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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Tide Creek Rock Incorporated
Consolidated penalties reduced to $980
Tide Creek Rock operated a small crushed-stone mine in Oregon and challenged MSHA's jurisdiction, 24 alleged violations, the significant-and-substantial findings, and the proposed $2,492 in penalties. Judge David F. Barbour found that the Mine Act applied because Tide Creek's products and equipment…
Contractors Sand & Gravel, Incorporated
Seven-docket settlement approved
Contractors Sand & Gravel faced seven civil penalty petitions involving citations at the Montague Plant and Scott River Plant. The petitions arose after proposed assessments became final orders when the respondent did not timely request hearings or answer the Secretary's petitions. The Commission…
Brown Brothers Sand Company
Five safety citations affirmed with civil penalties
Brown Brothers Sand Company operated a small sand mine employing nine to ten people. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed five citations involving an unguarded V-belt drive, a shattered loader windshield, two inoperative parking brakes, and excessive dredge noise. He found the windshield and noise…
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 When no Commissioner directs review, an ALJ decision becomes a final order that binds the parties in that case but is not binding precedent: under 29 U.S.C. § 661(j) at OSHRC, and after the 40-day window of 30 U.S.C. § 823(d)(1) at FMSHRC.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.