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. Black Beauty Coal Company
Unsupported 80 percent settlement reduction rejected
The Secretary proposed resolving 12 citations by reducing total penalties from $104,464 to $20,394, changing six citations to non-S&S, reducing gravity on three, vacating two, and leaving one unchanged. Judge Margaret A. Miller found that the motion did not supply enough facts to justify the more…
Cyprus Emerald Resources, Inc.
Settlement approved and penalty reduced
Cyprus Emerald Resources contested an order issued at the Emerald No. 1 mine. After the Commission remanded the case for further analysis, the Secretary and Cyprus Emerald proposed a settlement. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon approved changing the order from a section 104(d)(1) order to a section 104(a)…
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation
Refuse-pile violations partly affirmed, vacated, and remanded
Cyprus Emerald Resources operated a coal preparation plant and used a large refuse pile near a slurry pond at its Emerald No. 1 Mine in Pennsylvania. The Commission upheld findings that the refuse pile violated construction and dumping rules, that the operator failed to report and investigate an…
Cyprus Emerald Resources Corporation
Refuse-pile violations affirmed
Cyprus Emerald Resources operated Emerald No. 1 Mine, where coal refuse was placed in an unstable pile beside a slurry pond. The pile failed twice, including an incident in which a bulldozer and its operator slid down the pile and the operator had to be helped out with ropes. Judge William Fauver…
Hobet Mining and Construction Company
Citations split and $1,380 penalty assessed
Hobet Mining and Construction Company contested citations issued at its Pine Creek No. 12 Prep Plant and No. 7 Surface Mine. In a correction to the August 6, 1985 decision, Judge James A. Broderick affirmed 12 citations, vacated six, and modified one citation to remove its…
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.