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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Jim Walter Resources, Inc.
Contest resolved and settlements approved
Judge David F. Barbour resolved a consolidated group of contest and civil-penalty proceedings involving Jim Walter Resources and several individuals at the No. 4, No. 5, and No. 7 Mines. He affirmed an order issued after a hoisting-equipment accident and affirmed the related reporting citation…
The Harriman Coal Corp.
Equipment-safety citations affirmed
The Harriman Coal Corporation used a Caterpillar excavator without handrails along the outer edges of its walkways and a Ford truck without an audible backup alarm. Judge Roy J. Maurer held that the excavator lacked the handrails required by 30 C.F.R. § 77.409(b), and that the truck's missing alarm…
Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Company
Most citations affirmed, one vacated, and S&S findings reduced
Pittsburg and Midway Coal Mining Company operated the Cimarron Mine and the York Canyon surface and underground mines. Judge John J. Morris affirmed most of the citations involving ventilation plans, guarding, mobile-equipment alarms, explosives work, and related conditions. He vacated one…
Harriman Coal Corporation
Inoperative loader alarm violation affirmed as S&S for $100
Harriman Coal Corporation operated a front-end loader at its Penag Goodspring Mine with a backup alarm that did not function. Judge Avram Weisberger found a violation of 30 C.F.R. § 77.410 because the loader lacked an audible warning device when placed in reverse. The loader's blind spot, the…
Consolidation Coal Company
Settlements approved across consolidated penalty cases
Consolidation Coal Company and the Secretary of Labor presented settlements covering one contest proceeding and eleven civil penalty proceedings involving several coal mines. Judge David Barbour approved the settlements after finding them in the public interest. The order reduced or vacated several…
The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co-York CNYN Complex
One citation affirmed, five modified
The Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Company contested six significant-and-substantial citations issued at the York Canyon Underground Mine. The judge affirmed the citation for a Caterpillar scraper that lacked an adequate automatic backup alarm and assessed the proposed $112 penalty. The parties…
Coal Mac Incorporated
Settlement partly approved with S&S findings retained
Coal Mac operated the Coal Mac No. 17 and No. 7 Surface mines. The parties sought to reduce several significant-and-substantial designations and civil penalties across citations involving mobile equipment, storage, explosives, brakes, guards, and other safety conditions. Judge William Fauver…
Lang Brothers Inc.
Mine Act covers gas-well contractor operations serving a coal mine
Lang Brothers cleaned and plugged gas wells for Consolidation Coal's Blacksville No. 2 Mine. Lang argued that its work involved gas wells rather than coal mining, that it was not a mine operator, and that OSHA rather than MSHA had jurisdiction. The Commission held that the work was integral to coal…
Lang Brothers, Inc.
Contractor citations affirmed with $234 penalty
Lang Brothers, a heavy construction company that cleaned and plugged gas wells for a coal mine, was cited for equipment and safety violations during two well-plugging projects. The ALJ held that Lang was an independent contractor performing services integral to coal extraction and was therefore…
Ten-A-Coal Company
Two alarm citations affirmed, windshield citation vacated
Ten-A-Coal operated the Ward Mine, a small strip mine in West Virginia. MSHA cited two inoperative audible backup alarms and a cracked bulldozer windshield. Judge George A. Koutras affirmed the two alarm citations, vacated the windshield citation, and vacated the significant-and-substantial…
Westwood Energy Properties
MSHA jurisdiction and contested violations affirmed
Westwood Energy Properties operated a culm bank and processed refuse from a former anthracite coal mine into fuel for electrical power generation. The judge held that the facility was a mine and that its work preparing coal brought it within MSHA jurisdiction, even though Westwood did not extract…
Black Beauty Coal Company
Five violations affirmed and one charge dismissed
Black Beauty Coal Company operated a surface coal mine where inspectors found loose highwall material, a loader without falling-object protection, miners without required training, a bulldozer without a backup alarm, and operations contrary to closure orders. Judge William Fauver found five…
Highwire, Incorporated
Settlement approved for eight coal-mine citations
The Secretary of Labor proposed civil penalties against Highwire, Incorporated for eight alleged violations of mandatory safety standards at its No. 1 Mine. The parties agreed to pay the full proposed amounts, $126 in KENT 87-95 and $380 in KENT 87-156. Judge George A. Koutras found the settlements…
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.