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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Monterey Coal Company
Alternate escapeway citation vacated
MSHA cited Monterey Coal Company because its alternate escapeway passed nearby shafts and continued about two and one-half miles to the mine's main portal. The Secretary argued that the nearby shafts were suitable for evacuation and made the existing route less direct. Monterey showed that the…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Escapeway citation and withdrawal order vacated
MSHA cited Southern Ohio Coal Company for using an underground escapeway that was not the safest direct practical route to a mine opening. An ALJ found a violation and sustained a section 104(b) withdrawal order after the operator did not make the changes MSHA sought. The Commission reversed…
Southern Ohio Coal Company
Escapeway violation modified to non-S&S
Southern Ohio Coal operated the Meigs No. 2 underground coal mine. MSHA cited the company because its designated escapeway from a longwall section took a longer, indirect route to an air shaft, and separately issued a withdrawal order alleging inadequate abatement. Judge Avram Weisberger found that…
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…
Rushton Mining Company
Escapeway citation modified to non-S&S
Rushton Mining designated an escapeway from part of its underground mine that took a longer, indirect route to the nearest shaft. Judge Avram Weisberger held that the designated route did not follow the safest direct practical route required by 30 C.F.R. § 75.1704-2(a), while finding that the…
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.