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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Manalapan Mining Company
Safety-retaliation complaint dismissed after foreman discharge
Danny Foust was a foreman and certified electrician at Manalapan Mining's coal preparation plant when the company discharged him on May 31, 2001. The Secretary alleged that the discharge was retaliation for safety activity, including Foust's refusal to sign the electrical book because of overloaded…
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…
Williams Brothers Coal Co., Inc.
Four citations modified and $561 penalty assessed
Williams Brothers Coal Company operated the small No. 3 underground coal mine in Pike County, Kentucky. MSHA cited the mine after an inspection found electrical grounding and de-energization problems, conveyor and belt-line maintenance issues, a missing mine map, and a non-functioning fire sensor…
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…
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.