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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Hidden Splendor Resources, Inc.
Special-assessment review form protected from discovery
Hidden Splendor sought MSHA's Special Assessment Review form, which contained facts and agency officials' recommendations used to classify violations as flagrant and enhance penalties. Judge Priscilla M. Rae held that the form was prepared in anticipation of likely litigation and was protected work…
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…
REB Enterprises, Inc.
Motion denied and penalties ordered
REB Enterprises, Inc. and two individuals asked the Commission to dismiss consideration of additional civil penalties after an administrative law judge assessed $1,400 for two orders. The Commission held that the operator had contested all proposed penalties instead of paying them within the…
Wallace Brothers
Untimely contest dismissed
Wallace Brothers sought review of proposed civil penalty assessments after learning that the assessments had become final because they were not contested within 30 days. Judge Paul Merlin held that the Commission lacked jurisdiction to excuse the late contest. The operator's communications with…
Wallace Brothers
Late contest dismissed for lack of jurisdiction
Wallace Brothers received three citations at its portable crusher but did not contest the proposed assessment within 30 days. The operator's counsel later argued that MSHA had not served counsel with the assessment, that the operator had been denied a health and safety conference, and that the late…
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.