U.S. Code » Title 30 » CHAPTER 22— MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH

30 U.S.C. § 802

Definitions

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For the purpose of this chapter, the term—(a) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Labor or his delegate;(b) “commerce” means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication among the several States, or between a place in a State and any place outside thereof, or within the District of Columbia or a possession of the United States, or between points in the same State but through a point outside thereof;(c) “State” includes a State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands;(d) “operator” means any owner, lessee, or other person who operates, controls, or supervises a coal or other mine or any independent contractor performing services or construction at such mine;(e) “agent” means any person charged with responsibility for the operation of all or a part of a coal or other mine or the supervision of the miners in a coal or other mine;(f) “person” means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, firm, subsidiary of a corporation, or other organization;(g) “miner” means any individual working in a coal or other mine;(h)(1) “coal or other mine” means (A) an area of land from which minerals are extracted in nonliquid form or, if in liquid form, are extracted with workers underground, (B) private ways and roads appurtenant to such area, and (C) lands, excavations, underground passageways, shafts, slopes, tunnels and workings, structures, facilities, equipment, machines, tools, or other property including impoundments, retention dams, and tailings ponds, on the surface or underground, used in, or to be used in, or resulting from, the work of extracting such minerals from their natural deposits in nonliquid form, or if in liquid form, with workers underground, or used in, or to be used in, the milling of such minerals, or the work of preparing coal or other minerals, and includes custom coal preparation facilities. In making a determination of what constitutes mineral milling for purposes of this chapter, the Secretary shall give due consideration to the convenience of administration resulting from the delegation to one Assistant Secretary of all authority with respect to the health and safety of miners employed at one physical establishment;(2) For purposes of subchapters II, III, and IV, “coal mine” means an area of land and all structures, facilities, machinery, tools, equipment, shafts, slopes, tunnels, excavations, and other property, real or personal, placed upon, under, or above the surface of such land by any person, used in, or to be used in, or resulting from, the work of extracting in such area bituminous coal, lignite, or anthracite from its natural deposits in the earth by any means or method, and the work of preparing the coal so extracted, and includes custom coal preparation facilities;(i) “work of preparing the coal” means the breaking, crushing, sizing, cleaning, washing, drying, mixing, storing, and loading of bituminous coal, lignite, or anthracite, and such other work of preparing such coal as is usually done by the operator of the coal mine;(j) “imminent danger” means the existence of any condition or practice in a coal or other mine which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm before such condition or practice can be abated;(k) “accident” includes a mine explosion, mine ignition, mine fire, or mine inundation, or injury to, or death of, any person;(l) “mandatory health or safety standard” means the interim mandatory health or safety standards established by subchapters II and III of this chapter, and the standards promulgated pursuant to subchapter I of this chapter;(m) “Panel” means the Interim Compliance Panel established by this chapter; and(n) “Administration” means the Mine Safety and Health Administration in the Department of Labor.(o) “Commission” means the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.(Pub. L. 91–173, § 3, Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat. 743; Pub. L. 95–164, title I, § 102(b), Nov. 9, 1977, 91 Stat. 1290.)Editorial NotesReferences in Text

This chapter, referred to in text, 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

1977—Par. (a). Pub. L. 95–164, § 102(b)(1), substituted “Secretary of Labor” for “Secretary of the Interior”.

Par. (d). Pub. L. 95–164, § 102(b)(2), (4), substituted “supervises a coal or other mine or any independent contractor performing services or construction at such mine” for “supervises a coal mine”.

Pars. (e), (g). Pub. L. 95–164, § 102(b)(4), inserted “or other” after “coal” wherever appearing.

Par. (h). Pub. L. 95–164, § 102(b)(3), added subpar. (1), designated existing provisions as subpar. (2), and inserted “For purposes of subchapters II, III, and IV of this chapter,” after “(2)”.

Par. (j). Pub. L. 95–164, § 102(b)(4), inserted “or other” after “coal”.

Pars. (n), (o). Pub. L. 95–164, § 102(b)(5), added pars. (n) and (o).

Statutory Notes and Related SubsidiariesEffective Date of 1977 Amendment

Amendment 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.

Executive DocumentsTermination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

For termination of Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, see note set out preceding section 1681 of Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 170 cases (13 in the last 5 years), 1974–2026 · leading case: Sec'y of Labor v. Nat'l Cement Co. of California, 494 F.3d 1066 (D.C. Cir. 2007).
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Sec'y of Labor v. Nat'l Cement Co. of California, 494 F.3d 1066 (D.C. Cir. 2007). · cites it 16× “" 30 U.S.C. § 802 (h)(1). The ALJ concluded that the Access Road is a "mine" under section 3(h)(1)(B) — so as to come within the jurisdiction of MSHA — because, under the unambiguous language of section 3(h)(1)(A) and the undisputed facts, it is both "private" and "appurtenant…”
RNS Servs., Inc. v. Sec'y of Labor, 115 F.3d 182 (3d Cir. 1997). · cites it 20× “” 30 U.S.C. § 802 (i) (1988). RNS contends that the MSHA (and the Commission) lack jurisdiction because the Site is not one at which “the work of preparing the coal” occurs and the material handled at the Site is not pure coal.”
Sec'y of Labor v. Twentymile Coal Co., 456 F.3d 151 (D.C. Cir. 2006). · cites it 4× “” 30 U.S.C. § 802 (d) (emphasis added). (The entities listed before the italicized “or” are also known as “production-operators.”
Ass'n of Bituminous Contractors v. Andrus, 581 F.2d 853 (D.C. Cir. 1978). · cites it 9× “30 U.S.C. § 802 (h) (1970). Therefore, any person who “controls or supervises .”
United Energy Servs., Inc. v. Fed. Mine Saf. & Health Admin. Fed. Mine Saf. & Health Review Comm'n, 35 F.3d 971 (4th Cir. 1994). · cites it 9× “The Federal Mine Safety and Review Commission *973 (the Commission) enforced the citation and orders, concluding in the process that United Energy’s operations were covered by the independent contractor provision of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 802 (d) and that MSHA’s regulatory…”
Meredith v. Fed. Mine Saf. & Health Review Comm'n, 177 F.3d 1042 (D.C. Cir. 1999). · cites it 5× “” See 30 U.S.C. § 802 (a) (“ ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Labor or his delegate.”
Donovan v. Dewey, 452 U.S. 594 (1981). · cites it 2× “" 30 U. S. C. § 802 (h) (1) (1976 ed., Supp.”
Amigo Smokeless Coal Co. v. Dir., Off. of Workers' Comp. Programs, U. S. Dept. Of Labor, & Clarence Bower, 642 F.2d 68 (4th Cir. 1981). · cites it 4× “30 U.S.C. § 802 provides: (h) “coal mine” means an area of land and all structures, facilities, machinery, tools, equipment, shafts, slopes, tunnels, excavations, and other property, real or personal, placed upon, under, or above the surface of such land by any person, used in,…”
Raymond J. Donovan v. Carolina Stalite Co., 734 F.2d 1547 (D.C. Cir. 1984). · cites it 5× “The principal issue on appeal is whether Carolina Stalite’s facility constitutes a “mine” within the meaning of section 3(h) of- the Act, 30 U.S.C. § 802 (h) (1982). We conclude that it does.”
Bush & Burchett, Inc. v. Robert B. Reich, 117 F.3d 932 (6th Cir. 1997). · cites it 6× “Most courts that have construed the statutory definitions of 30 U.S.C. § 802 to determine whether MSHA has jurisdiction over an entity or work site have not indicated what standard of review they used.”
Pennsylvania Elec. Co. v. Fed. Mine Saf. & Health Review Comm'n, 969 F.2d 1501 (3d Cir. 1992). · cites it 6× “We affirm first, because the Penelec conveyor head drives constitute the “work of preparing coal” and thus they fall under the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. § 802 (h)(1), and second, because the Mine Safety and Health Administration promulgated regulations that preempt the Occupational…”
Power Fuels, LLC v. Fed. Mine Saf. & Health Review Comm'n, 777 F.3d 214 (4th Cir. 2015). · cites it 8× “” 30 U.S.C. § 802 (h)(1)(C), (i). Power Fuels challenged the Secretary of Labor’s assignment of jurisdiction to MSHA, rather than to the nonspecialized Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”).”
Show all 170 citing cases →
30 U.S.C. § 802(b): 1 case
Marshall v. Meredith Mining Co., 483 F. Supp. 737 (W.D. Pa. 1980).
30 U.S.C. § 802(h): 1 case
Ray Marshall v. Stoudt's Ferry Preparation Co., 602 F.2d 589 (3d Cir. 1979).
30 U.S.C. § 802(h)(1)(C): 1 case
Sec'y of Labor v. KC Transp., Inc., 77 F.4th 1022 (D.C. Cir. 2023).
30 U.S.C. § 802(j): 1 case
Freeman Coal Mining Co. v. Interior Bd. of Mine Operations Appeals, 504 F.2d 741 (7th Cir. 1974).
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