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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In the matter of: Connie Prater
Disbarment ordered after disciplinary default
The Commission referred a disciplinary matter involving Connie Prater to an ALJ after allegations concerning fraudulent respirable-dust samples submitted to MSHA. After her counsel withdrew and she asked to withdraw from the case, the judge found that she had not complied with an order to show…
Peabody Coal Company
Respiratory-dust penalties reduced on remand
The Commission remanded three respirable-dust violations for penalty reassessment after rejecting unwarrantable-failure and high-negligence findings. On remand, the judge found ordinary negligence, affirmed the violations as section 104(a) violations, and reduced the penalty to $1,500 for each…
Peabody Coal Company
Negligence findings reversed and penalties remanded
Peabody Coal Company was cited after respirable-dust sampling showed violations of the applicable limit at continuous-miner units. The ALJ found high negligence and unwarrantable failure and assessed $15,000 in civil penalties. The Commission reversed those findings, concluding that the ALJ applied…
Peabody Coal Company
Multiple citations affirmed or modified, $3,081 assessed
Peabody Coal operated the Camp No. 11 underground mine in Kentucky and faced citations involving rock dust, ventilation, roof dust, a trailing cable, and respirable dust. The judge found that the rock dust violation was significant and substantial because methane and other conditions made an…
Peabody Coal Company
Respiratory-dust citations affirmed
MSHA cited Peabody Coal Company after respirable-dust sampling exceeded the applicable limit on three mechanized mining units at the Camp No. 1 Mine. Peabody conceded that the violations occurred and were significant and substantial, but disputed the findings of unwarrantable failure, high…
Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Spot-inspection citations vacated
MSHA cited Keystone Coal Mining Corporation for respirable-dust concentrations based on single-shift samples from a spot-inspection program. The Commission held that the program attempted to rescind an earlier finding that single-shift sampling did not accurately represent miners' exposure, and…
Keystone Coal Mining Corp.
Single-shift dust citations vacated for lack of rulemaking
MSHA cited Keystone Coal Mining Corp. after single-shift respirable-dust samples exceeded 2.0 milligrams per cubic meter at its Emilie No. 1 and Margaret No. 11 mines. The citations were issued under MSHA's 1991 spot-inspection program, which directed inspectors to cite operators based on a single…
Webster County Coal Corp.
Respirable dust citation affirmed as significant and substantial
Webster County Coal challenged the significant-and-substantial designation on a citation issued after five respirable dust samples averaged 2.1 mg/m3. Judge James A. Broderick held that the violation of the respirable-dust standard was established and that Commission precedent created a presumption…
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.