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Title 30, Mineral Lands and MiningRelease 119-110

§816 Judicial Review of Commission Orders

Title 30 › CHAPTER 22 — MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH › SUBCHAPTER I — GENERAL › § 816

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Anyone harmed by a Commission order can ask a U.S. court of appeals to review it. The request must be filed within 30 days in the appeals court for the circuit where the problem happened or in the D.C. Circuit. The court clerk will send a copy to the Commission and the other parties, and the Commission must send the case record to the court under section 2112 of title 28. The appeals court then has sole control of the case and can confirm, change, or cancel the Commission’s order and enforce any part it keeps. The court generally will not consider issues that were not raised before the Commission unless there are extraordinary circumstances. The Commission’s factual findings are final if supported by substantial evidence in the whole record. If a party shows new evidence is important and had good reason not to offer it earlier, the court can order that evidence taken before the Commission. The Commission can change its findings or order after that. After any remand, the appeals court’s judgment is final except for possible review by the U.S. Supreme Court under section 1254 of title 28. A court may grant temporary relief while the review is pending, with limits. For most Commission orders (but not those under section 817(a) or certain citations under section 814(a) or (f)), the court can give short-term relief only if all parties are notified and heard, the requester shows a strong chance of winning on the merits, and the relief will not harm miners’ health or safety. For Panel orders, the court may grant temporary relief if parties are notified and the requester shows a strong chance of success. The Secretary may also seek review or enforcement in the same courts using the same rules. If no review is filed within 30 days, the Commission’s findings and order become conclusive for later enforcement by the Secretary. Unless the court orders otherwise, asking for review does not automatically pause the Commission’s order. The clerk will normally enter a decree enforcing a final order and send it to the Secretary and the operator, and the court may impose penalties in contempt proceedings under section 820.

Full Legal Text

Title 30, §816

Mineral Lands and Mining, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Petition by person adversely affected or aggrieved; temporary relief
(1)Any person adversely affected or aggrieved by an order of the Commission issued under this chapter may obtain a review of such order in any United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the violation is alleged to have occurred or in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, by filing in such court within 30 days following the issuance of such order a written petition praying that the order be modified or set aside. A copy of such petition shall be forthwith transmitted by the clerk of the court to the Commission and to the other parties, and thereupon the Commission shall file in the court the record in the proceeding as provided in section 2112 of title 28. Upon such filing, the court shall have exclusive jurisdiction of the proceeding and of the questions determined therein, and shall have the power to make and enter upon the pleadings, testimony, and proceedings set forth in such record a decree affirming, modifying, or setting aside, in whole or in part, the order of the Commission and enforcing the same to the extent that such order is affirmed or modified. No objection that has not been urged before the Commission shall be considered by the court, unless the failure or neglect to urge such objection shall be excused because of extraordinary circumstances. The findings of the Commission with respect to questions of fact, if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall be conclusive. If any party shall apply to the court for leave to adduce additional evidence and shall show to the satisfaction of the court that such additional evidence is material and that there were reasonable grounds for the failure to adduce such evidence in the hearing before the Commission, the court may order such additional evidence to be taken before the Commission and to be made a part of the record. The Commission may modify its findings as to the facts, or make new findings, by reason of additional evidence so taken and filed, and it shall file such modified or new findings, which findings with respect to questions of fact, if supported by substantial evidence on the record considered as a whole, shall be conclusive. The Commission may modify or set aside its original order by reason of such modified or new findings of fact. Upon the filing of the record after such remand proceedings, the jurisdiction of the court shall be exclusive and its judgment and degree shall be final, except that the same shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States, as provided in section 1254 of title 28.
(2)In the case of a proceeding to review any order or decision issued by the Commission under this chapter, except an order or decision pertaining to an order issued under section 817(a) of this title or an order or decision pertaining to a citation issued under section 814(a) or (f) of this title, the court may, under such conditions as it may prescribe, grant such temporary relief as it deems appropriate pending final determination of the proceeding, if—
(A)all parties to the proceeding have been notified and given an opportunity to be heard on a request for temporary relief;
(B)the person requesting such relief shows that there is a substantial likelihood that he will prevail on the merits of the final determination of the proceeding; and
(C)such relief will not adversely affect the health and safety of miners in the coal or other mine.
(3)In the case of a proceeding to review any order or decision issued by the Panel under this chapter, the court may, under such conditions as it may prescribe, grant such temporary relief as it deems appropriate pending final determination of the proceeding, if—
(A)all parties to the proceeding have been notified and given an opportunity to be heard on a request for temporary relief; and
(B)the person requesting such relief shows that there is a substantial likelihood that he will prevail on the merits of the final determination of the proceeding.
(b)Petition by Secretary for review or enforcement of final Commission orders
The Secretary may also obtain review or enforcement of any final order of the Commission by filing a petition for such relief in the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the alleged violation occurred or in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the provisions of subsection (a) shall govern such proceedings to the extent applicable. If no petition for review, as provided in subsection (a), is filed within 30 days after issuance of the Commission’s order, the Commission’s findings of fact and order shall be conclusive in connection with any petition for enforcement which is filed by the Secretary after the expiration of such 30-day period. In any such case, as well as in the case of a noncontested citation or notification by the Secretary which has become a final order of the Commission under subsection (a) or (b) of section 815 of this title, the clerk of the court, unless otherwise ordered by the court, shall forthwith enter a decree enforcing the order and shall transmit a copy of such decree to the Secretary and the operator named in the petition. In any contempt proceeding brought to enforce a decree of a court of appeals entered pursuant to this subsection or subsection (a), the court of appeals may assess the penalties provided in section 820 of this title, in addition to invoking any other available remedies.
(c)Stay of order or decision of Commission or Panel
The commencement of a proceeding under this section shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the order or decision of the Commission or the Panel.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This chapter, referred to in subsec. (a), was in the original “this Act”, meaning Pub. L. 91–173, Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat. 742, known as the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, which is classified principally to this chapter. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 801 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1984—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 98–620 struck out provision that petitions filed under this subsection had to be heard expeditiously. 1977—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 95–164 added subsec. (a)(1) consisting of a revision of the provisions of former subsecs. (a), (b), (d), and (f) with additions to cover the proceedings in the reviewing court. Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 95–164 redesignated subsec. (c)(1) as (a)(2) and substituted “issued by the Commission” for “issued by the Secretary” and “under section 817(a) of this title or an order or decision pertaining to a citation issued under section 814(a) or (f) of this title” for “under section 814(a) of this title or an order or decision pertaining to a notice issued under section 814(b) or (i) of this title” in the provisions preceding subpar. (A). Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 95–164 redesignated subsec. (c)(2) as (a)(3). Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95–164 added subsec. (b). Provisions of former subsec. (b) were incorporated as revised into subsec. (a)(1). Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 95–164 redesignated subsec. (e) as (c). Former subsec. (c), which consisted of pars. (1) and (2), redesignated (a)(2) and (3). Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 95–164 struck out subsec. (d) and incorporated its provisions, relating to review by the Supreme Court, into subsec. (a)(1). Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 95–164 redesignated subsec. (e) as (c). Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 95–164 struck out subsec. (f) which related to the appointment of attorneys by the Secretary to represent him in proceedings instituted under this section.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–620 not applicable to cases pending on Nov. 8, 1984, see section 403 of Pub. L. 98–620, set out as a note under section 1657 of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure.

Effective Date

of 1977 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 95–164 effective 120 days after Nov. 9, 1977, except as otherwise provided, see section 307 of Pub. L. 95–164, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.

Effective Date

Section operative 90 days after Dec. 30, 1969, except to the extent an earlier date is specifically provided for in Pub. L. 91–173, see section 509 of Pub. L. 91–173, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

30 U.S.C. § 816

Title 30, Mineral Lands and Mining

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110