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. Mettiki Coal Corporation
Safeguard validity and collateral estoppel remanded
Mettiki Coal Corporation was cited after an unattended personnel carrier was parked on an inclined track without a stopblock, derail, or chain-type car hold. The administrative law judge vacated the citation and safeguard and held that the Secretary was barred from relitigating the safeguard's…
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…
Beth Energy Mines, Inc.
District-wide safeguard citation vacated
Beth Energy operated Mine 108, where MSHA issued a citation based on a safeguard that had been applied across the district and later modified. The Secretary alleged that the resulting condition was a significant-and-substantial violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.1403. Judge Gary Melick concluded that the…
The Helen Mining Company
Consolidated citations resolved by settlement
The Helen Mining Company operated the Homer City Mine. During track repair work on October 25, 1987, a miner was fatally injured when runaway mining equipment struck a parked personnel carrier. Judge George A. Koutras approved settlements resolving the remaining contested matters, with civil…
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.