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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Wyoming Fuel Company n/k/a Basin Resources, Inc.
Ventilation findings split on review
Basin Resources changed the ventilation system at the Golden Eagle Mine without obtaining MSHA's prior approval. The Commission affirmed that the change violated the mine's approved ventilation plan, but remanded whether the violation was significant and substantial because the judge had not…
Bethenergy Mines, Incorporated
Ventilation citations and penalty proceedings dismissed
Bethenergy Mines faced consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving methane levels and the operation of bleeder entries at its Cambria Slope No. 33 Mine. The judge found that the Secretary did not establish that the mine's approved ventilation plan imposed the specific methane…
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…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane citation dismissed and contest granted
Jim Walter Resources contested a citation alleging that methane levels in the mine's return aircourses exceeded the limit in 30 C.F.R. § 75.309(a). Judge Gary Melick found that the Secretary issued the citation immediately after discovering the methane and did not show that the operator had been…
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.