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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Rosebud Mining Company
Official release contains conflicting orders
Rosebud Mining operated the Josephine No. 3 underground coal mine. MSHA alleged that a panic bar on a mobile bridge carrier required more than 15 pounds of force to deenergize a connected continuous miner, and proposed a $184 penalty after a miner suffered crushing injuries. The first signed…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Co.
$10,340 penalty assessed
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company operated the C-2 and H-1 underground coal mines in Kentucky. Judge Avram Weisberger evaluated consolidated violations involving roof and rib control, electrical equipment, ventilation, methane, and compliance with an approved plan. He dismissed two citations…
Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Consolidated contest and penalty proceedings resolved
These consolidated proceedings involved one contest and four civil penalty proceedings arising from alleged dust-control and other mine-safety violations. The judge affirmed the violation in the contested withdrawal order, vacated its significant-and-substantial finding, and found unwarrantable…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company
Consolidated penalties partly affirmed, vacated, and settled
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company faced civil-penalty proceedings involving five dockets and multiple alleged safety violations. The parties settled some citations, while Judge Roy J. Maurer decided the remaining disputes. The judge affirmed many citations, vacated some citations for insufficient…
Donner Coal Company, Inc.
Citations modified, one vacated, and $793 penalty assessed
Donner Coal Company operated the Black Rose No. 1 Mine. Judge Roy J. Maurer found that several cited conditions were significant and substantial, while other findings were not supported by the circumstances. He modified two citations to remove their significant-and-substantial characterization…
Consolidation Coal Company
Two orders modified and one affirmed
The Secretary alleged three significant and substantial violations at Consolidation Coal Company's Osage No. 3 Mine, including two allegations of unwarrantable failure. Judge James A. Broderick modified the belt-guard and continuous-miner orders by removing the significant-and-substantial and…
Johnie Childers Coal Company, Inc.
Four violations affirmed with $500 penalty
Johnie Childers Coal Company operated the No. 7 underground coal mine in Kentucky. Inspectors found inadequate lighting and no panic bar on a roof bolting machine, inoperable brakes on a shuttle car, and drilling without the line curtain required by the mine's ventilation plan. Judge William Fauver…
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.