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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Big Ridge, Inc.
Ventilation and accumulations orders yield $17,200 total penalty
Big Ridge faced four contested orders involving its ventilation plan and combustible oil or coal accumulations, plus a fifth violation resolved by settlement. Judge Michael E. Zielinski affirmed the ventilation violation but removed unwarrantable failure because the off-plan air-reading location…
Secretary of Labor v. Leeco Incorporated
Roof-control and ventilation penalties set at $7,000
Leeco operated an underground Kentucky coal mine where MSHA cited failures to follow the approved roof-control plan and ventilation plan. Judge Michael E. Zielinski found the roof-control violation significant and substantial and the result of unwarrantable failure, based on extensive and obvious…
Tanoma Mining Company
Ventilation order modified and $1,600 penalty affirmed
Tanoma Mining Company was cited after an inspector found insufficient air in the last open crosscut at the Tanoma Mine, where methane was also detected. The judge found that the condition violated the ventilation standard and was significant and substantial because continued inadequate ventilation…
Peabody Coal Company
Multiple citations affirmed or modified, $3,081 assessed
Peabody Coal operated the Camp No. 11 underground mine in Kentucky and faced citations involving rock dust, ventilation, roof dust, a trailing cable, and respirable dust. The judge found that the rock dust violation was significant and substantial because methane and other conditions made an…
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.