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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Secretary of Labor v. Eureka Stone Quarry, Inc.
Blasting a jammed crusher with miners inside costs $56,500
Eureka Stone Quarry runs a stone quarry in Pennsylvania. On August 12, 2014 the impact crusher jammed badly with rock, and the crew spent about three and a half hours clearing it with 16 small explosive charges, climbing inside between blasts to hand-pick material out. The superintendent, who was…
Secretary of Labor v. Yenter Companies
Blast-site order vacated and post-blast citation reduced
Yenter Companies performed blasting work at Mountain Cement's Wyoming quarry and contested two enforcement actions arising from a January 2014 blast. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated the blast-site barricade order because the standard offered alternative compliance methods and Yenter attended the…
Rock of Ages Corporation
$180,000 penalty reinstated after fatality remand
Rock of Ages Corporation was cited after a fatality at its Lite Side Quarry involving explosives and misfires. On remand from the Commission, Judge Jerold Feldman reconsidered the statutory penalty factors and reinstated a total civil penalty of $180,000 for four violations. The penalties were…
Rock of Ages Corporation
Violations affirmed and penalties remanded
Rock of Ages Corporation operated granite quarries, including the Smith Quarry. A channel-burning torch ignited unexploded pyrodex left in a blast hole, killing an employee. The Commission affirmed findings that the company violated four explosives-safety standards involving misfire removal…
Rock of Ages Corporation
Explosives violations partly affirmed after fatality
Rock of Ages Corporation faced contest and civil penalty proceedings after quarryman Michael Bassett died when a torch ignited concealed pyrodex blasting material at the Smith Quarry. Judge Jerold Feldman granted the Secretary's motion to vacate four orders, affirmed one citation and three orders…
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.