[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2308 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2308

To amend the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to improve mine 
                    safety, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 16, 2006

   Mr. Specter (for himself, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Harkin, Mr. 
 Inouye, Mr. Kennedy, and Mr. Santorum) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to improve mine 
                    safety, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Mine Safety and Health Act of 
2006''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVED MANDATORY HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDARDS.

    Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 811) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Establishing Improved Mandatory Health and Safety 
Standards.--Notwithstanding any other provision of this section 
regarding the promulgation of mandatory health and safety standards, 
and in addition to the requirements of any mandatory safety and health 
standard promulgated under this Act, the following shall be mandatory 
health and safety standards that apply to all coal or other mines:
            ``(1) Oxygen stations.--An operator shall strategically 
        locate, within each area of an underground coal or other mine 
        where miners are working, not less than 1 oxygen station that 
        can provide the average number of miners expected to be working 
        in such area with not less than a 4-day supply of oxygen.
            ``(2) Wireless emergency tracking devices.--An operator 
        shall make available to each miner a wireless emergency 
        tracking device that will enable rescuers to locate the miner 
        in the event of an accident or emergency.
            ``(3) Wireless communications devices.--An operator shall 
        require that each miner working in an underground coal or other 
        mine carry a wireless text messaging or other wireless 
        communications device that will enable rescuers or mine 
        operators to communicate with the miner.
            ``(4) Communications among rescue workers.--In the event of 
        a rescue operation, the operator of a coal or other mine shall 
        ensure that communications relating to the rescue are 
        transmitted only to the individuals participating in the rescue 
        operation.
            ``(5) Secondary telephone service.--For each area within an 
        underground coal or other mine where a miner is working, an 
        operator shall provide secondary telephone service, or 
        equivalent 2-way communication facilities, between the surface 
        and the underground mine at an entry separate from the location 
        of existing telephone service or equivalent facilities, in 
        order to increase the likelihood of maintaining communications 
        between the miner and surface or rescue personnel in the event 
        of an accident or emergency.''.

SEC. 3. REPORTS, PLAN REVIEWS, AND CITATIONS.

    (a) Accident Investigations and Internal Reviews.--Section 103 of 
the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 813) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``In the case of an investigation of an accident or other 
        occurrence relating to health or safety in a coal or other 
        mine, the Secretary, or the authorized representative of the 
        Secretary, shall conduct interviews of the miners regarding the 
        accident or occurrence without having a representative of the 
        operator present.''; and
            (2) in subsection (b), by adding at the end the following: 
        ``The Secretary shall promulgate regulations establishing rules 
        for conducting an investigation of any accident relating to 
        health or safety in a coal or other mine and for holding 
        hearings relating to such investigation. Not later than 30 days 
        after completing such investigation or a review regarding the 
        Administration's response to such accident, the Secretary shall 
        submit the report regarding the investigation or review to the 
        Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on Health, 
        Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee 
        on Appropriations and the Committee on Education and the 
        Workforce of the House of Representatives.''.
    (b) Quarterly Review of Certain Plans.--Section 103 of the Federal 
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 813) is amended by adding 
at the end the following:
    ``(l) Quarterly Review.--Notwithstanding any mandatory safety and 
health standard promulgated under this Act, the Secretary or the 
Secretary's authorized representative shall review the ventilation 
system and methane and dust control plan and the roof control plan of 
an operator at least once every 3 months.''.
    (c) Progress Check.--Section 104(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and 
Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 814(a)) is amended by adding after the 
third sentence the following: ``Not later than 24 hours after an 
operator has received a citation under this subsection, an authorized 
representative of the Secretary shall contact the operator to ensure 
that the operator is taking steps to abate the violation in the 
reasonable time specified in the citation.''.

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY CALL CENTER.

    Section 104 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 814) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(l) Emergency Call Center.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary shall establish, within 
        the Administration, a central communications emergency call 
        center for all coal and other mine operations that shall be 
        staffed and operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All calls 
        placed to the emergency call center shall be answered by an 
        individual.
            ``(2) Contact list.--To assist in the operation of the 
        emergency call center, the Secretary shall provide the 
        emergency call center with an emergency contact list that 
        contains the contact information for all coal or other mines 
        subject to this Act and shall update the contact list on a 
        quarterly basis.''.

SEC. 5. PENALTIES.

    (a) Increased Penalties and User Fees.--Section 110 of the Federal 
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by inserting before the 
                period ``, except that a flagrant violation may be 
                assessed a civil penalty of not more than $500,000'';
                    (B) in the second sentence, by inserting ``, other 
                than a flagrant violation,'' after ``safety standard''; 
                and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following: ``In this 
                subsection, the term `flagrant violation' means a 
                reckless or repeated failure to make reasonable efforts 
                to eliminate a known violation of a mandatory health 
                and safety standard that substantially and proximately 
                caused, or reasonably could be expected to cause, death 
                or serious bodily injury.'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking ``$5,000'' and inserting 
        ``$55,000'';
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by inserting ``knowingly exposes miners to 
                situations likely to cause death or serious bodily 
                injury,'' after ``operator who'';
                    (B) by striking ``$25,000'' and inserting 
                ``$250,000''; and
                    (C) by striking ``$50,000'' and inserting 
                ``$500,000'';
            (4) in subsection (e), by striking ``$1,000'' and inserting 
        ``$20,000'';
            (5) in subsection (f), by striking ``$10,000'' and 
        inserting ``$100,000'';
            (6) by redesignating subsections (i) through (k) and 
        subsection (l) as subsections (j) through (l) and subsection 
        (o), respectively;
            (7) by inserting after subsection (h) the following:
    ``(i) Failure to Inform.--Any operator who fails to inform the 
Secretary of a disaster relating to a coal or other mine within the 15-
minute period following the occurrence of the disaster shall be subject 
to a civil penalty of not less than $100,000. The Secretary may waive 
the penalty under this subsection if the Secretary determines that the 
failure to inform within the time period was caused by circumstances 
outside the control of the operator.''; and
            (8) by inserting after subsection (l) (as so redesignated 
        by paragraph (6)) the following:
    ``(m) Minimum Fine or Penalty.--
            ``(1) Serious illness or injury hazard.--A fine or civil 
        penalty assessed under this section for a violation of a 
        mandatory health or safety standard, or other provision of this 
        Act, that could cause serious illness or injury shall be in an 
        amount of not less than $10,000.
            ``(2) Habitual violator.--A fine or civil penalty assessed 
        under this section, to any operator of a coal or other mine who 
        habitually violates this Act, for a violation of a mandatory 
        health or safety standard, or other provision of this Act, that 
        could significantly and substantially contribute to a safety or 
        health hazard shall be in an amount of not less than $20,000.
    ``(n) User Fees.--An operator who incurs a civil penalty or fine 
under this section shall, in addition to the amount of such penalty or 
fine, be assessed a user fee of $100 for each such penalty or fine. 
Such fees shall be collected by the Secretary to be deposited in an 
Administration account and shall be used to augment the amounts 
appropriated to the Administration for carrying out the following 
activities:
            ``(1) To reimburse operators for the cost of training, 
        research and development, rescue teams, safe rooms, or other 
        supplies or equipment for miner safety.
            ``(2) To enable the Administration to provide technical 
        support, educational policy and development, and program 
        evaluation and information activities in accordance with this 
        Act.''.
    (b) No Reduction of Certain Fines.--Section 105(d) of the Federal 
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 815(d)) is amended in the 
first sentence by inserting ``, except that the Commission shall not 
decrease a civil penalty assessed for a flagrant violation, as defined 
in section 110(a), or for a habitual violation'' after ``appropriate 
relief''.

SEC. 6. MANDATORY HEALTH AND SAFETY TRAINING.

    Section 115(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 
(30 U.S.C. 825(a)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (7); and
            (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
            ``(5) all miners shall receive initial training in the 
        proper usage of wireless communications devices and shall 
        receive refresher training courses on such usage not less often 
        than once each calendar year;
            ``(6) each rescue team for the mine shall participate in a 
        surprise, unannounced emergency rescue drill at an operating 
        mine not less often than 2 times each calendar year; and''.
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