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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Secretary of Labor v. Knox Creek Coal Corporation
Four violations held S&S and penalties remanded
MSHA cited Knox Creek Coal Corporation at its methane-prone Tiller No. 1 underground coal mine for three impermissible electrical enclosures, a damaged trailing cable, and extensive combustible accumulations on a conveyor belt. The judge found all five violations were not significant and…
McElroy Coal Company
Longwall-belt accumulations upheld and 19 other matters settled
McElroy Coal Company faced 20 citations and orders at its underground coal mine. The parties settled 19 matters for $12,576.50, including removal of several S&S designations, correction of one cited standard, and vacation of two citations. Judge Jerold Feldman separately affirmed a section 75.400…
Oak Grove Resources, LLC
Scoop citation upheld, cable citation reduced
Oak Grove admitted that a battery-powered scoop had an excessive gap in its electrical enclosure and that a shuttle-car cable splice was deteriorated. Judge Gary Melick found the scoop violation S&S and highly grave because the gassy mine had a history of methane ignitions and the gap could allow…
Basin Resources, Incorporated
42-violation decision with $32,600 assessed
Basin Resources operated the Golden Eagle underground coal mine in Colorado, which later closed. Judge Richard W. Manning denied the Secretary's motion to add Basin's parent companies as respondents because the evidence did not show that they controlled or supervised the mine's day-to-day…
LJ'S Coal Corporation
Mixed rulings impose $1,644 in penalties
An ALJ reviewed several safety citations and orders issued at LJ's Coal Corporation's No. 1 Mine. The judge dismissed one mine-rescue citation because the records did not prove that the apparatus itself had gone untested for 30 days. He affirmed violations involving high-voltage cables, an exposed…
Peabody Coal Company
Cab and canopy violation affirmed
MSHA cited Peabody Coal Company after inspectors observed mobile bridge carriers operating without protective cabs or canopies at the Camp No. 11 Mine. The Commission held that an MBC is self-propelled electric face equipment when it is taken into the last open crosscut, and that the first MBCs in…
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.