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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D & H Gravel
Three citations vacated and penalties reduced to $500
D & H Gravel was a very small, seasonal sand-and-gravel quarry with one part-time miner when MSHA issued 21 citations and one training withdrawal order during its first inspection. The owner said he did not know the Mine Act applied, but the judge explained that mine operators are strictly liable…
Nelson Quarries, Inc.
Mixed rulings on 100 citations produced a corrected $10,650 penalty
Nelson Quarries operated five portable limestone quarries in Kansas, and MSHA issued 100 citations and orders after a former employee filed a hazard complaint. Judge Richard W. Manning affirmed, modified, and vacated citations involving explosives, guarding, mobile equipment, electrical systems…
Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Six conveyor citations dismissed after Commission remand
Nolichuckey Sand contested six identical citations alleging that conveyors were unguarded under 30 C.F.R. § 56.14109. The Commission had remanded the case for the Secretary to provide an authoritative interpretation of the term “unguarded,” for the judge to decide whether the interpretation was…
Contractors Sand & Gravel Supply, Incorporated
Settlement approved for $1,950
Contractors Sand & Gravel Supply faced consolidated civil-penalty proceedings involving alleged safety violations at its Scott River and Montague plants. After earlier default proceedings were reopened and remanded, the parties proposed a settlement covering the remaining citations. Judge August F…
Brown Brothers Sand Co.
One citation vacated, eight affirmed or modified, and $1,036 assessed
Brown Brothers Sand Company received nine citations during inspections of its sand operation in Georgia. The ALJ vacated and dismissed the citation for insufficient illumination, affirmed eight other citations, and modified two of those by increasing the negligence finding from moderate to high…
Hinkle Contracting Corp.
Conveyor and highwall violations affirmed
Hinkle Contracting operated the Strunk Crushed Stone site and was cited after inspectors found an inoperable emergency stop device on a 450-foot conveyor and loose, unstable material along a highwall beside a haul road. Judge Gary Melick rejected Hinkle's claimed 42-inch exception to the conveyor…
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.