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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Hazleton Shaft Corporation
Grinder trigger-lock citation vacated
An MSHA inspector found an unused hand grinder at Hazleton Shaft's preparation plant with both a pressure-sensitive trigger and a manufacturer-installed trigger lock. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon held that section 77.402 requires a control needing constant hand or finger pressure but does not prohibit a…
Justis Supply & Machine Shop
Three citations affirmed at a dragline assembly site
Justis Supply & Machine Shop performed cutting and welding on a dragline being assembled near BHP Minerals' Navajo Mine in New Mexico. Judge Richard W. Manning found that the dedicated dragline site was a mine under the Mine Act and that Justis was an independent contractor performing services…
Consolidation Coal Company
Partial citation and penalty decision
Consolidation Coal operated the Humphrey No. 7 underground coal mine. Judge David F. Barbour approved a $20 settlement for one citation, found violations involving weekly examinations, permissibility, equipment safeguards, ventilation, and accumulations, and modified several citations and an order…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlement approved and multiple citations modified
Consolidation Coal agreed to settle 18 alleged violations at its Arkwright No. 1 Mine, including three citations that were also being contested. Judge Paul Merlin approved a settlement reducing the total penalties from $4,380 to $2,677. Three citations were modified to reduce the likelihood of…
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.