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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Chestnut Coal Company
Settlement approved with reduced penalty
Chestnut Coal operated a very small underground coal mine in Pennsylvania. The Secretary alleged violations involving an inoperable main mine fan, preshift examinations by people who were not yet state-certified, and resuming operations before a withdrawal order was terminated. The judge approved a…
Green River Coal Company, Inc.
Methane and coal-dust findings mixed
Green River Coal operated an underground coal mine with three consolidated dockets. The judge found that methane in a return-air split violated the requirement to reduce methane below one percent and that the operator’s failure to act on a recorded methane reading was unwarrantable. The judge also…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Methane and dust orders partly affirmed
Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal contested an imminent-danger order, methane-ventilation citations, roof and coal-dust conditions, and a detonator-magazine condition at its mines and preparation plant. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed the imminent-danger order and related methane citations, modified two…
Sterling Energy, Inc.
Mine safety orders affirmed and two modified
Sterling Energy, Inc. operated the Sterling No. 5 Mine. MSHA cited roof control, preshift examination, conveyor guarding, ventilation, and airflow conditions, including an imminent-danger order and several unwarrantable-failure orders. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed the cited violations and orders…
Freeman United Coal Mining Company
Ventilation violation vacated after inspector interference
Freeman United was cited after an inspector measured only 1,662 cubic feet per minute of air at the end of a line curtain, below the 5,000 cfm level in the mine's approved ventilation plan. The low reading followed a tear in the curtain, and a miner had immediately begun rehanging it. The inspector…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Nonpermissible distribution box violation affirmed
MSHA found a nonpermissible electrical distribution box in a crosscut at Jim Walter Resources' No. 5 underground coal mine. The Commission held that the crosscut was the last open crosscut between the relevant entries, so the equipment violated the Mine Act standard requiring permissible equipment…
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.