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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ASARCO, Inc.
Silica-dust citation dismissal vacated and remanded
MSHA cited ASARCO at its underground Young Mine, a zinc mine in Tennessee, after a skip tender was exposed to an average of 2.3 milligrams of respirable silica-bearing dust per cubic meter of air. The administrative law judge dismissed the citation based on the Commission's earlier decision…
Keystone Coal Mining Corporation
Spot-inspection citations vacated
MSHA cited Keystone Coal Mining Corporation for respirable-dust concentrations based on single-shift samples from a spot-inspection program. The Commission held that the program attempted to rescind an earlier finding that single-shift sampling did not accurately represent miners' exposure, and…
Asarco, Incorporated
Stop-cord citations vacated
Asarco contested two citations alleging that emergency stop cords on conveyor belts were not properly located and an order concerning a separate mine standard. Judge August F. Cetti found that the stop cords were positioned so a person could readily deactivate the conveyors and rejected the…
Drummond Company, Inc.
Excessive-history penalties remanded for recalculation
Drummond challenged civil penalties calculated under the Secretary of Labor's interim excessive-history program. The Commission held that the program exceeded an interim court mandate, was adopted without the required notice-and-comment process, and conflicted with the Secretary's Part 100 penalty…
Drummond Company, Inc.
Excessive-history penalties remanded for recalculation
Drummond challenged civil penalties calculated under the Secretary of Labor's interim excessive-history program. The Commission held that the program exceeded an interim court mandate, was adopted without the required notice-and-comment process, and conflicted with the Secretary's Part 100 penalty…
Tarmann v. International Salt Company
Kathleen I. Tarmann v. International Salt Company (FMSHRC LAKE 89-56-DM): Dismissal vacated and case remanded
An ALJ dismissed Kathleen I. Tarmann's discrimination proceeding after being told that the parties had settled and after Tarmann did not respond to an order to show cause. Tarmann's counsel later said that no settlement had been reached and asked that the case be reinstated, while International…
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.