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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Banner Blue Coal Company
Dust violations upheld but significant and substantial findings removed
MSHA cited dust-collection systems on two roof bolters after finding dust behind their filters. Judge George A. Koutras held that dust behind a filter showed the systems were not maintained in operating condition, and he rejected the company's claim that the inspector's method of checking behind…
Newmont USA Limited
Unventilated-heading order modified and penalty reduced to $5,000
Newmont shut off an auxiliary fan and tied off ventilation bags in two headings at its Nevada gold mine, leaving ropes and signs stating that a heading inspection was required. Judge John Kent Lewis found that the headings were unventilated and that a rope did not prevent entry as required by the…
Cumberland Coal Resources LP
Ventilation violations modified with $12,500 penalty
Cumberland removed four permanent stoppings and substituted temporary curtains while preparing equipment access between two sections of its underground coal mine. The changes allowed substantial intake-air leakage into the return, leaving the working face below the quantity required by the approved…
Homer City Coal Processing Corporation
Guardrail violations reduced and $450 assessed
MSHA cited Homer City after finding eight unsecured railings around feeder boxes and alleging an inadequate daily examination at its coal cleaning plant. Judge John Kent Lewis found that the openings beside and into the boxes were covered by the guarding standard, but the Secretary barely proved…
Heldeberg Bluestone & Marble Inc.
Eye-protection violation affirmed as unwarrantable
An MSHA inspector saw a miner splitting bluestone with a sledge hammer and wedge without wearing safety glasses while the quarry foreman watched nearby. The same miner had been cited for failing to wear eye protection two weeks earlier, and the foreman knew of other similar instances. Judge George…
B&J Excavating, Incorporated
Haul-road dust citation settled at $2,000
MSHA cited B&J Excavating for failing to control dust that reduced visibility on quarry haul roads. The citation alleged a significant and substantial violation and unwarrantable failure, with a proposed penalty of $3,689. B&J said it scraped the road, applied clean stone, and reduced the speed…
Triton Coal Company
Secretary ordered to produce investigation statements for in camera review
Hazel Olson alleged that Triton Coal Company did not hire her because of safety activities at another mine. After MSHA declined to bring a discrimination complaint for her, Olson filed her own case and sought statements from two witnesses interviewed during the MSHA investigation. The Secretary…
Pamela Bridge Pero v. Cyprus Plateau Mining Corp.
Settlement approved on remand
Pamela Bridge Pero's discrimination case against Cyprus Plateau Mining Corp. returned to the judge on remand. The parties chose to settle rather than present additional evidence, and they represented that the agreement finally resolved all issues. Judge August F. Cetti found the settlement…
County of Ouray, Colorado
Citations and penalties affirmed
County of Ouray, Colorado operated a county gravel pit and was cited in three consolidated proceedings. The citations concerned an unnotified fatal accident, dangerous highwall conditions, highwall-control procedures, communication equipment, and an employee working alone. Judge John J. Morris…
Jefferson County Road & Bridge Department
Mine Act jurisdiction upheld and citations affirmed
Jefferson County operated gravel pits whose material was used on county roads, and the operation used equipment manufactured outside Colorado. The judge held that the Mine Act applied to the county operation because the gravel pits were mines that affected interstate commerce. He also found that…
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.