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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Alcoa Alumina & Chemicals, L.L.C.
Part 48 training orders affirmed
Alcoa Alumina & Chemicals operated the Bayer Alumina Plant at Point Comfort, Texas, which processed bauxite into alumina. MSHA found that more than 80 supervisors lacked annual refresher training and six salaried employees lacked hazard training, then issued withdrawal orders under Mine Act section…
R B Coal Company, Inc.
Customer hazard-training citations affirmed
R B Coal operated the Verda Tipple, where about 30 customer truck drivers entered mine property to collect coal. The company agreed to pay the proposed penalties for two citations, while the judge decided a third citation alleging that the drivers had not received hazard training. Judge Gary Melick…
Alcoa Alumina & Chemical, L.L.C.
Training orders modified and settlement approved
Alcoa Alumina operated the Bayer Alumina Plant, a milling operation where MSHA found that supervisors and salaried employees had not received required annual refresher or hazard training. The judge found that the plant was covered by Part 48, affirmed two training orders as modified, reduced their…
Joshua Coal Company
Two citations vacated and two affirmed
MSHA cited Joshua Coal Company's small surface coal operation for guarding, vehicle alarms, miner training records, and access to a fuel tank. Judge Jerold Feldman vacated the pump-guarding citation because the evidence did not show a reasonable possibility of inadvertent contact, and vacated the…
L & J Energy Company, Inc.
Highwall violations sustained after fatal rock fall
L & J Energy operated a surface coal mine where a rock fall killed one miner and seriously injured another. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the operator failed to maintain and inspect the highwall, failed to follow its ground control plan, and failed to provide required examinations and training…
Anderson Equipment Company
Training citation affirmed without S&S finding
Anderson Equipment Company was cited after employee Timothy Drake worked at a mine site without comprehensive training under an MSHA-approved plan. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that Drake was a maintenance worker who worked frequently and for extended periods around mine hazards, so 30 C.F.R. §…
Conesville Coal Preparation Company
Imminent-danger order affirmed and training findings vacated
Conesville Coal Preparation operated a coal preparation plant where a truck trailer overturned during coal dumping and fatally crushed another truck driver. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed the imminent-danger order based on inadequate side clearance at the raw coal dumping area. He vacated the…
Kent Coal Mining Company
Training citations and orders vacated
Kent Coal Mining Company operated the Kent No. 55 surface coal mine, where four contract drillers were working without site-specific hazard training before starting work. MSHA issued four hazard orders and four related citations under its training regulations. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that the two…
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.