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.
Clayton's Calcium, Inc.
Mixed ruling on guarding, access, protective equipment, and dust
MSHA issued 18 citations at Clayton's Calcium's small Idaho mill involving guarding, berms, safe access, housekeeping, protective equipment, workplace examinations, and dust controls. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated two guarding citations and portions of others where contact was not reasonably…
John Richards Construction
21 citations resolved with $3,350 penalty
John Richards Construction operated a very small sand and gravel pit with a crushing plant and two employees. MSHA alleged 21 violations involving guarding, mine operations, firefighting equipment, electrical protection, and communications, with proposed penalties totaling $19,073. Judge Richard W…
Bilbrough Marble Division, Texas Architectural Aggregate
Citation and imminent-danger order vacated
Bilbrough operated the Roper Quarry, a surface limestone and dolomite mine in Texas. During an inspection, the general manager briefly lifted a belt idler while explaining how it would be installed, and MSHA issued a citation and imminent-danger order alleging that he was not wearing hard-toed…
Cactus Canyon Quarries of Texas, Inc.
Five citations affirmed and one dismissed
Cactus Canyon Quarries operated a small marble, granite, and quartz facility in Texas. The judge considered six citations involving housekeeping, protective footwear, electrical wiring, handrails, shared drinking cups, and annual grounding tests. One electrical citation was dismissed because a…
Arrow Crushed Stone, Inc.
Citations split and penalty reduced
Arrow Crushed Stone operated the Blum Quarry, a limestone quarry in Texas. The Secretary sought penalties for eight alleged violations involving electrical controls, drill stability, mobile-equipment safety, seat belts, and protective footwear. The judge affirmed three citations, vacated one, and…
Bob Bak Construction
Mine safety violations affirmed with penalties reduced
Bob Bak Construction operated a sand and gravel mine in South Dakota. After three inspections, MSHA issued 24 citations and orders involving defective mobile equipment, missing guards and electrical protections, inadequate emergency facilities, and violations of closure and imminent-danger orders…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Penalties assessed across 27 violations
Lakeview Rock Products operated a sand and gravel pit in Salt Lake City, Utah. Judge Arthur J. Amchan addressed three MSHA inspections and 27 contested or withdrawn violations involving electrical protection, guarding, workplace examinations, footwear, berms, access, and related safety…
John Cullen Rock Crushing and Gravel
27 citations resolved with $912 in penalties
John Cullen Rock Crushing and Gravel operated the small Grant Pit sand and gravel operation in Colorado, along with an integrated silica plant. Judge Richard W. Manning found that MSHA had jurisdiction over the mine, the silica plant, and the shared equipment and workers. The decision addressed 27…
Dillingham Construction International
Citations affirmed, S&S findings partly modified
Dillingham Construction International was cited during its Puerto Rico dam project for conditions involving unguarded equipment, missing handrails, a broken conveyor emergency-stop cord, and unsuitable footwear. The company argued that it was a construction contractor outside MSHA jurisdiction, but…
A. H. Smith Stone Company
Mixed citation results and $2,937 penalty
A. H. Smith Stone Company faced civil penalties in two dockets involving machinery guards, electrical equipment, protective equipment, and other mine conditions. Judge Paul Merlin affirmed a guard violation but vacated its significant-and-substantial finding and assessed a $175 penalty. He affirmed…
Cobblestone, Ltd.
Gravel-pit citations affirmed
Cobblestone operated a small family gravel pit and argued that MSHA lacked jurisdiction because it was producing gravel for personal use during the inspection period. Judge August F. Cetti found that the gravel operation was a mine whose operations and products affected interstate commerce. He…
Sulphur Springs Stone Company
26 citations affirmed and $1,530 assessed
Sulphur Springs Stone Company operated a small stone mine in Kentucky with five employees. After the company did not appear at the hearing, Judge James A. Broderick reviewed the Secretary's evidence concerning 26 alleged violations found during an October 8, 1985 inspection. The violations included…
Valdez Creek Mining Company
One citation vacated and 16 affirmed with a $990 penalty
Valdez Creek Mining Company operated a placer gold mine in Alaska with about 100 employees when MSHA issued 17 citations during July and August 1985. The company admitted that the violations occurred but disputed the penalty amounts. Judge Michael A. Lasher, Jr. found that the operator's negligence…
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.