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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Basin Resources, Incorporated
42-violation decision with $32,600 assessed
Basin Resources operated the Golden Eagle underground coal mine in Colorado, which later closed. Judge Richard W. Manning denied the Secretary's motion to add Basin's parent companies as respondents because the evidence did not show that they controlled or supervised the mine's day-to-day…
Martin Sales & Processing
Summary default decision later vacated
Martin Sales & Processing failed to answer the Secretary's discovery requests and did not comply with orders directing it to respond. Judge George A. Koutras found the operator in default and entered summary default judgment for the Secretary on four consolidated dockets. The order directed…
Buck Mountain Coal Company
Post-accident withdrawal order affirmed
Buck Mountain Coal Company's anthracite mine experienced a methane explosion that burned three miners and led MSHA to issue a section 103(k) withdrawal order covering the underground workings. The company challenged the order and objected to MSHA's conditions requiring continuous fan operation…
Ramblin Coal Company, Inc.
Multiple mine-safety violations affirmed with $1,812 in penalties
Ramblin Coal Company operated Mine No. 8, a small coal mine employing about 20 people. Judge William Fauver found violations involving rock dust, electrical equipment, mine-road guarding, cutting-machine guarding, battery chargers, permissible equipment, compressed-gas cylinders, examination…
Toler Creek Energy, Inc.
Settlement partly approved and merger requests denied
Toler Creek Energy asked the judge to approve a settlement covering citations and orders at its No. 1 and No. 2 Mines. Judge William Fauver approved reduced penalties for six citations and orders, totaling $4,850, and required payment within 30 days. He denied requests to merge several other…
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.