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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M A G Incorporated
Settlements totaling $21,000 approved across 14 dockets
M A G Incorporated contested 54 alleged safety and health violations across 14 dockets at Alloy Deep Mine No. 2. The parties reported that the operator was a small mine with poor financial condition, that no accidents or injuries resulted from the cited conditions, and that all conditions were…
Consolidation Coal Company
Partial settlement approved and citation transferred
Consolidation Coal Company faced 13 alleged violations at the Osage No. 3 Mine. Judge George A. Koutras approved settlements for 11 citations, then approved a settlement for Citation 3716124 after the parties agreed to delete its S&S designation and reduce the penalty from $276 to $166. The…
Consolidation Coal Company
S&S findings vacated, orders affirmed, and $2,700 assessed
MSHA issued three withdrawal orders at Consolidation Coal Company's Osage No. 3 Mine after ventilation tubing for underground electrical installations had fallen and was not coursing air directly to the return. The parties stipulated to the violations and related case facts. Judge Paul Merlin found…
Energy Fuels Coal Incorporated
One citation vacated, four affirmed as modified for $220
Energy Fuels Coal Incorporated operated the underground Southfield Mine in Colorado. MSHA alleged five significant and substantial violations involving electrical equipment, compressor housing, combustible coal dust, and a loose rib. Judge August F. Cetti vacated one electrical-equipment citation…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlements approved across consolidated penalty cases
Consolidation Coal Company and the Secretary of Labor presented settlements covering one contest proceeding and eleven civil penalty proceedings involving several coal mines. Judge David Barbour approved the settlements after finding them in the public interest. The order reduced or vacated several…
Zeigler Coal Company
One citation settled and one affirmed
Zeigler Coal Company faced two ventilation-related citations at its No. 11 Mine. The company agreed to pay the full $20 penalty for a battery-charging-station citation under 30 C.F.R. § 75.1105, and that settlement was approved. Judge George A. Koutras found that the company also violated 30 C.F.R…
Old Ben Coal Company
Citations split, settlements approved, and $690 penalty ordered
Old Ben Coal Company faced 13 consolidated civil penalty dockets involving its Nos. 24, 25, and 26 mines. Judge Avram Weisberger found some violations, amended several citations to remove significant-and-substantial findings, vacated other citations, and dismissed three dockets. He also approved…
U.S. Steel Mining Company, Inc.
Battery-charging citation affirmed
U.S. Steel Mining operated the Gary No. 50 Mine. MSHA cited a battery-charging station because its corrugated-metal enclosure left portions of wooden support timbers exposed, contrary to the requirement that the station be housed in a fireproof structure or area. Judge George A. Koutras found that…
Windsor Coal Company
One order affirmed and one modified
MSHA cited Windsor Coal for unsafe roof conditions in a primary escapeway and for inadequate ventilation at a battery-charging station. Judge Gary Melick found the escapeway violation under 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704 significant and substantial and caused by unwarrantable failure, because warning tags and…
Energy Mining Corporation and/or Utah Power & Light Company
Wilberg Mine settlement approved
These consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings arose from the Wilberg Mine fire disaster in Utah. The ALJ approved a settlement resolving 24 alleged violations in three civil penalty dockets, reducing the outstanding total from $106,749 to a voluntary payment of $95,000. The order…
Secretary of Labor v. Consolidation Coal Company
Mixed settlement order with one citation vacated
Consolidation Coal Company faced alleged violations at several West Virginia mines involving belt examinations, unsupported roof, obstructions, roof supports, fire sensors, haulage protection, ventilation, float coal dust, bleeder evaluation, combustible material, and preshift examinations. Judge…
Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company
Sprinkler citation vacated
MSHA cited Consol Pennsylvania Coal because nine combination belt-starter-transformer units did not have overhead sprinklers. The issue was whether those units were electrical controls covered by 30 C.F.R. § 75.1101-8(a). Judge James A. Broderick found that the units were enclosed in fireproof…
Utah Power & Light Company
Transformer citation affirmed, unwarrantable-failure designation removed
Utah Power & Light Company operated the Cottonwood coal mine. MSHA cited the company after finding that a transformer was not ventilated directly into the return air course as required by 30 C.F.R. § 75.1105. Judge John J. Morris affirmed the citation and its significant-and-substantial…
Consolidation Coal Company
Two orders modified and one affirmed
The Secretary alleged three significant and substantial violations at Consolidation Coal Company's Osage No. 3 Mine, including two allegations of unwarrantable failure. Judge James A. Broderick modified the belt-guard and continuous-miner orders by removing the significant-and-substantial and…
Energy Fuels Coal, Inc.
Two citations vacated and three affirmed
The Secretary charged Energy Fuels Coal, Inc. with five regulatory violations at the Southfield Mine across two dockets. The Secretary moved to vacate two citations under 30 C.F.R. § 75.323 because the evidence was insufficient, and the judge granted that motion. The parties accepted the remaining…
Consolidation Coal Company
Ventilation violation affirmed with $700 penalty
MSHA cited Consolidation Coal Company after smoke released near a power center moved toward a track entry instead of directly into the return. The judge found that the company violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.1105, which requires air currents ventilating electrical installations to be coursed directly into…
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.