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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Sandra G. McDonald v. George King, Mark Toler, Frasure Creek Mining, LLC and Guardco Security, LLC
Sandra G. McDonald v. George King, et al. (FMSHRC WEVA 2014-387-D): Complainant ordered to justify adding two companies
Sandra McDonald alleged that she was fired from a mine-site security job after protected safety complaints. After the Commission allowed her to amend the case, she added mine operator Frasure Creek and security company Guardco to the individual respondents. Judge Jerold Feldman questioned whether…
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…
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…
Joy Technologies Inc. - Coal Field Operations
Contractor-operator status affirmed
Joy Technologies provided mining equipment and service support at Somerset Mining Company's underground Sanborn Creek Mine. A Joy service representative visited the mine regularly, worked with essential mining equipment, and operated a continuous miner during an assembly task without the required…
BSC Construction, Inc.
Settlement approved and citation modified
BSC Construction faced a civil penalty proceeding involving two alleged violations of the Mine Act's training regulations. The Secretary modified the citation to vacate all references to 30 C.F.R. § 48.31(a), leaving the alleged violation under 30 C.F.R. § 48.28(a). Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved…
Art Beavers Construction Company
Refresher-training order affirmed
MSHA ordered Art Beavers Construction Company employees off a mine site after finding that four employees had not received the required eight-hour annual refresher training. The company disputed whether its employees were miners and whether the training rule applied, then reached a settlement with…
Conn Pest Control Incorporated
Refresher-training settlement approved at $150
Conn Pest Control was cited because a miner had not received the required annual refresher course. The Secretary explained that the operator's negligence was lower than initially believed because it was uncertain whether the operator knew the miner had not been trained. Judge Paul Merlin approved…
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…
Frank Irey, Jr., Inc.
Training order modified and $700 in penalties assessed
Frank Irey, Jr., Inc. faced two citations at the Loveridge Preparation Plant concerning miner training and welding near float coal dust. The parties settled one citation for its proposed $500 penalty, while the judge found that employees doing extended maintenance work were miners covered by the…
Midacontinent Resources, Inc.
Refresher-training citation amended with a $20 penalty
Midacontinent Resources operated a coal preparation plant where MSHA alleged that a miner had not received the required annual refresher training. Further investigation showed that the miner had received annual retraining, but the operator's form did not clearly identify the training type or may…
Wilmot Mining Company
Training citation vacated, ROPS and brake findings affirmed
Wilmot Mining operated a surface coal mine where a front-end loader overturned and killed superintendent John Schrock. The Commission held that the Secretary did not prove the annual refresher-training violation because the record did not establish the employees' training histories or whether…
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.