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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Brooks Run Mining Co., LLC
Dust-citation findings modified and $7,700 assessed
Brooks Run did not dispute four significant and substantial violations of the respirable-dust limit at its Cucumber Mine, but both sides sought changes to gravity, negligence, and the number of miners affected. The judge found that isolated overexposures in two citations were reasonably likely…
RAG Shoshone Coal Corp.
Dust-sampling citations partly modified
RAG Shoshone Coal operated the Shoshone No. 1 underground mine and contested two citations involving respirable-dust sampling and its ventilation plan. The Judge found that the operator failed to submit valid samples for the designated longwall occupation, affirmed the related citation, and…
Tanoma Mining Company, Inc.
Three citations vacated and one settled
Tanoma Mining Company operated the Tanoma Mine, an underground coal mine in Pennsylvania. The case involved respirable-dust sampling pumps that were not carried directly to and from the mine portal and working areas during extended shifts. The judge vacated three citations because the Secretary did…
Harlan Cumberland Coal
Remand penalties assessed
Harlan Cumberland Coal was found to have violated Mine Act respirable-dust sampling requirements in five consolidated dockets. The Commission had affirmed the violations and remanded for findings on penalty factors including gravity, negligence, prior violations, size, and good-faith abatement. On…
Costain Coal Incorporated
Respiratory-dust penalties and settlements resolved
Costain Coal operated the Baker Mine and Smith Underground No. 1. The proceedings involved excessive respirable-dust samples from mechanized mining units and a designated area, along with citations resolved through settlements. Judge Jerold Feldman found the dust violations significant and…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company
Dust-sampling violations affirmed, penalties remanded
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company was cited after MSHA did not receive respirable coal dust samples that the operator was required to submit during bimonthly sampling periods. The Commission affirmed the violations under 30 C.F.R. §§ 70.207(a) and 70.208(a), holding that a sample must be received and…
New Warwick Mining Co.
Dust sampling violation affirmed
New Warwick Mining operated the Warwick Mine in Pennsylvania. The Commission reviewed whether the company violated the respirable-dust sampling rule by collecting designated-occupation samples inside a miner’s airstream helmet. It affirmed the ALJ’s findings that the sampling method violated 30…
Energy West Mining Company
Failure-to-abate order upheld, penalty remanded
Energy West Mining Company was cited after respirable-dust sampling at a mining unit showed concentrations above the applicable limit. The ALJ upheld a section 104(b) failure-to-abate order and assessed a $3,000 civil penalty. The Commission majority affirmed the order because substantial evidence…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company
Dust citations affirmed and other matters resolved
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company faced five consolidated civil penalty proceedings involving mandatory Mine Act standards at its C-2 and D-1 mines. The Judge affirmed two citations for failing to provide valid respirable dust samples after finding that samples had to be received by the MSHA…
Bucket Coal Company
Dust-sampling citation vacated
MSHA cited Bucket Coal Company for failing to collect and submit five respirable-dust samples during the March and April 1992 bimonthly period. The company said its mine had been flooded and was not producing coal during the relevant period. Judge Avram Weisberger credited the company's witness and…
Broken Hill Mining Co., Inc.
Four citations affirmed and two S&S findings modified
Broken Hill Mining Company contested six citations involving respirable-dust sampling, noise-survey reporting, respirable-dust exposure, and float-coal-dust accumulations. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed all six violations, including the two respirable-dust citations as significant and…
Martin Sales & Processing
Summary default decision later vacated
Martin Sales & Processing failed to answer the Secretary's discovery requests and did not comply with orders directing it to respond. Judge George A. Koutras found the operator in default and entered summary default judgment for the Secretary on four consolidated dockets. The order directed…
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.