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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C. W. Mining Company
Citations affirmed, modified, and vacated
C. W. Mining faced 18 citations at its Bear Canyon coal mines, including issues involving preshift examinations, electrical grounding, and electrical equipment. Judge Richard W. Manning vacated one citation, affirmed or modified the others, and assessed penalties based on the Mine Act criteria. The…
Blue Diamond Coal Company
Fatal electrocution case affirmed as modified, $90,500 penalty assessed
Blue Diamond Coal Company operated an underground coal mine in Kentucky where electrician Gary Caudill was electrocuted while working on a belt starter box. MSHA charged six violations involving deenergizing electrical equipment, electrical grounding and labeling, weekly examinations, and…
Blue Diamond Coal Company
Fatal electrocution case affirmed as modified, $90,500 penalty assessed
Blue Diamond Coal Company operated an underground coal mine in Kentucky where electrician Gary Caudill was electrocuted while working on a belt starter box. MSHA charged six violations involving deenergizing electrical equipment, electrical grounding and labeling, weekly examinations, and…
Primrose Coal Company
Electrical citations affirmed
Primrose Coal Company operated the Primrose Slope mine in Pennsylvania. Judge Gary Melick considered three consolidated civil penalty proceedings involving electrical grounding, bonding, and frame-grounding requirements. He affirmed the citations, approved a reduced settlement penalty for some…
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company
Dust citations affirmed and other matters resolved
Harlan Cumberland Coal Company faced five consolidated civil penalty proceedings involving mandatory Mine Act standards at its C-2 and D-1 mines. The Judge affirmed two citations for failing to provide valid respirable dust samples after finding that samples had to be received by the MSHA…
Peabody Coal Company
Two citations affirmed as non-S&S after remand
Peabody Coal operated the Martwick UG Mine. After the Commission vacated an earlier decision and remanded the case, Judge Arthur J. Amchan applied the Mathies framework to two citations involving an external grounding device and an unmarked cathead. He affirmed both citations as…
Peabody Coal Company
Two citations affirmed as non-S&S
Peabody Coal operated the Martwick UG Mine. On remand from the Commission, Judge Arthur J. Amchan considered whether two citations were significant and substantial under the Commission's Mathies framework. He found that an unconnected external grounding device on a cathead violated 30 C.F.R. §…
Peabody Coal Company
Electrical citations affirmed as significant and substantial
MSHA cited Peabody Coal Company after finding that a cathead's external grounding wires were disconnected and that another cathead was not plainly marked. Judge Arthur J. Amchan found both violations significant and substantial under the Mathies test. He affirmed both citations and assessed a $189…
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.