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.
Secretary of Labor v. Fred Thompson formerly employed by Fortune Revenue Silver Mines, Inc.
Secretary of Labor v. Fred Thompson (FMSHRC WEST 2018-51 M): Delay-based dismissal denied pending discovery
MSHA proposed $6,400 in individual civil penalties against former Revenue Mine manager Fred Thompson for alleged ventilation violations under 30 C.F.R. §§ 57.8529 and 57.5002. Thompson asked to dismiss the case because the penalties were proposed more than two years after the citation and order…
Secretary of Labor v. The Doe Run Company
Nitrogen-dioxide monitoring citation vacated
MSHA cited Doe Run's underground lead and zinc mine for not continuously monitoring nitrogen dioxide while five miners loaded explosives from a single diesel-powered truck. The inspector's elevated gas reading was later invalidated because his detector was not properly calibrated, and the record…
AT&E Enterprises, Inc.
One citation vacated and one modified
AT&E Enterprises operated a small underground gold mine in California while rehabilitating old timber-supported workings. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated one citation concerning fire protection for portal timber because the standard did not clearly require protection at the time each timber set…
FMC Wyoming Corporation
Asbestos-survey citation affirmed and other orders vacated
FMC Wyoming operated a trona mining and processing facility near Green River, Wyoming. During maintenance work removing asbestos-type insulation from a turbine, the company did not conduct exposure surveys before the work began. Judge August F. Cetti affirmed the modified citation for failing to…
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.