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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Nally & Hamilton Enterprises, Inc.
Three citations vacated, one later reinstated on review
The Secretary proposed $3,095 for three alleged S&S violations involving a lube truck and dusty haul roads at Nally & Hamilton's Chestnut Flats surface mine. Judge Jerold Feldman vacated the backup-alarm citation because the alarm had worked during the preshift examination and the Secretary did not…
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor, Inc.
Two $10 penalties reinstated after remand
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor and employee James Cullor were involved in proceedings concerning defective brakes on two haulage trucks. The Commission had reinstated the citations and remanded for analysis of the six penalty criteria after the ALJ initially vacated the citations based on alleged…
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor, Inc.
Brake citations partly vacated and modified
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor and James Cullor faced civil-penalty proceedings after MSHA found defective brakes and a broken leaf spring on quarry trucks. Judge Jerold Feldman found evidence that employees had tampered with the brake adjustments, vacated two brake citations, and dismissed the…
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor, Inc.
Employee misconduct did not defeat brake citations
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor operated a limestone quarry where MSHA found defective brakes on two haulage trucks. The ALJ vacated the citation and withdrawal order after finding that employees had tampered with the brakes, and dismissed the penalty proceedings against Fort Scott and supervisor…
New Point Stone Company, Inc.
Brake citation modified and $500 penalty assessed
MSHA cited New Point Stone after finding that a Mack haul truck had been operated for about a month with one of its six brake chambers removed. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the braking system was not maintained in functional condition under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14101, but he found insufficient…
Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor, Inc.
Truck-safety case yields mixed result
MSHA cited Fort Scott Fertilizer-Cullor and James Cullor over defective brakes and a broken leaf spring on four quarry trucks. The ALJ found that employees had tampered with the slack adjusters on the two Euclid trucks, vacated the related citation and order, and dismissed the individual-liability…
W. J. Bokus Industries, Inc.
Mixed results on mine jurisdiction and citations
W. J. Bokus Industries operated a sand and gravel mine and related asphalt and materials operations in New York. Judge Avram Weisberger held that MSHA jurisdiction depended on whether the cited equipment and areas were used in extraction, milling, or preparation of minerals. He vacated and…
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.