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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Original Sixteen to One Mine, Incorporated
Safety citations affirmed with two negligence findings reduced
Original Sixteen to One Mine, Incorporated operated a small mine with about nine miners when MSHA issued citations for conditions involving mine equipment and facilities. Judge August F. Cetti rejected the operator's argument that the Securities and Exchange Commission's view of its reserves…
Unique Electric
Penalty reduced after remand review of sole proprietor's finances
Unique Electric was a sole proprietorship operated by Kim Warnock, and the case returned to the judge after the Commission vacated an earlier $400 penalty assessment and required a new review of the penalty criteria. Judge Richard W. Manning considered the household's income, assets, liabilities…
Secretary of Labor v. Unique Electric
Penalty vacated for reassessment
Unique Electric was cited after an electrical grounding failure contributed to a fatal accident at the Washington Mine, where a mine manager received an electrical shock and later drowned. The ALJ found a significant and substantial violation of 30 C.F.R. § 57.12025 and assessed a $400 penalty…
Unique Electric
Grounding citation modified and penalty reduced
Unique Electric, a small electrical contractor and sole proprietorship, installed electrical equipment for an underground gold mine in California. After the mine's general manager died while moving an energized pump in flooded workings, MSHA alleged that the pump circuit was not properly grounded…
Hydrocarbon Resources Company
Four safety citations affirmed with $4,200 in penalties
Hydrocarbon Resources was cited for failing to provide bulkhead protection during shaft work, maintain an effective underground telephone, ground a water pump, and ground an electrical wire. Judge John J. Morris found all four violations proven and assessed penalties of $3,000 for the bulkhead…
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.