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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Peabody Coal Company
Settlements approved, one citation vacated, and one roof-control citation affirmed
Peabody Coal Company operated the Camp No. 11 and Martwick underground coal mines. The judge approved settlements covering four violations, including ventilation, power connections, canopies and cabs, and fire-suppression equipment, for penalties totaling $565. For a roof-control citation at Camp…
Shannopin Mining Company
Shuttle-car citation vacated and three settlements approved
Shannopin Mining was cited after an inspector found a shuttle car with a forward-leaning canopy and two broken welds. Judge George A. Koutras found that MSHA did not prove the canopy was unsafe under 30 C.F.R. § 75.1725(a), so he vacated the contested citation and denied its penalty. The parties…
Peabody Coal Company
Cab and canopy violation affirmed
MSHA cited Peabody Coal Company after inspectors observed mobile bridge carriers operating without protective cabs or canopies at the Camp No. 11 Mine. The Commission held that an MBC is self-propelled electric face equipment when it is taken into the last open crosscut, and that the first MBCs in…
Peabody Coal Company
Cab-and-canopy citations affirmed for $2 total
Peabody Coal contested two citations involving a continuous haulage system at Camp No. 11 Underground Mine. Judge William Fauver found that the cited equipment operators were subject to the cab-and-canopy requirement in 30 C.F.R. § 75.1710-1, even though the system included components that operated…
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.