Commission review of penalty assessments

Section 110(i) (30 U.S.C. 820(i)) is amended by striking In assessing civil monetary penalties, the Commission shall consider and inserting the following: In any review of a citation and proposed penalty assessment contested by an operator, the Commission shall assess not less than the penalty derived by using the same methodology (including any point system) prescribed in regulations under this Act, so as to ensure consistency in operator penalty assessments, except that the Commission may assess a penalty for less than the amount that would result from the utilization of such methodology if the Commission finds that there are extraordinary circumstances. If there is no such methodology prescribed for a citation or there are such extraordinary circumstances, the Commission shall assess the penalty by considering.