[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3450 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3450

  To require publicly traded coal companies to include certain safety 
  records in their reports to the Commission, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                 May 27 (legislative day, May 26), 2010

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require publicly traded coal companies to include certain safety 
  records in their reports to the Commission, 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. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS REGARDING COAL OR OTHER MINE SAFETY.

    (a) Reporting Mine Safety Information.--Each issuer that is 
required to file reports pursuant to section 13(a) or 15(d) of the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m, 78o) and that is an 
operator, or that has a subsidiary that is an operator, of a coal or 
other mine shall include, in each periodic report filed with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission under the securities laws on or 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the following information for 
the time period covered by such report:
            (1) For each coal or other mine of which the issuer or a 
        subsidiary of the issuer is an operator--
                    (A) the total number of violations of mandatory 
                health or safety standards that could significantly and 
                substantially contribute to the cause and effect of a 
                coal or other mine safety or health hazard under 
                section 104 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 
                of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 814) for which the operator received 
                a citation from the Mine Safety and Health 
                Administration;
                    (B) the total number of orders issued under section 
                104(b) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 814(b));
                    (C) the total number of citations and orders for 
                unwarrantable failure of the mine operator to comply 
                with mandatory health or safety standards under section 
                104(d) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 814(d));
                    (D) the total number of flagrant violations under 
                section 110(b)(2) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 820(b)(2));
                    (E) the total number of imminent danger orders 
                issued under section 107(a) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 
                817(a));
                    (F) the total dollar value of proposed assessments 
                from the Mine Safety and Health Administration under 
                such Act (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.); and
                    (G) the total number of mining-related fatalities.
            (2) A list of such coal or other mines, of which the issuer 
        or a subsidiary of the issuer is an operator, that receive 
        written notice from the Mine Safety and Health Administration 
        of--
                    (A) a pattern of violations of mandatory health or 
                safety standards that are of such nature as could have 
                significantly and substantially contributed to the 
                cause and effect of coal or other mine health or safety 
                hazards under section 104(e) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 
                814(e)); or
                    (B) the potential to have such a pattern.
            (3) Any pending legal action before the Federal Mine Safety 
        and Health Review Commission involving such coal or other mine.
    (b) Reporting Shutdowns and Patterns of Violations.--Beginning on 
and after the date of enactment of this Act, each issuer that is an 
operator, or that has a subsidiary that is an operator, of a coal or 
other mine shall file a current report with the Securities and Exchange 
Commission on Form 8-K (or any successor form) disclosing the following 
regarding each coal or other mine of which the issuer or subsidiary is 
an operator:
            (1) The receipt of an imminent danger order issued under 
        section 107(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 
        1977 (30 U.S.C. 817(a)).
            (2) The receipt of written notice from the Mine Safety and 
        Health Administration that the coal or other mine has--
                    (A) a pattern of violations of mandatory health or 
                safety standards that are of such nature as could have 
                significantly and substantially contributed to the 
                cause and effect of coal or other mine health or safety 
                hazards under section 104(e) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 
                814(e)); or
                    (B) the potential to have such a pattern.
    (c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed 
to affect any obligation of a person to make a disclosure under any 
other applicable law in effect before, on, or after the date of 
enactment of this Act.
    (d) Commission Authority.--
            (1) Enforcement.--A violation by any person of this Act, or 
        any rule or regulation of the Securities and Exchange 
        Commission issued under this Act, shall be treated for all 
        purposes in the same manner as a violation of the Securities 
        Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) or the rules and 
        regulations issued thereunder, consistent with the provisions 
        of this Act, and any such person shall be subject to the same 
        penalties, and to the same extent, as for a violation of the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or the rules or regulations 
        issued thereunder.
            (2) Rules and regulations.--The Securities and Exchange 
        Commission is authorized to issue such rules or regulations as 
        are necessary or appropriate for the protection of investors 
        and to carry out the purposes of this Act.
    (e) Definitions.--In this Act--
            (1) the terms ``issuer'' and ``securities laws'' have the 
        meaning given the terms in section 3 of the Securities Exchange 
        Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c);
            (2) the term ``coal or other mine'' means a coal or other 
        mine, as defined in section 3 of the Federal Mine Safety and 
        Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 802), that is subject to the 
        provisions of such Act (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.); and
            (3) the term ``operator'' has the meaning given the term in 
        section 3 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 
        U.S.C. 802).
    (f) Effective Date.--This Act shall take effect on the day that is 
30 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>