretary argued that the materials were protected by the work-product and informant privileges. Judge Jerold Feldman found that the discovery motion was untimely and that Eagle…
Eagle Energy, Inc.
Motion to compel discovery denied
Eagle Energy asked for MSHA conference reports, handwritten notes, and a memorandum connected with safety and health conferences involving the company's mines. MSHA objected that the conference reports and notes were protected work product, and that the memorandum was protected by attorney-client…
Blue Circle Atlantic, Inc.
Three citations affirmed and two vacated
Blue Circle Atlantic contested five citations issued at its Tulsa Cement Plant after MSHA inspections. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed three citations and vacated two, finding that the record supported some housekeeping and safety violations but did not support the remaining alleged violations…
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.