§291h — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

§291h Judicial review

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 6A— - PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - CONSTRUCTION AND MODERNIZATION OF HOSPITALS AND OTHER MEDICAL FACILITIES › Part Part A— - Grants and Loans for Construction and Modernization of Hospitals and Other Medical Facilities › § 291h

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

A State can ask the U.S. court of appeals to review the Surgeon General’s refusal to approve a project or other actions the State does not like. The State must file a petition in the right court within 60 days. The court sends a copy to the Surgeon General, who must give the court the case record. Then the court can uphold or overturn the Surgeon General’s decision, in whole or in part, either temporarily or permanently. Until the record is filed, the Surgeon General may change or cancel his decision. The Surgeon General’s factual findings are binding if supported by substantial evidence. The court can send the case back for more evidence if there is good cause. The Surgeon General may then make new findings and must file the new record; those findings are also binding if supported by substantial evidence. The court’s judgment is final unless the Supreme Court agrees to review it. Filing for review does not automatically pause the Surgeon General’s action unless the court orders a pause.

Title 42, §291h

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)If the Surgeon General refuses to approve any application for a project submitted under section 291e of this title or section 291j of this title, the State agency through which such application was submitted, or if any State is dissatisfied with his action under section 291g of this title such State may appeal to the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which such State is located, by filing a petition with such court within sixty days after such action. A copy of the petition shall be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of the court to the Surgeon General, or any officer designated by him for that purpose. The Surgeon General shall thereupon file in the court the record of the proceedings on which he based his action, as provided in section 2112 of title 28. Upon the filing of such petition, the court shall have jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Surgeon General or to set it aside, in whole or in part, temporarily or permanently, but until the filing of the record, the Surgeon General may modify or set aside his order.

(b)The findings of the Surgeon General as to the facts, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive, but the court, for good cause shown, may remand the case to the Surgeon General to take further evidence, and the Surgeon General may thereupon make new or modified findings of fact and may modify his previous action, and shall file in the court the record of the further proceedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall likewise be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence.

(c)The judgment of the court affirming or setting aside, in whole or in part, any action of the Surgeon General shall be final, subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in section 1254 of title 28. The commencement of proceedings under this section shall not, unless so specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the Surgeon General’s action.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 291h, act

July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title VI, § 625, as added Aug. 13, 1946, ch. 958, § 2, 60 Stat. 1041; amended Oct. 25, 1949, ch. 722, §§ 3(b–d), 8, 63 Stat. 899, 901;

July 12, 1954, ch. 471, § 4(b), 68 Stat. 464, related to projects for

Construction

, the application required and its contents and approval by the Surgeon General, and provided for a hearing prior to disapproval of the application, prior to the general amendment of this subchapter by Pub. L. 88–443. See section 291e of this title. Provisions similar to those comprising this section were contained in former section 291j(b), act

July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title VI, § 632, as added Aug. 13, 1946, ch. 958, § 2, 60 Stat. 1041; amended

June 28, 1948, ch. 646, § 32(a), 62 Stat. 991;

May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 127, 63 Stat. 107;

July 12, 1954, ch. 471, § 4(g), 68 Stat. 466; Aug. 28, 1958, Pub. L. 85–791, § 27, 72 Stat. 950, prior to the general amendment of this subchapter by Pub. L. 88–443.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

“Secretary of Health and Human Services” substituted for “Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare” pursuant to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88, which is classified to section 3508(b) of Title 20, Education.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions

Office of Surgeon General abolished by section 3 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1966, eff. June 25, 1966, 31 F.R. 8855, 80 Stat. 1610, and functions thereof transferred to Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by section 1 of Reorg. Plan No. 3 of 1966, set out as a note under section 202 of this title. Office of Surgeon General reestablished within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, see Notice of Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Mar. 30, 1987, 52 F.R. 11754.