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. Con-Agg of Mo, LLC
Berm citation vacated for lack of proof and fair notice
Con-Agg of Mo operated Huntsville Quarry, where MSHA cited an allegedly inadequate boulder berm after a haul truck left the road and its driver died. Judge Priscilla M. Rae granted Con-Agg's motion for a directed verdict because the Secretary's two witnesses contradicted each other about whether…
Knife River Corporation, Northwest
Truck-scale guardrail citation and failure-to-abate order vacated
MSHA cited Knife River because the rub rails on an elevated truck scale were below the mid-axle guardrail height required for mine roadways, then issued a failure-to-abate order. Judge Thomas P. McCarthy held that the portable weighing scale was equipment, not a roadway or part of the mine's…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Truck-scale guardrail ruling vacated and remanded
MSHA cited Lakeview Rock Products because its elevated truck scales had eight-inch rub rails rather than berms or guardrails reaching the 20-to-24-inch mid-axle height of trucks using them. An ALJ granted summary decision to Lakeview and vacated the citation after finding that the Secretary had not…
Virginia Slate Company
Guarding and access violations modified with $4,400 penalty
Virginia Slate operated an open-pit slate operation where an MSHA inspector identified unguarded machinery, unsafe access, missing berms, missing impeding devices, defective horns, and other equipment and workplace conditions. Judge Avram Weisberger found violations of several mandatory safety…
East Coast Limestone, Inc.
Mixed citation results with $785 penalty
East Coast Limestone operated a limestone quarry in North Carolina where it drilled and blasted limestone, hauled it by truck, and processed it at a crushing plant. Judge Jerold Feldman affirmed five citations, modified two citations by removing their significant-and-substantial designations, and…
Hollow Contracting, Inc.
30 citations affirmed, 3 vacated
Hollow Contracting operated a small portable rock-crushing facility in Montana. The ALJ considered 33 alleged violations involving reporting, machinery, electrical equipment, emergency procedures, and other mine conditions. The decision affirmed 30 citations, vacated 3 citations, and assessed total…
Lakeview Rock Products, Inc.
Mixed citation results with $1,750 in penalties
Lakeview Rock Products operated a sand and gravel pit in Salt Lake City, Utah. The case involved a highwall condition, vehicle seat-belt use, berms and bumper blocks, access to electrical and examination records, and a defective back-up alarm. Judge Arthur J. Amchan vacated the proposed penalty for…
Konitz Contracting, Inc.
Citations affirmed with $510 penalty
Konitz Contracting operated a portable crusher, a rip-rap operation, and other mining worksites in Montana. The ALJ found that the rip-rap operation was a mine under the Mine Act because it extracted and sized rock, and that MSHA therefore had jurisdiction. The judge affirmed citations involving…
Walker Stone Company, Inc.
Two citations vacated, two affirmed, and $100 assessed
Walker Stone Company received four citations involving alarms, a manually operated warning device, and an elevated truck scale without a berm or guardrail. The ALJ vacated two citations because the evidence did not establish violations of the cited alarm standard. Two other citations were affirmed…
Mayland Stone Company, Inc.
$600 settlement approved
Mayland Stone operated a crushed stone facility with 10 employees on one shift. The case involved a berm-standard violation under 30 C.F.R. § 56.9300, and the Secretary and Mayland agreed that the company would pay the originally assessed $600 penalty. Judge James A. Broderick noted that the…
Island Construction Co., Inc.
Nine citations affirmed and $550 assessed
Island Construction operated a sand-extraction pit used for grading and fill. Judge James A. Broderick found that the operation was subject to the Mine Act because it extracted a mineral and affected interstate commerce through its equipment and sales. He affirmed nine citations involving brakes…
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.