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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Earl Begley, employed by Manalapan Mining Company, Incorporated
Earl Begley v. Manalapan Mining Company, Incorporated (FMSHRC KENT 99-233): Reconsideration petition denied as untimely
An ALJ found that Earl Begley violated the Mine Act by carrying smoking materials underground and assessed a $250 penalty. Begley filed his petition for discretionary review six days after the 30-day deadline, and the Commission denied it as untimely. He later sought reconsideration after the judge…
Earl Begley, employed by Manalapan Mining Co., Inc.
Late petition for discretionary review denied
Earl Begley challenged an ALJ decision finding that he carried smoking materials underground and ordering him to pay a $250 civil penalty. The Commission received his petition for discretionary review six days after the 30-day filing deadline. Because Begley was represented by counsel and offered…
Cougar Coal Company
Smoking-sweep interference citation affirmed
Cougar Coal Company told an underground foreman that MSHA inspectors were at the mine during a surprise inspection intended to find smoking materials. Judge Arthur J. Amchan held that the warning interfered with MSHA's reasonable inspection technique and violated the Mine Act's right-of-entry…
Ebenezer Coal Company, Inc.
Smoking-material citation modified and $250 penalty assessed
During an MSHA smoking sweep, an inspector found an unopened pack of cigarettes in a miner's lunch bag underground at Ebenezer Coal's No. 1 Mine. The company conceded a significant and substantial violation, but disputed the findings of high negligence, highly likely injury, and the proposed $2,500…
Broken Hill Mining Company
One citation modified and one vacated
Broken Hill Mining Company and employee Donald Kidd faced separate citations after a lighter was found in Kidd's lunch bucket at the No. 1 Mine. Judge T. Todd Hodgdon found that the evidence did not prove Kidd willfully carried the lighter underground, so he vacated Kidd's citation and dismissed…
Larry D. Irvin, Employed by New Horizons Coal, Inc.
Underground-smoking citation affirmed and $250 assessed
Larry D. Irvin was working underground at the Dulcimer No. 7 Mine when an inspector observed what he believed was a lighted cigarette and smelled cigarette smoke. A search found no cigarette or other smoking materials, and Irvin denied smoking, but the ALJ credited the inspector's testimony and…
Sherman, employed by Blackhawk
Default order vacated and case remanded
Bob Sherman, employed by Blackhawk, was found in default after failing to answer the Secretary's civil penalty proposal and an order to show cause. The Commission received a letter explaining that Sherman had been hospitalized until the day after the response deadline, and he had sent $25 believing…
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.