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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Doss Fork Coal Company, Inc.
Three orders affirmed after remand
Doss Fork Coal Company was ordered to pay civil penalties after MSHA found loose coal accumulations, inadequate roof support, and failures to record hazardous conditions at the Seminole Mine. On remand, Judge Gary Melick found that the first violation resulted from unwarrantable failure and high…
Doss Fork Coal Company
Violations remanded and negligence affirmed
The Commission reviewed four enforcement matters arising from conditions at Doss Fork’s Seminole Mine. It sent two orders back for further analysis of whether the operator’s conduct was an unwarrantable failure, and it vacated the dismissal of a third order after holding that the cited…
Consolidation Coal Company
Partial citation and penalty decision
Consolidation Coal operated the Humphrey No. 7 underground coal mine. Judge David F. Barbour approved a $20 settlement for one citation, found violations involving weekly examinations, permissibility, equipment safeguards, ventilation, and accumulations, and modified several citations and an order…
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…
Consolidation Coal Company
Roof order affirmed and related settlement resolved
MSHA pursued three civil penalty proceedings involving hearing-conservation citations and a hazardous roof condition at Consolidation Coal's Blacksville No. 2 and Osage No. 3 Mines. Judge Jerold Feldman affirmed the citation and imminent-danger withdrawal order for a deteriorated tailgate roof…
Eagle Nest, Incorporated
Water accumulation violation found significant and substantial on remand
Eagle Nest, Incorporated contested a citation for more than 16 inches of murky water in a longwall tailgate return entry that examiners had to traverse for weekly examinations. The Commission had vacated an earlier finding that the violation was not significant and substantial and remanded the S&S…
Eagle Nest, Incorporated
Water-accumulation S&S finding remanded
Eagle Nest's underground coal mine had water accumulations in a longwall tailgate return entry that miners had to travel for weekly examinations. An ALJ found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 75.305 but concluded it was not significant and substantial because an examiner could walk cautiously around…
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…
Consolidation Coal Company
Preshift-examination order modified
MSHA alleged that Consolidation Coal Company failed to conduct and record preshift examinations in a coal-mine tailgate entry where miners were working near water, trip hazards, and unstable roof. Judge Paul Merlin found the failure to conduct a preshift examination was significant and substantial…
Consolidation Coal Company
Citation outcomes split across roof support and ladder cases
Consolidation Coal was cited at the Humphrey No. 7 and Osage No. 3 mines for roof support, ladder access, and other conditions. Judge Avram Weisberger found that missing cribs violated the roof control plan but was not significant and substantial because the area would have been cribbed before…
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…
Consolidation Coal Company
Three citations resolved with settlements and an affirmed violation
Consolidation Coal operated the Blacksville No. 1 underground coal mine. The judge approved settlements for two citations, including a reduced $350 penalty for an accumulation of loose coal and float coal dust and a $276 penalty for failing to report a hazardous roof condition during a weekly…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlements approved and citations partly modified
Consolidation Coal's five related dockets involved settlements and a contested roof-support order at the Blacksville No. 1 and No. 2 Mines. Judge James A. Broderick approved the proposed settlements, vacated one overlapping citation, and affirmed the remaining settled citations. On the contested…
Zeigler Coal Company
Abandoned-panel citation vacated
MSHA cited Zeigler Coal Company for allegedly failing to ventilate an abandoned panel at the Murdock Mine under 30 C.F.R. § 75.329-1(a). Judge George A. Koutras found that the standard applied only to abandoned areas already in existence by December 30, 1970, while this panel was developed in 1987…
Cyprus Empire Corporation
Citation vacated, imminent-danger order affirmed
MSHA cited Cyprus Empire after an inspector found loose, broken roof near a longwall shield at the Eagle No. 5 Mine and issued an imminent-danger withdrawal order. The Commission upheld the Secretary's ability to modify the citation and order and affirmed the withdrawal order because the roof…
Beaver Creek Coal Company
Three citations vacated, one penalty assessed
Beaver Creek faced consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving roof-bolter controls, continuous-miner permissibility, a mine plan examination, and a citation the company agreed to pay. Judge August F. Cetti vacated the citations for the actuating bar, continuous miner, and seal…
Mettiki Coal Company
Safeguard, citation, and order vacated
Mettiki Coal Company was cited after an inspector found water and mud in approaches to mine seals and issued a safeguard requiring clear, safe travelways. The ALJ found that the safeguard addressed a hazard common to underground mines and had bypassed the formal rulemaking process used for…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company v. Secretary of Labor
Carbon-dioxide citation vacated at bleeder evaluation points
MSHA cited Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company after air samples at bleeder evaluation points and a nearby crosscut showed carbon dioxide above the 0.5 percent limit in 30 C.F.R. § 75.301. The operator argued that the cited locations were part of a bleeder system rather than active workings, so the…
Rushton Mining Company v. Secretary of Labor
Weekly return-air-course examination violation modified
Rushton Mining operated an underground coal mine with several deep water holes in its return air courses. The company contested a citation alleging that the weekly examination was not made through the entire course and that required examiner initials, dates, and times were missing. Judge James A…
Tunnelton Mining Company
Weekly air-course examination violation modified
MSHA cited Tunnelton Mining Company for failing to examine and record examinations of portions of a return aircourse at the Marion Mine. The judge found that the violation of the weekly examination standard was proven because safe areas and travelways to bleeder examination points were not being…
Mettiki Coal Corporation
Orders vacated
Mettiki Coal contested three withdrawal orders and the related civil penalty proceeding at its coal mine. One order alleged that dislodged legs under roof crossbars had not been promptly replaced, but Judge Gary Melick found the legs were temporary supports and not permanent roof supports under the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Withdrawal order vacated and penalty proceeding dismissed
Consolidation Coal contested a withdrawal order and a related civil penalty proceeding concerning weekly examinations of abandoned areas at the Osage No. 3 mine. The Secretary alleged that the operator violated 30 C.F.R. § 75.305 by failing to have a certified person examine the areas. Judge Gary…
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.