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. Armstrong Coal Company, Inc.
Stay continued with deadline for liability decision
MSHA sought an $8,893 penalty against Armstrong Coal for allegedly allowing repairs beneath raised dragline equipment that was not securely blocked at the Midway Mine. The penalty case had been stayed while the Secretary considered personal liability under Mine Act section 110(c). Two years after…
HLC Trucking Company, Inc.
Citation modified before hearing
MSHA cited HLC Trucking after a mechanic was found leaning over the frame of a dump truck while its raised bed was not blocked or secured. Before the scheduled hearing, the Secretary moved to change the alleged standard from 30 C.F.R. § 77.1607(p) to 30 C.F.R. § 77.405(b), which specifically…
Sunny Ridge Mining Company, Inc.
Remand penalties and liability resolved
These consolidated cases returned to the judge after a Commission remand. The parties agreed to modify the violation involving 30 C.F.R. § 77.405(b) from a section 104(d) citation with a $3,000 penalty to a section 104(a) significant-and-substantial citation with moderate negligence and a $431…
Secretary of Labor v. Whayne Supply Company
Unwarrantable-failure finding remanded
Whayne Supply Company services Caterpillar machinery at coal mines. During a bulldozer repair, a field technician was killed when a raised belly pan was not securely blocked before work was performed underneath it. The ALJ found that the technician's conduct could be considered in evaluating…
Secretary of Labor v. Sunny Ridge Mining Company, Inc.
Mixed rulings on raised equipment and highwall violations
Sunny Ridge Mining operated a surface coal mine in Kentucky. The Commission vacated and remanded the finding that miners worked under an unsecured raised truck bed because the ALJ did not explain the factual basis and the record was incomplete. It affirmed three highwall violations and the…
Whayne Supply Company
Raised-equipment citation affirmed and inspection citation vacated
Whayne Supply Company employee James Paul Blanton was killed while working beneath the belly pan of a bulldozer at a surface coal mine. The Judge found that Whayne violated the requirement to securely block raised machinery before work was performed underneath it, but concluded that the violation…
B & S Trucking Company
Raised truck bed violation affirmed with reduced penalty
B & S Trucking Company was cited after a driver walked beneath the unsupported raised bed of a coal truck while fueling it at the Manalapan No. 1 Mine. The judge found that the conduct violated the requirement to block raised machinery before work is performed underneath it and was significant and…
Mingo Logan Coal Co.
Settlement motion denied
Mingo Logan Coal contested a section 107(a) order and a related civil penalty proceeding at the Mountaineer Mine. The proposed settlement would have converted an order concerning failure to block a longwall canopy, reduced the negligence finding, and lowered the penalty from $35,000 to $10,000. The…
Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company
Methane and dust orders partly affirmed
Rochester and Pittsburgh Coal contested an imminent-danger order, methane-ventilation citations, roof and coal-dust conditions, and a detonator-magazine condition at its mines and preparation plant. Judge Roy J. Maurer affirmed the imminent-danger order and related methane citations, modified two…
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.