[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2798 Introduced in Senate (IS)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2798

  To establish improved mandatory standards to protect miners during 
                  emergencies, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 12, 2006

Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Rockefeller, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Durbin) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To establish improved mandatory standards to protect miners during 
                  emergencies, 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 ``Protecting America's Miners Act''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that, because the Secretary of Labor 
has failed in recent years to adequately fulfill the Secretary's 
obligations under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 801 et seq.) to help miners survive underground mining 
emergencies and has failed to adequately prepare for the significant 
losses to a highly-trained Mine Safety and Health Administration 
inspector workforce that are pending, Congressional intervention is 
needed.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act, any term used in this Act that is defined 
in section 3 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 802) shall have the meaning given the term in such section.

SEC. 4. IMPROVED ESCAPE AND REFUGE REQUIREMENTS TO HELP PROTECT MINERS 
              IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY.

    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) Improved Mandatory Safety Standards to Protect Miners in the 
Event of an Emergency.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
        this section regarding the promulgation of mandatory health or 
        safety standards, and in addition to the requirements of any 
        mandatory health or safety standards promulgated under this 
        Act, the following shall be mandatory safety standards that 
        apply to all underground areas of coal mines:
                    ``(A) Emergency detection, warning, and messaging 
                systems.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
                enactment of the Protecting America's Miners Act, an 
                operator of an underground coal mine shall--
                            ``(i) install atmospheric detection and 
                        warning systems, in all underground areas where 
                        miners normally work and travel, that provide 
                        real-time information regarding methane levels, 
                        carbon monoxide levels, oxygen levels, air 
                        flow, and temperature and that can, to the 
                        maximum extent possible, withstand explosions 
                        and fires;
                            ``(ii) provide each miner working in any 
                        underground area of the mine with a device that 
                        is designed to enable the operator to send a 
                        message to the miner providing instructions 
                        during an emergency; and
                            ``(iii) as soon as the National Institute 
                        for Occupational Safety and Health certifies 
                        that portable devices providing 2-way 
                        communications between the surface and 
                        underground are available and are capable of 
                        operation during some mining emergencies, 
                        provide each miner working in any underground 
                        area of the mine with such a device, and, in 
                        addition, continue to provide the devices 
                        required under clause (ii) until such time as 
                        the 2-way communications devices required by 
                        this paragraph are certified by the National 
                        Institute for Occupational Safety and Health to 
                        be at least as effective as the other devices 
                        in all mining emergency circumstances.
                The Secretary shall establish procedures for regularly 
                consulting with other Federal, State, and foreign 
                agencies with respect to new communications 
                technologies for use in accordance with clauses (ii) 
                and (iii) and for expediting the approval of such new 
                technologies.
                    ``(B) Facilitating emergency escape.--
                            ``(i) Emergency caches.--Not later than 30 
                        days after the date of enactment of the 
                        Protecting America's Miners Act, each operator 
                        of an underground coal mine shall provide 
                        emergency underground caches of air and self-
                        contained breathing equipment, in amounts 
                        sufficient to enable all miners working 
                        anywhere in a particular mine to escape from 
                        the mine in an emergency in which any direct 
                        inhalation of the mine atmosphere by a miner 
                        would likely produce adverse health effects. 
                        The caches shall be located throughout the 
                        mine, including in escapeways. In order to 
                        determine the specific location of each cache 
                        in an escapeway, an operator shall develop a 
                        risk assessment plan that calculates the 
                        necessary amount and placement of the caches 
                        based on the travel time by foot from the 
                        deepest work area in the mine to the surface, 
                        taking into account the impact of emergency 
                        conditions and the demographics of the miners 
                        in the particular mine, except that such caches 
                        shall not be spaced further apart than the 
                        distance an average miner can walk in 30 
                        minutes. Each cache located in an escapeway 
                        shall be marked with flame retardant lifeline 
                        cords or similar devices, and reflective 
                        material shall be placed at 25-foot intervals 
                        along the route to the cache to indicate the 
                        cache's location.
                            ``(ii) Additional emergency caches.--Until 
                        the date that the requirement to provide 
                        refuges under subparagraph (C) is effective, 
                        each operator of an underground coal mine shall 
                        maintain, in addition to the caches described 
                        in clause (i), emergency supplies of air and 
                        self-contained breathing equipment for miners 
                        awaiting rescue due to an emergency within the 
                        mine. Such equipment shall be sufficient to 
                        supply the highest number of miners expected to 
                        be in the working areas of the mine for not 
                        less than 5 days.
                            ``(iii) Self-rescue device approval and 
                        inspection process.--
                                    ``(I) Expedited approval.--The 
                                Secretary shall expedite the process 
                                for approving any self-rescue device 
                                that permits the replenishment of 
                                oxygen without requiring the device 
                                user to remove the device.
                                    ``(II) Inspection program.--The 
                                Secretary shall--
                                            ``(aa) establish a program 
                                        to randomly check samples of 
                                        any self-rescue devices used in 
                                        an underground coal mine on a 
                                        regular basis, in order to 
                                        ensure that the self-rescue 
                                        devices in the coal mine 
                                        inventories are working in 
                                        accordance with the approval 
                                        criteria for such devices;
                                            ``(bb) require a 
                                        manufacturer of a self-rescue 
                                        device to contact the Secretary 
                                        immediately upon notification 
                                        of any potential problem with 
                                        such device; and
                                            ``(cc) notify immediately 
                                        all operators of underground 
                                        coal mines if the Secretary 
                                        detects or is advised of any 
                                        problems with the self-rescue 
                                        devices.
                            ``(iv) Self-rescue device maintenance 
                        schedule.--Not later than 30 days after the 
                        date of enactment of the Protecting America's 
                        Miners Act, each operator of an underground 
                        coal mine shall develop and implement a 
                        maintenance schedule for--
                                    ``(I) checking the reliability of 
                                self-rescue devices;
                                    ``(II) retiring older self-rescue 
                                devices first; and
                                    ``(III) introducing new self-rescue 
                                device technology, such as devices with 
                                interchangeable air or oxygen cylinders 
                                that do not require doffing to 
                                replenish airflow and devices with air 
                                or oxygen supplies of more than 1 hour, 
                                as such devices are approved by the 
                                Secretary and become available.
                            ``(v) Self-rescue device training.--Not 
                        later than 30 days after the date of enactment 
                        of the Protecting America's Miners Act, each 
                        operator of an underground coal mine shall 
                        implement a program to ensure that all miners 
                        are trained in the proper procedures for 
                        donning self-rescue devices, switching from 1 
                        self-rescue device to another, and ensuring a 
                        proper fit of the self-rescue devices.
                            ``(vi) Flame-retardant lifelines.--Whenever 
                        required by law to install lifelines, each 
                        operator of an underground coal mine shall use 
                        flame-retardant lifelines exclusively.
                    ``(C) Refuges.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of the Protecting America's Miners 
                Act, each operator of an underground coal mine shall 
                establish or provide refuges underground in sufficient 
                locations to ensure that all miners working at any 
                location in a mine can reach a refuge that can 
                accommodate such miner within 15 minutes, should such 
                miner determine that escape from the mine is not the 
                best course of action to take during an emergency and 
                without regard to the length of time it might take to 
                escape the mine. Each such refuge shall be a stand-
                alone refuge. Each operator shall ensure that the 
                locations of the refuges are marked and kept current on 
                mine maps, and that mine rescue teams for the mine are 
                regularly provided with information about the design 
                and features of the refuges. Each such refuge shall 
                be--
                            ``(i) equipped with adequate air, food, and 
                        water to accommodate the calculated number of 
                        miners for a period of not less than 5 days;
                            ``(ii) constructed or designed in such a 
                        way as to seal out toxic mine atmospheres and 
                        to eliminate the buildup of toxic atmospheres 
                        or other hazardous conditions within the 
                        refuge; and
                            ``(iii) equipped with telephone lines, or 
                        equivalent 2-way communications to the surface.
                    ``(D) Tracking devices to facilitate rescue.--Not 
                later than 180 days after the date of enactment of the 
                Protecting America's Miners Act, each operator of an 
                underground coal mine shall provide each miner working 
                in an underground location with an electronic tracking 
                device that permits the continuous tracking of the 
                location of the miner within the mine, for the purpose 
                of facilitating the miner's rescue in an emergency.
            ``(2) Modification and supersession.--The provisions of 
        this subsection may be superseded in whole or in part by 
        improved mandatory safety standards promulgated by the 
        Secretary under this section, and may be modified with respect 
        to a particular mine only in accordance with the requirements 
        and procedure described in subsection (c).
            ``(3) Imminent danger.--Any violation of a mandatory safety 
        standard under this subsection, or a mandatory safety standard 
        promulgated by the Secretary that supercedes a standard under 
        this subsection, shall be deemed to create an imminent danger 
        to miners for the purposes of section 107.''.

SEC. 5. FACILITATING THE PROMPT INITIATION OF RESCUE AND MINE RECOVERY 
              EFFORTS.

    (a) Emergency Call Center.--Not later than 30 days after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish, within the 
Mine Safety and Health Administration, a central communications 
emergency call center for all coal or other mine operations that shall 
be staffed and operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by 1 or more 
employees of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. All calls 
placed to the emergency call center shall be answered by an individual 
with adequate experience and training to handle emergency mine 
situations. A single national phone number shall be provided for this 
purpose and the Secretary shall ensure that all miners and mine 
operators are issued laminated cards with emergency call center 
information.
    (b) Contact Information.--The Secretary shall provide the emergency 
call center with a contact list, updated not less often than quarterly, 
that contains--
            (1) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
        numbers, for the members of each mine rescue team responsible 
        for each coal or other mine;
            (2) the phone numbers for the local emergency and rescue 
        services unit that is located nearest to each mine;
            (3) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
        number, for the operator of each mine;
            (4) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
        numbers, for the national and district officials of the Mine 
        Safety and Health Administration;
            (5) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
        numbers, for the State officials in each State who should be 
        contacted in the event of a mine emergency in such State; and
            (6) the contact phone numbers, including the home phone 
        number, for the authorized representative of the miners at each 
        mine.
    (c) Mine Location Maps.--The Secretary shall establish, maintain, 
and keep current on the Department of Labor's website a detailed map or 
set of maps showing the exact geographic location of each operating or 
abandoned mine in the United States. Such map or maps shall--
            (1) be presented, through links within the website, in such 
        a way as to make the location of a mine instantly available to 
        the emergency personnel responding to the mine;
            (2) be available to members of the public; and
            (3) allow a user to find the geographic location of a 
        particular mine, or the geographic locations of all mines of a 
        particular type in a county, congressional district, State, or 
        other commonly used geographic region.
    (d) Required Notification of Emergencies and Serious Incidents.--
            (1) Reporting.--An operator of a coal or other mine shall 
        report any emergency or serious mine incident to the emergency 
        call center not later than 15 minutes after becoming aware of 
        any such emergency or serious mine incident, regardless of 
        whether miners remain at risk.
            (2) Emergencies or serious incidents.--For the purposes of 
        this subsection, an emergency or serious mine incident 
        includes--
                    (A) a mine fire;
                    (B) a roof fall, unplanned inundation, collapse, or 
                unplanned explosion;
                    (C) a sudden change in mine atmospheric conditions;
                    (D) a rib fall that impairs ventilation or impedes 
                passage;
                    (E) a coal or rock outburst that causes the 
                withdrawal of miners;
                    (F) the failure of an impoundment;
                    (G) damage to hoisting equipment in a shaft or 
                slope that endangers an individual;
                    (H) any incident that leads to the death, serious 
                injury with a reasonable potential to cause death, or 
                entrapment, of a miner; and
                    (I) any other emergency or incident, as determined 
                in regulations promulgated by the Secretary, that needs 
                to be examined in order to determine if the working 
                conditions in the mine are safe.
    (e) Enhancing the Availability and Capabilities of Mine Rescue 
Teams.--
            (1) Coal mine rescue team requirements.--
                    (A) Operators with less than 36 employees.--Not 
                later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this 
                Act, an operator of an underground coal mine for which 
                the total number of employees employed in the 
                underground areas of the mine, at any time during the 
                previous year, did not exceed 35 employees, shall 
                ensure that--
                            (i) each mine rescue team that is required 
                        under section 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety 
                        and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)), and 
                        the regulations promulgated pursuant to such 
                        section, includes miners who are employed by 
                        the operator and who are familiar with the 
                        workings of such mine;
                            (ii) all members of the mine rescue team 
                        can reach the mine in not more than 1 hour; and
                            (iii) each mine rescue team conducts at 
                        least 2 mine rescue drills each year in the 
                        mine for which the rescue team has mine rescue 
                        responsibilities.
                    (B) Operators with 36 or more employees.--Not later 
                than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 
                an operator of an underground coal mine that employed, 
                at any time during the previous year, a total of 36 or 
                more employees for work in the underground areas of the 
                mine shall ensure that--
                            (i) each mine rescue team that is required 
                        under section 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety 
                        and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)), and 
                        the regulations promulgated pursuant to such 
                        section, consists exclusively of miners who are 
                        employed by such operator and who are familiar 
                        with the workings of such mine; and
                            (ii) all members of the mine rescue team 
                        are available for immediate deployment.
                    (C) Additional teams.--Nothing in this paragraph 
                shall be construed to preclude an operator of a coal 
                mine from contracting for the services of other mine 
                rescue teams in addition to the mine rescue teams 
                required by section 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety 
                and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)).
            (2) Mine rescue team regulations.--
                    (A) Initiation of rulemaking.--Not later than 30 
                days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
                Secretary shall initiate rulemaking activity to revise 
                the Secretary's regulations under section 115(e) of the 
                Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 
                825(e)) regarding mine rescue teams, and shall in this 
                regard directly contact and solicit the participation 
                of--
                            (i) all existing mine rescue teams;
                            (ii) organizations representing other types 
                        of rescue workers (such as firefighters);
                            (iii) State and local emergency 
                        authorities; and
                            (iv) others whom the Secretary determines 
                        may have information relevant to this 
                        rulemaking.
                    (B) Interim final rules.--The Secretary shall issue 
                the regulations revised under subparagraph (A) as 
                interim final rules not later than 270 days after the 
                date of enactment of this Act.
                    (C) Content of revised regulations.--In revising 
                the regulations under subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
                shall address, at a minimum--
                            (i) the training and qualifications for 
                        mine rescue team members;
                            (ii) the equipment and technology used in 
                        mine rescue;
                            (iii) the structure and organization of 
                        mine rescue teams;
                            (iv) the identification of qualified 
                        surface personnel to communicate with mine 
                        rescue teams during rescue efforts;
                            (v) the provision of uniform credentials to 
                        mine rescue team members, support personnel, or 
                        vehicles for immediate access to any mine site;
                            (vi) the plans required at each mine to 
                        ensure coordination with local emergency 
                        response personnel and to ensure that such 
                        personnel receive adequate training in mine 
                        rescue needs and in coordinating with the mine 
                        rescue teams at each mine; and
                            (vii) requirements to ensure that operators 
                        are prepared to facilitate the work of mine 
                        rescue teams during an emergency by--
                                    (I) storing necessary equipment in 
                                locations readily accessible to mine 
                                rescue teams;
                                    (II) providing mine rescue teams 
                                with a parking and staging area 
                                adequate for their needs;
                                    (III) identifying a space 
                                appropriate for coordinating emergency 
                                communications with the mine rescue 
                                team; and
                                    (IV) identifying and maintaining 
                                separate spaces for family members, 
                                community members, and press to 
                                assemble during an emergency so as to 
                                facilitate communications with these 
                                groups while ensuring the efforts of 
                                the mine rescue teams are not hindered.

SEC. 6. ENHANCING THE INVESTIGATION OF MINE ACCIDENTS.

    (a) Investigations by the Secretary.--Not later than 30 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall initiate 
rulemaking activity to establish regulations regarding the 
investigation of accidents, and shall in this regard directly contact 
and solicit the participation of--
            (1) individuals identified by the Secretary as family 
        members of miners who perished in mining accidents of any type 
        during the preceding 10-year period;
            (2) organizations representing miners;
            (3) mine rescue teams;
            (4) Federal, State, and local investigation and 
        prosecutorial authorities; and
            (5) others whom the Secretary determines may have 
        information relevant to this rulemaking.
    (b) Interim Final Rules.--The Secretary shall issue the regulations 
revised under subsection (a) as interim final rules not later than 270 
days after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (c) Content of Revised Regulations.--In revising the regulations 
under subsection (a), the Secretary shall require that--
            (1) public hearings are held in connection with any fatal 
        accident and in connection with an accident that could have 
        resulted in multiple fatalities;
            (2) the recommendations of an investigation of an accident 
        undertaken in accordance with subsection (a) are made public at 
        such time as the recommendations are provided to the Secretary;
            (3) the Secretary designate an employee as a family 
        advocate to act as the liaison between the Secretary and the 
        family of any miner killed or injured in any accident that is 
        the subject of an investigation;
            (4) the family of a miner killed or injured in an accident 
        that is the subject of an investigation is included in all 
        phases of the investigation (including witness interviews) in 
        which a representative of the operator or the miners is 
        included; and
            (5) the Secretary is the coordinator of rescue operations 
        and communications with the public and families during any 
        investigation of an accident.
    (d) Independent Investigations.--After an accident and upon the 
timely request of the authorized representative of the miners at a 
mine, or representatives of a majority of the families of the miners 
killed or who could have been killed in such accident, the Secretary 
shall contract with the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board 
or other appropriate independent Federal investigative authority to 
conduct an independent investigation of the accident and provide 
recommendations to the Secretary. Such investigation shall be in 
addition to any investigation conducted by the Secretary, and shall be 
conducted pursuant to whatever procedures such authority determines are 
appropriate for the investigation. The Secretary shall provide such 
authority with all information and expertise requested, and shall pay 
for such authority to conduct the authority's investigation, including 
the costs of obtaining the services of independent experts required for 
any such investigation.

SEC. 7. ENHANCING OPERATOR AND OWNER INCENTIVES TO AVOID SERIOUS RISKS 
              TO MINERS.

    (a) Pattern of Violations.--
            (1) Prompt identification of pattern.--Not later than 30 
        days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary is 
        directed to revise the regulations issued by the Secretary 
        under section 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 
        of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 814(e)) as in effect on the day before such 
        date of enactment, so that the regulations provide that--
                    (A) when a potential pattern of violations is 
                identified by any inspector or district manager of the 
                Mine Safety and Health Administration, the operator of 
                the coal or other mine and the authorized 
                representative of miners for the mine shall be notified 
                by the inspector or district manager not later than 10 
                days after such identification; and
                    (B) after receiving the notification described in 
                subparagraph (A), the appropriate Administrator of the 
                Mine Safety and Health Administration shall promptly 
                review any such potential pattern of violations and, 
                not later than 45 days after receiving such 
                notification, make a final decision as to whether a 
                citation for a violation of section 104(e) of such Act 
                should be issued.
            (2) Fine for a pattern of violations.--Section 110 of the 
        Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) is 
        amended--
                    (A) by redesignating subsections (i) through (l) as 
                subsections (k) through (n), respectively; and
                    (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the 
                following:
    ``(i) Patterns of Violation.--
            ``(1) Additional penalties.--If the Secretary determines 
        that a pattern of violations under section 104(e) exists, the 
        Secretary shall assess a penalty, in addition to any other 
        penalty authorized in this Act for a violation of such section, 
        of not more than $1,000,000. All operators of the mine, 
        including any corporate owners, shall be jointly and severally 
        liable for such penalty. The amount of the assessment under 
        this paragraph shall be designed to ensure a change in the 
        future conduct of the operators and corporate owners of such 
        mine with respect to mine safety and health, given the overall 
        resources of such operators. Notwithstanding subsection (k) or 
        section 113, a penalty assessed by the Secretary under this 
        paragraph may not be reduced by the Commission.
            ``(2) Withdrawal of workers.--In addition to the authority 
        to withdraw miners from an area of a coal or other mine 
        pursuant to section 104(e), the Secretary shall withdraw all 
        miners from the entire mine when any pattern of violations has 
        been determined to exist until such time as the Secretary 
        certifies that all identified violations have been corrected 
        and the operator has agreed to abide by a written plan approved 
        by the Mine Safety and Health Administration to ensure that 
        such a pattern of conduct will not recur.''.
    (b) Failure To Timely Pay Penalty Assessments.--Section 105(a) of 
the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 815(a)) is 
amended by striking the third sentence and inserting the following: 
``The operator has 30 days from the receipt of the notification of a 
citation issued by the Secretary, to notify the Secretary that the 
operator intends to contest the citation or proposed assessment of a 
penalty and to place in escrow the amount of the proposed assessment. 
If notification and proof of escrow is not provided to the Secretary, 
the citation and the proposed assessment of penalty shall be deemed a 
final order of the Commission and not subject to review by any court or 
agency. It shall be a felony for any mine operator, including a 
corporate owner, of a coal or other mine to fail to timely pay any 
penalties assessed under this Act for which payment has been demanded. 
Such felony shall be punishable, for each operator, by a fine of not 
less than $50,000 or by imprisonment for 1 year.''.
    (c) Maximum and Minimum Penalties.--Section 110(a) of the Federal 
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820(a)) is amended by 
striking ``more than $50,000 for each such violation.'' and inserting 
``less than $500 or more than $250,000 for each such violation, except 
that, in the case of a violation of a mandatory health or safety 
standard that could significantly and substantially contribute to the 
cause and effect of a coal or other mine health or safety hazard, the 
penalty shall not be less than $1,000 or more than $500,000, for each 
such violation.''.
    (d) Penalty for Late Accident Notification.--Section 110 of the 
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) is further 
amended by inserting after subsection (i) (as inserted by subsection 
(a)(2)(B)) the following:
    ``(j) Any operator who fails to provide timely notification of an 
accident as required under section 5(d)(1) of the Protecting America's 
Miners Act shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than 
$100,000 and not less than $60,000.''.
    (e) Factors in Assessing Penalties.--Section 110(k) of the Federal 
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820(k)) (as redesignated 
by subsection (a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ``the appropriateness'' 
and all that follows through ``the gravity'' and inserting ``whether 
the operator was negligent, the gravity''.

SEC. 8. ENHANCING THE WILLINGNESS OF MINERS AND OTHERS TO REPORT 
              SERIOUS PROBLEMS BEFORE ACCIDENTS OCCUR.

    (a) Establishment of Miner Ombudsman.--There shall be established, 
within the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Labor, 
the position of Miner Ombudsman. The President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, shall appoint an individual with expertise 
in mine safety and health to serve as the Miner Ombudsman.
    (b) Duties.--The Miner Ombudsman shall--
            (1) be responsible for establishing practices to ensure the 
        confidentiality of the identity of miners, and the families or 
        personal representatives of the miners, who contact mine 
        operators, authorized representatives of the miners, the Mine 
        Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Labor, or 
        others with information about mining conditions that may 
        threaten, or have recently threatened as of the time of the 
        contact, miner safety or health, while ensuring that the Mine 
        Safety and Health Administration has the information needed to 
        promptly investigate such complaints;
            (2) establish a toll-free telephone number and appropriate 
        Internet website to permit individuals to confidentially report 
        possible mine mandatory health or safety standard violations or 
        concerns;
            (3) collect and forward information concerning possible 
        mine safety or health violations or concerns to the appropriate 
        officials of the Mine Safety and Health Administration for 
        investigation;
            (4) monitor the Secretary of Labor's efforts to protect 
        miners who report that their rights under section 105(c) of the 
        Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 815(c)) 
        have been violated, and report to the Congress any 
        recommendations that would enhance such rights or protections; 
        and
            (5) carry out public outreach and other activities to 
        facilitate the transmission, to the Secretary of Labor, of 
        information that could help avoid mine accidents.

SEC. 9. ENHANCING SPECIFIC PROTECTIONS FOR UNDERGROUND COAL MINES.

    (a) Special Rulemaking.--Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and 
Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) is further amended by adding at the 
end the following:
    ``(g) Special Rulemaking Procedure for Certain Safety Standards.--
            ``(1) Conveyor belts.--
                    ``(A) Rulemaking and interim standards.--Not later 
                than 30 days after the date of enactment of the 
                Protecting America's Miners Act, the Secretary shall 
                initiate rulemaking activity to develop mandatory 
                safety standards that implement the recommendations of 
                the National Institute for Occupational Safety and 
                Health that conveyor belts used in underground coal 
                mines be designed to minimize flammability. Such 
                revised mandatory safety standards shall be issued as 
                interim standards not later than 270 days after the 
                date of enactment of such Act.
                    ``(B) Application of prior rule.--Until such time 
                as the interim standards described in subparagraph (A) 
                are issued and new requirements on belt flammability 
                are placed in effect, the amendments made by the final 
                rule published on April 2, 2004, in the Federal 
                Register (69 Fed. Reg. 17480) to the mandatory safety 
                standard in section 75.350 of title 30, Code of Federal 
                Regulations, that authorized belt haulage entries to be 
                used to ventilate active working places are suspended, 
                and the Secretary shall instead apply such mandatory 
                safety standard as it was in effect the day before the 
                effective date of such amendments, including all 
                modifications to such standard that had been approved 
                under subsection (c) prior to such date and any new 
                modifications that may be approved in the future 
                pursuant to such section.
            ``(2) Seals.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
        enactment of the Protecting America's Miners Act, the Secretary 
        shall initiate rulemaking activity to modernize and improve 
        mandatory safety standards relating to seals for abandoned 
        areas in underground coal mines. As part of such rulemaking, 
        the Secretary shall improve the 20 psi standard described in 
        section 75.335(a)(2) of title 30, Code of Federal Regulations 
        (as such section was in effect on the date of enactment of the 
        Protecting America's Miners Act). The Secretary shall give 
        particular consideration to the standards in effect in other 
        countries in this regard. The Secretary shall further consider 
        whether the Secretary should be required to inspect seals 
        during the seals' construction to ensure that the seals are 
        constructed in a safe manner. Such improved standards shall be 
        issued as interim mandatory safety standards not later than 270 
        days after the date of enactment of such Act.''.
    (b) Inspections.--Not later than 30 days after the date of 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the National 
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, shall inspect the seals 
of all underground coal mines that are composed of nontraditional 
materials to ensure that the seals are constructed in a safe manner, 
and ensure that any seals not constructed in a safe manner, regardless 
of plan approval, shall be promptly reconstructed in a safe manner.
    (c) Mandatory Health Standards.--Section 101 of the Federal Mine 
Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) is further amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Mandatory Health Standards Regarding Respirable Dust.--
            ``(1) Concentration levels.--Notwithstanding any other 
        requirement of this Act, not later than 90 days after the date 
        of enactment of the Protecting America's Miners Act, the 
        Secretary shall initiate rulemaking to develop mandatory health 
        standards that provide the following:
                    ``(A) Concentration of dust.--Each operator of a 
                coal or other mine shall continuously maintain a 
                concentration of respirable dust, in the mine 
                atmosphere during each shift for which a miner is in 
                any place in a coal or other mine where miners are 
                normally required to work or travel of such mine, of 
                not more than 1.0 milligram of respirable dust per 
                cubic meter of air. In meeting this standard, each 
                concentration level shall be considered independently 
                and shall not be averaged with other such levels.
                    ``(B) Method of measurement.--To measure the level 
                of respirable dust in an area of a coal or other mine, 
                samples shall be taken--
                            ``(i) by the Secretary, and not by the 
                        operator; or
                            ``(ii) by using personal dust monitors on 
                        not less than 3 miners per shift, in each 
                        working section of the mine and in any section 
                        known to contain the highest dust 
                        concentrations, and not less often than once a 
                        year on each miner who works in the mine.
            ``(2) Interim rules.--The Secretary shall issue the rules 
        described under subparagraph (A) as interim final rules not 
        later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the 
        Protecting America's Miners Act.''.
    (d) Definition.--Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 
Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(i) Definition of Coal Mine.--In this section, the term `coal 
mine' has the meaning given the term in section 3(h)(2).''.

SEC. 10. TRANSITION TO A NEW GENERATION OF INSPECTORS.

    (a) Personnel Ceiling Temporarily Lifted.--In order to ensure that 
the Secretary has adequate time to provide that a sufficient number of 
qualified and properly trained inspectors of the Mine Safety and Health 
Administration are in place before any inspectors employed as of the 
date of enactment of this Act retire, any ceilings on the number of 
personnel that may be employed by the Administration with respect to 
mine inspectors are abolished for the 5-year period beginning on the 
date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Contracting With Retired Inspectors.--In the event that, 
notwithstanding the actions taken by the Secretary to hire and train 
qualified inspectors, the Secretary is temporarily unable, at any time 
during the 5-year period beginning on the date of enactment of this 
Act, to employ the number of inspectors required to staff all district 
offices devoted to coal mines at the offices' highest historical levels 
without transferring personnel from supervisory or plan review 
activities or diminishing current inspection resources devoted to other 
types of mines, the Administration is authorized to hire retired 
inspectors on a contractual basis to conduct mine inspections, and the 
retirement benefits of such retired inspectors shall not be reduced as 
a result of such temporary contractual employment.
    (c) Compliance Assistance and User Fees.--In order to ensure that 
the Secretary has sufficient resources to carry out the enforcement 
activities of the Mine Safety and Health Administration, during the 5-
year period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act--
            (1) the Secretary may not expend any funds for technical 
        support or advice to an operator of a particular mine, except 
        funds that are collected through user fees under paragraph (2); 
        and
            (2) an operator who incurs a civil penalty or fine under 
        section 110 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 
        (30 U.S.C. 820) shall be assessed a user fee of $100 for each 
        such penalty or fine, which fee shall be maintained in a 
        separate account by the Secretary to be used to provide 
        technical support or advice to mine operators, with priority 
        given to requests from mines with less than 20 miners.
    (d) Report to the Congress.--During the 5-year period beginning on 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue a special 
report to the appropriate committees of Congress every year, or at such 
more frequent intervals as the Secretary or any such committee may deem 
appropriate, providing information about the actions being taken under 
this section, the size and training of the inspector workforce at the 
Mine Safety and Health Administration, the level of enforcement 
activities, and the number of requests by individual operators of mines 
for compliance assistance.

SEC. 11. TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH PRIORITIES.

    In implementing its research activities in the 5-year period 
beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the National Institute 
for Occupational Safety and Health shall give due consideration to new 
technologies, and existing technologies that could be adapted for use 
in underground coal or other mines, that could facilitate the survival 
of miners in a mining emergency. Such technologies include--
            (1) self-contained self-rescue devices capable of 
        delivering enhanced performance;
            (2) two-way communications devices capable of delivering 
        enhanced performance between underground locations or between 
        underground and surface locations, including devices capable of 
        sustained operation after underground explosions;
            (3) improved battery capacity and common connection 
        specifications to enable emergency communication devices for 
        miners to be run from the same portable power source as a 
        headlamp, continuous dust monitor, or other device carried by a 
        miner;
            (4) improved technology for assisting mine rescue teams, 
        including devices to enhance vision during rescue or recovery 
        operations; and
            (5) improved technology, and improved protocols for the use 
        of existing technologies, to enable conditions underground to 
        be assessed promptly and continuously in emergencies, so as to 
        facilitate the determination by appropriate officials of the 
        instructions to provide both to miners trapped underground and 
        to mine rescue teams and others engaged in rescue efforts.
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