II 109th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 2798 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.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Protecting America's Miners Act.

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.

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.

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. .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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). .

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.

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.