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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Elk Run Coal Company, Inc.
Electrical orders reduced from unwarrantable failure
Two Elk Run electricians worked inside a motor-control cabinet without opening, locking, and tagging the upstream pole disconnects and without wearing protective gloves. Their meter exploded during testing, knocking one electrician down and causing hearing loss. Judge Avram Weisberger affirmed…
Black Mesa Pipeline, Inc.
Electrical citations reversed
Black Mesa Pipeline operated a coal-slurry preparation plant with high-voltage electrical equipment. The Commission majority held that the Mine Safety and Health Administration's two-level testing policy for electrician qualification was not grounded in the plain language of 30 C.F.R. § 77.103. It…
Black Mesa Pipeline, Inc.
Electrical citations affirmed by the ALJ
Black Mesa Pipeline operated a coal-slurry preparation plant with electrical equipment. Judge Jacqueline Bulluck found that the company violated Mine Act electrical examination and record-keeping requirements after its qualified electrician testing program did not meet the regulatory requirements…
Otis Elevator Company
Discovery motion granted
The Secretary sought discovery from Otis Elevator Company in a case involving whether an employee working on a mine elevator system was a qualified person. Judge John J. Morris found Otis's responses to two requests for admission inadequate and found the requested maintenance records relevant and…
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.