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.
No decisions match these filters
Try fewer or different words, check the spelling, or clear the filters to browse everything.
Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, LLC
Delayed fatal-potential injury report upheld
A contractor miner at Consol's Bailey Mine was crushed between a battery scoop and a rail car, could not move or feel one leg, and developed abdominal swelling that raised concern about internal bleeding. Consol called for emergency transportation but did not notify MSHA until about two hours after…
Black Beauty Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor
Accident-site citation settled after remand
A roof bolter at Black Beauty Coal's Air Quality No. 1 Mine was struck by fallen roof material, remained able to walk, and was treated for contusions and abrasions. Black Beauty reported the event to MSHA but resumed mining at the roof-fall site before an inspector arrived, leading to a citation…
Black Beauty Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor
Accident-site citation affirmed and examination order vacated
Black Beauty resolved 32 of 34 citations and orders through settlement or agency vacatur, leaving an accident-site preservation citation and an alleged inadequate on-shift examination for decision. Judge Jerold Feldman held that Black Beauty violated section 50.12 by resuming mining after reporting…
Pattison Sand Company, LLC
Ground-support citation vacated but withdrawal order affirmed
A 20-to-30-ton roof fall struck and damaged an occupied scaling excavator in an unbolted cap-rock area of Pattison Sand's underground mine, but the miner escaped without injury. MSHA issued a ground-support citation and a section 103(k) order barring activity in unbolted and unmeshed areas south of…
Cougar Coal Company, Inc
. (FMSHRC KENT 2000-133, KENT 2000-277): Citations modified, two citations dismissed, and $106,350 penalty assessed
At a coal mine being dismantled, a worker climbed a utility pole near energized high-voltage equipment, was shocked by 7,200 volts, and fell. Judge Avram Weisberger found that Cougar violated standards governing electrical work, work near energized lines, fall protection, and accident reporting…
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.