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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Secretary of Labor v. Peabody Twentymile Mining, LLC
Spray-foam stopping citation affirmed
Peabody Twentymile used non-strength-enhancing polyurethane foam to seal the perimeter of a dry-stacked concrete-block ventilation stopping. Judge David P. Simonton held that traditionally accepted block-stopping construction under 30 C.F.R. § 75.333(e)(1) required a strength-enhancing perimeter…
Big Ridge, Inc.
Litigated and settled violations yield $337,194 penalty
Six dockets against Big Ridge covered belt accumulations, mine examinations, machine guarding, equipment safety, fire warning systems, and many additional citations resolved by settlement. Judge Richard W. Manning assessed $90,000 on the litigated matters, including substantial penalties for…
Black Beauty Coal Company
Dust, ventilation, belt, and safeguard violations largely upheld
Black Beauty Coal contested 15 violations at its underground Air Quality #1 mine and settled the remaining violations in two dockets. Judge Margaret A. Miller affirmed an S&S respirable-dust overexposure but reduced negligence to moderate and assessed $20,000. She also upheld violations involving…
Shamrock Coal Company, Inc.
Non-S&S findings affirmed
Shamrock Coal Company was cited for inadequate rock dust and defects in water spray and fire-warning systems at its underground coal mine. The ALJ found violations of 30 C.F.R. §§ 75.403, 75.1101-1(a), and 75.1101-10, but concluded they were not significant and substantial because the evidence did…
Shamrock Coal Company, Inc.
Settlement approved and violations affirmed without S&S findings
Shamrock Coal operated underground coal mines and a preparation plant. In KENT 90-75, Judge Avram Weisberger approved a settlement that reduced two citation penalties from $121 to $40. In KENT 90-60, the judge found violations involving self-contained self-rescuers, emergency materials…
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.