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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Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Conveyor citations vacated and remanded
Nolichuckey Sand Company operated a sand and gravel pit in Greenville, Tennessee, where miners used platforms beside conveyor belts for inspections and maintenance. MSHA cited six conveyors because they lacked emergency stop cords or railings, and the judge affirmed all six citations under 30…
Nolichuckey Sand Company, Inc.
Abatement-extension contests dismissed
Nolichuckey Sand Company contested three section 104(b) withdrawal orders issued after it did not install railings or emergency stop devices on conveyor catwalks at the Bird's Bridge Mine. The operator asked MSHA to extend abatement while a related Commission case was pending and argued that the…
Nolichuckey Sand Co., Inc.
Stay of abatement denied
Nolichuckey asked the Commission to stay abatement of six citations involving guards on conveyor belts while review of the ALJ decision was pending. The Commission held that the Mine Act bars temporary relief from citations issued under section 104(a), even when the operator disputes the citations…
Nolichuckey Sand Company
Six conveyor citations affirmed
Nolichuckey Sand Company operated a sand and gravel operation where miners used catwalks beside conveyor belts for inspections. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the catwalks were travelways and that the conveyors therefore fell within 30 C.F.R. § 56.14109(a). He rejected the company's arguments…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Remand penalties set at $70
MSHA cited Buffalo Crushed Stone for a slack emergency-stop cord on a conveyor and an elevated walkway without required cleats. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the stop-cord violation was not significant and substantial because the Secretary did not show that a miner was reasonably likely to fall…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Remand penalties set at $70
MSHA cited Buffalo Crushed Stone for a slack emergency-stop cord on a conveyor and an elevated walkway without required cleats. Judge Avram Weisberger found that the stop-cord violation was not significant and substantial because the Secretary did not show that a miner was reasonably likely to fall…
Buffalo Crushed Stone, Inc.
Mixed rulings on conveyor and walkway safety violations
Buffalo Crushed Stone operated a limestone quarry in New York. The Commission held that a slack emergency stop cord alongside a conveyor did not meet the requirement that a person falling against the conveyor be able to readily deactivate its motor, reversing the judge’s no-violation finding and…
T.E. Bertagnolli & Associates
Settlement approved and hearing canceled
T.E. Bertagnolli & Associates and the Secretary submitted a settlement covering two consolidated civil-penalty proceedings. Judge August F. Cetti approved reduced penalties totaling $9,000 and vacated one penalty tied to Citation No. 4139747. The order dismissed the cases after payment and canceled…
Buffalo Crushed Stone
Seven quarry citations resolved in part
Buffalo Crushed Stone operated the Wehrle Quarry, a limestone operation inspected in December 1993. The administrative law judge found violations involving an unguarded fuel-pump pinch point, broken glass in an access door, an uncovered electrical junction box, an uncleated walkway, and a low…
Asarco, Incorporated
Stop-cord citations vacated
Asarco contested two citations alleging that emergency stop cords on conveyor belts were not properly located and an order concerning a separate mine standard. Judge August F. Cetti found that the stop cords were positioned so a person could readily deactivate the conveyors and rejected the…
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.