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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Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Settlement approved after No. 5 Mine explosion cases
Jim Walter Resources operated the No. 5 Mine, where two explosions killed 13 miners and seriously injured three others. MSHA sought penalties for 310 alleged violations in 17 consolidated proceedings, although the decision states that none of the alleged violations was claimed to have caused the…
Colorado Lava, Inc.
MSHA jurisdiction established and legal-identity citation sustained
Colorado Lava challenged MSHA's jurisdiction over its Antonito Plant and contested a citation for failing to file a legal-identity report after acquiring the facility. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the plant was engaged in “sizing” mineral products through screening, which placed the operation…
Jim Walter Resources, Incorporated
Central shop under Mine Act jurisdiction, supply shop outside it
Jim Walter Resources operated underground coal mines in Alabama and maintained a Central Shop and a nearby Central Supply. Judge Jerold Feldman held that the Central Shop was subject to Mine Act jurisdiction because it repaired and maintained mining equipment, had an MSHA identification number, and…
D.H. Blattner & Sons, Inc.
Legal identity report required
D.H. Blattner & Sons was an independent contractor performing mining work at three open-pit operations. MSHA cited the company for failing to file an operator legal identity report for the pits, even though it had filed an independent-contractor report. The Commission held that Blattner exercised…
Tide Creek Rock, Inc.
Mixed result on 33 mine-safety violations
Tide Creek Rock operated a very small crushed-stone mine in Oregon with a pit and crusher and usually three employees. MSHA alleged 33 violations involving electrical equipment, guarding, fire hazards, housekeeping, berms, quarry-wall conditions, reporting, and inspection requirements. Judge…
Konitz Contracting, Inc.
Citations affirmed with $510 penalty
Konitz Contracting operated a portable crusher, a rip-rap operation, and other mining worksites in Montana. The ALJ found that the rip-rap operation was a mine under the Mine Act because it extracted and sized rock, and that MSHA therefore had jurisdiction. The judge affirmed citations involving…
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…
Urralburu Mining Company
Two reporting citations affirmed with $40 penalty
Urralburu Mining Company began operating the Breezy Mine without first notifying MSHA of the planned start of operations and had not filed a legal identity report. Judge Michael A. Lasher found violations of 30 C.F.R. §§ 57.1000 and 41.20. Both violations were found non-serious, and the operator…
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.