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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Rosebud Mining Company
Official release contains conflicting orders
Rosebud Mining operated the Josephine No. 3 underground coal mine. MSHA alleged that a panic bar on a mobile bridge carrier required more than 15 pounds of force to deenergize a connected continuous miner, and proposed a $184 penalty after a miner suffered crushing injuries. The first signed…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Consolidated contest and penalty proceedings resolved
These consolidated proceedings involved one contest and four civil penalty proceedings arising from alleged dust-control and other mine-safety violations. The judge affirmed the violation in the contested withdrawal order, vacated its significant-and-substantial finding, and found unwarrantable…
Costain Coal, Inc.
Settlements approved and coal-spillage citation vacated
Costain Coal operated the Wheatcroft Mine in western Kentucky. The parties settled the outstanding penalties in KENT 94-1001 and KENT 94-1056, including a modification that reduced one proposed penalty from $235 to $50. In KENT 94-1002, Judge Arthur J. Amchan found that the Secretary did not prove…
Jericol Mining Incorporated
Five settlements approved and two denied
Jericol Mining and the Secretary proposed settlements for seven violations, reducing the total penalties from $3,411 to $2,830. Judge Paul Merlin approved settlements for five citations at their originally assessed penalties. He denied the proposed reductions for a citation involving coal brows…
Nats Creek Mining Company
Ten citations and two imminent-danger orders affirmed
Nats Creek Mining operated the Sugarloaf No. 2 underground coal mine in Kentucky. After a fatal accident involving a scoop operator, MSHA cited the mine for missing or inoperative methane monitors and an inoperative fire-suppression system on scoops. MSHA also cited an underground battery charging…
Costain Coal, Inc.
Citations affirmed, S&S finding vacated in part
Costain Coal contested a citation for operating the Baker Mine without an approved methane and dust control plan and faced related civil penalty proceedings. The Judge approved settlements covering most of the other citations, affirmed the plan citation with a $50 penalty, and affirmed a separate…
LJ'S Coal Corporation
Mixed rulings impose $1,644 in penalties
An ALJ reviewed several safety citations and orders issued at LJ's Coal Corporation's No. 1 Mine. The judge dismissed one mine-rescue citation because the records did not prove that the apparatus itself had gone untested for 30 days. He affirmed violations involving high-voltage cables, an exposed…
J.C. London Coal Company, Inc.
Citations affirmed and penalties assessed after default
J.C. London Coal Company did not appear at the hearing on 18 alleged mine-safety violations and was found in default after receiving proper notice. Judge George A. Koutras found the cited violations established on the inspectors' testimony and affirmed the citations. He assessed $364 for the KENT…
Green River Coal Company, Inc.
Settlements approved across four mine dockets
Green River Coal Company agreed to settle four civil penalty proceedings involving coal accumulations, conveyor equipment, ventilation, methane, accident-site preservation, and roof control at its Green River No. 9 Mine. Judge George A. Koutras found the settlements reasonable and in the public…
Consolidation Coal Company
Corrected settlement approved for $1,075
Consolidation Coal Company faced three contest proceedings and two related civil penalty proceedings concerning conditions at the Humphrey No. 7 Mine. The corrected decision states that three violations were originally assessed at $2,000 total and that the parties agreed to a $1,075 settlement. One…
Pontiki Coal Corporation
Settlement approval affirmed and unsupported comments struck
Pontiki Coal settled four contested violations arising from accumulations and equipment conditions at its Mine Number Two, with a total penalty of $7,500. The Commission held that the Administrative Law Judge went beyond the limited settlement record by making unsupported comments about advance…
Johnie Childers Coal Company, Inc.
Four violations affirmed with $500 penalty
Johnie Childers Coal Company operated the No. 7 underground coal mine in Kentucky. Inspectors found inadequate lighting and no panic bar on a roof bolting machine, inoperable brakes on a shuttle car, and drilling without the line curtain required by the mine's ventilation plan. Judge William Fauver…
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.