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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RAG Shoshone Coal Corporation
Dust-sampling citations vacated without rulemaking
RAG Shoshone Coal challenged MSHA enforcement action requiring a different designated-occupation sampling method at its longwall mine. The ALJ had affirmed two citations, but the Commission held that MSHA's use of the 060 sampling code was a substantive change in the respirable-dust rules that…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Ventilation-plan violation affirmed
Jim Walter Resources contested an order issued after a longwall section operated while its ventilation plan required operations to stop because respirable-dust sampling showed noncompliance. The administrative law judge found that the operator had violated its approved ventilation plan and the…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Respirable-dust citation affirmed
Jim Walter Resources was cited after respirable-dust samples from a longwall mining unit averaged 2.6 milligrams per cubic meter, above the 2.0 milligrams per cubic meter limit in the cited standard. The company did not dispute the sample results but challenged MSHA's direction to change the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Dust sampler required on headgate operator
Consolidation Coal Company contested a citation involving dust sampling at its Ireland Mine and also faced a civil penalty proceeding. The case concerned whether the headgate shear operator had to wear the dust sampling device when the tailgate operator temporarily moved to the headgate for fresh…
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.