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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Mingo Logan Coal Company
Discrimination complaint dismissed
Nathan B. Harvey alleged that Mingo Logan Coal Company discharged him because of safety-related activity at its Mountaineer Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that Harvey had not shown he engaged in protected activity or that the discharge was caused by such activity. The judge credited the…
Kyber Coal Company
Settlement approved across consolidated contest and penalty proceedings
Judge David F. Barbour approved a settlement covering consolidated contest and civil penalty proceedings involving Kyber Coal Company and A A & W Coals, Inc. The record states that the matters concerned alleged violations of mandatory coal mine safety standards in Parts 48, 75, and 77, including…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Methane orders affirmed and modified
Jim Walter Resources operated coal mines with recurring methane problems and contested several orders and citations. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that placing curtains to divert methane away from a monitor violated the methane-monitor and methane-control standards, and that both violations were…
M A G Incorporated
Settlements totaling $21,000 approved across 14 dockets
M A G Incorporated contested 54 alleged safety and health violations across 14 dockets at Alloy Deep Mine No. 2. The parties reported that the operator was a small mine with poor financial condition, that no accidents or injuries resulted from the cited conditions, and that all conditions were…
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…
Freeman United Coal Mining Company
Fan-stoppage citation dismissed
Freeman United Coal Mining Company contested a citation alleging that its underground Crown II Mine had failed to withdraw people after the mine fan stopped for at least 15 minutes. The judge found that the testimony did not reliably establish when the fan stopped or restarted, and that the…
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…
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.