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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Secretary of Labor v. Resolution Copper Mining, LLC
Commission orders supplemental briefing on petition for modification
MSHA cited Resolution Copper Mining for allegedly violating the hoisting-speed standard in 30 C.F.R. § 57.19076. After the Commission granted review of an ALJ decision favoring Resolution, a Department of Labor ALJ granted the operator a petition to modify the application of that same standard. The…
Lodestar Energy, Inc.
Electrical and methane-monitor findings modified
Lodestar Energy operated the Baker Mine and was cited for circuit-breaker settings and seals under an approved petition for modification, and for a methane monitor that did not register a known gas sample correctly. Judge Gary Melick found the circuit-breaker, seal, and training violations proven…
Lang Brothers Inc.
Mine Act covers gas-well contractor operations serving a coal mine
Lang Brothers cleaned and plugged gas wells for Consolidation Coal's Blacksville No. 2 Mine. Lang argued that its work involved gas wells rather than coal mining, that it was not a mine operator, and that OSHA rather than MSHA had jurisdiction. The Commission held that the work was integral to coal…
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 When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.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.