[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 20]
[House]
[Pages 28571-28573]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             MINE COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION ACT

  Mr. MATHESON. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3877) to require the Director of the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology to establish an initiative to promote the 
research, development, and demonstration of miner tracking and 
communications systems and to promote the establishment of standards 
regarding underground communications to protect miners in the United 
States, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3877

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Mine Communications 
     Technology Innovation Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) The failure of miner tracking and communications 
     devices or lack thereof in mines severely hampers rescue 
     efforts in the event of emergencies.
       (2) Mines, particularly underground mines, have properties 
     that present unique technical challenges for the integration 
     of currently available tracking and communications systems. 
     These properties include the lack of a clear path or open air 
     which is required for radio signals and WiFi. Additionally, 
     because coal is an absorptive material, less than 10 percent 
     of the radio spectrum that is used above ground can be used 
     underground. A fraction of that (only about 1 percent) radio 
     spectrum is actually allocated for commercial communications 
     purposes. As a consequence, the availability of miner 
     communication equipment is severely limited.
       (3) Research and experience have shown that communications 
     and tracking systems may not work equally well in every mine 
     or in every emergency situation, and therefore several 
     different systems may be necessary for development and 
     integration.
       (4) Because of the serious challenges of the mine 
     environment and the limited market provided by the mining 
     industry, much needed technology has not yet been developed 
     by the private sector or is not commercially available in the 
     United States.
       (5) Furthermore, due to the regulatory structure of the 
     industry and the lengthy approval process for mine tracking 
     and communications systems, research must be accelerated so 
     that next generation technology can be quickly and 
     efficiently integrated into mines to protect the safety of 
     miners.
       (6) The National Institute of Standards and Technology is 
     well positioned to help accelerate the development of mining 
     tracking and communications technology. The National 
     Institute of Standards and Technology has a long history of 
     working in conjunction with industry to invest in longer-
     term, high-risk research which yields national benefits

[[Page 28572]]

     far beyond private payoff. Further, the National Institute of 
     Standards and Technology builds partnerships with industry to 
     leverage existing research and development to drive next 
     generation technology.
       (7) The National Institute of Standards and Technology is 
     well-positioned to accelerate development of consensus mining 
     communications standards given the extensive work that the 
     organization has done in the field of emergency 
     communications to develop standards and technologies for 
     interoperable wireless telecommunications and information 
     systems.
       (8) In developing such standards, the National Institute of 
     Standards and Technology should work in cooperation with the 
     National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health and the 
     Mine Safety and Health Administration, and other relevant 
     public and private stakeholders, to build on existing 
     technology and knowledge regarding mine communications 
     systems.

     SEC. 3. MINE COMMUNICATIONS AND TRACKING RESEARCH AND 
                   DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.

       (a) Establishment.--The Director of the National Institute 
     of Standards and Technology shall provide for the 
     establishment of a program of research, development, and 
     demonstration that includes the establishment of best 
     practices, adaptation of existing technology, and efforts to 
     accelerate the development of next generation technology and 
     tracking systems for mine communications.
       (b) Coordination.--In carrying out this section, the 
     Director shall coordinate with relevant Federal agencies and 
     industry to evaluate areas of research and development and 
     best practices that will be most promising in protecting 
     miner safety.
       (c) Optional Focus.--In establishing this program, the 
     Director may focus on the following communications and 
     tracking system characteristics:
       (1) Systems that are likely to work in emergency 
     situations.
       (2) Systems that work in coal mines, with special attention 
     paid to deep underground coal mines.
       (3) Systems that provide coverage throughout all areas of 
     the mine.
       (4) Hybrid systems that use both wireless and 
     infrastructure based systems.
       (5) Functionality for 2-way and voice communications.
       (6) Systems that serve emergency and routine communications 
     needs.
       (7) The ability to work with existing legacy systems and to 
     be quickly integrated.
       (8) Propagation environment characterization, performance 
     metrics, and independently derived validation tests to verify 
     performance for standards development.

     SEC. 4. STANDARDS REGARDING UNDERGROUND COMMUNICATIONS.

       Consistent with Office of Management and Budget Circular A-
     119, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
     Technology shall work with industry and relevant Federal 
     agencies to develop consensus industry standards for 
     communications in underground mines. The Director shall also 
     develop and provide any needed measurement services to 
     support implementation of these standards. In their efforts 
     to help develop these standards and related measurement 
     services, the following issues should be addressed:
       (1) The appropriate use of frequency bands and power 
     levels.
       (2) Matters related to interoperability of systems, 
     applications, and devices.
       (3) Technology to prevent interference.

     SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated to the Director of 
     the National Institute of Standards and Technology such sums 
     as are necessary for carrying out this Act for fiscal years 
     2009 and 2010, to be derived from amounts authorized under 
     section 3001 of the America COMPETES Act.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Utah (Mr. Matheson) and the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Gingrey) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Utah.


                             General Leave

  Mr. MATHESON. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to 
include extraneous material on H.R. 3877, the bill now under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Utah?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. MATHESON. Madam Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I'm very pleased that this action is taking place 
today on the floor of the House of Representatives. I represent the 
Second Congressional District of Utah, and that includes the Crandall 
Canyon Mine where this past August I think everyone in this country is 
aware of the coal mining accident that occurred where 6 men were 
trapped, and during the rescue attempt, three rescuers were killed in a 
cave-in.
  There were a lot of emotions that we all felt and shared during that 
disaster; but beyond those emotions, I think something that must have 
crossed all of our minds as we all watched this tragedy unfold was a 
question, and that was, how is it as the rescuers tried to locate these 
6 trapped men that we can't know exactly where they are, that there 
isn't some kind of signal or beacon or some way to communicate such 
that we can have a better sense of exactly where the 6 men were 
trapped?
  I think that's a question that a lot of us have, and here in 
Congress, as a member of the House Science Committee, I asked those 
questions, and the committee collectively, majority and minority, has 
looked at that issue.
  The answer really is that the technology doesn't exist today to 
communicate in this manner between the surface and folks who are 
trapped deep underground, and so the effort here and the purpose of 
this legislation, it's a very narrow piece of legislation, looks at 
encouraging development of technology that would allow this type of 
communication to occur in the future.
  The thing about this bill that I'm really proud of is the fact that 
the committee worked so well together, and I really want to thank 
Chairman Gordon and Ranking Member Hall for their extraordinary effort 
and also the staff, both majority and the minority, for working 
together to move this bill in a rather quick manner and in a bipartisan 
manner. Suggestions were taken from folks on both sides of the aisle, 
and the bill that came out of the committee reflected those discussions 
and deliberations among everyone involved in the committee.
  So I think this is an example where Congress is passing good 
legislation, a substantive piece of legislation. It's a piece of 
legislation that is so important for the 1,400 underground mines we 
have in this country and, quite frankly, the many thousands of 
underground mines that exist around the world today, where this type of 
technology, if it is developed, will allow better communication 
capability and allow an opportunity for perhaps more success in rescue 
operations.
  Now, I want to be clear on a couple of things. The purpose of the 
legislation is really to accelerate next-generation technology. The 
legislation will direct the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology to establish an initiative to promote research, development, 
and demonstration of miner tracking and communication systems and to 
promote the establishment of standards and other measurement services 
regarding underground mines. I think the legislation will foster much-
needed research and development in this field of communications to 
better protect miners.
  The time to address this issue is now, before any more accidents 
leave any additional miner families desperate for word about their 
loved ones.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. GINGREY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, I rise also in support of H.R. 3877, the Mine 
Communications Technology Innovation Act.
  First, I want to take this opportunity to thank Chairman Gordon, 
Ranking Member Hall, and all of the members of the Science Committee 
and the staff who worked so hard to bring this important bipartisan 
legislation through our committee and to the House floor today.
  Madam Speaker, every Member of the House hopes to avoid another 
catastrophe such as the Sago Mine explosion in West Virginia in 2006 or 
the disaster at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah this past August. And 
I certainly want to commend my colleague, the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 
Matheson), for introducing H.R. 3877 to address one of the major 
obstacles to miner safety, and that is, our inability, as he just 
pointed out, to track miners underground and to communicate with them 
in the event of such an emergency.
  Under the 2006 MINER Act, the Mine Safety and Health Administration,

[[Page 28573]]

MSHA, and the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, 
NIOSH, receive significant funding to lead an interagency program to 
develop communication, tracking, oxygen supply and refuge systems for 
mines. To date, this program has invested over $23 million, and it is 
steadily progressing towards installation of new, safer communication 
systems by the year 2009.
  As NIOSH and MSHA continue to advance research and development in 
this area, there was clear bipartisan agreement within the Science 
Committee that the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 
NIST, could enhance these efforts by fostering standards for 
communication equipment in mines and development of those systems 
through the creation of best practices, measurement services, and 
research evaluation.

                              {time}  1645

  NIST has long been a leader in communications research technology and 
has the equipment, and it has the expertise to characterize the mine 
environment and determine what techniques are best suited for these 
very difficult situations and conditions.
  This bill is the product of bipartisan work in the Science Committee, 
and it creates a basic framework to ensure that the government's 
research agency works cooperatively, effectively and quickly to improve 
mine and miner safety.
  The world-renowned capabilities of NIST laboratories and the years of 
study and experience at NIOSH and MSHA can significantly improve 
implementation of emergency communications and tracking systems in our 
mines. Improvement in these systems will substantially increase 
rescuers' ability to find and free miners in the event of a mine 
catastrophe, as we just outlined, that occurred recently in West 
Virginia and the great State of Utah.
  H.R. 3877 would significantly contribute to the health and the safety 
of miners by uniting the communications and standards experience of 
NIST with the ongoing research and the mine environment experience at 
NIOSH and MSHA.
  I want to applaud my colleague, Mr. Matheson, for addressing this 
issue that he knows so well that is of such utmost importance to his 
constituents in Utah, as well as mining communities across this 
country.
  I urge all of my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation. 
It will make significant advancements in miner safety.
  Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. MATHESON. I thank my colleague. I also want to thank him for 
making 1 additional really good point in his remarks, and that is that 
this legislation is complementary with what we are trying to do at 
NIOSH and MSHA.
  Madam Speaker, Congress these days doesn't have the best reputation 
of working together on certain things, but this is an example where 
this committee worked really well in terms of coming up with 
legislation, where bills were originally introduced, there were some 
other questions during the committee process. Folks on the minority 
side of the aisle offered suggestions for a manager's amendment. We 
approved this bill. It has good bipartisan support. It's the right 
thing to do.
  I again want to thank Dr. Gingrey and everyone on the Science 
Committee staff for their help in making this legislation work.
  I will just close by saying that I visited the Crandall Canyon mine 
families right after the disaster. They were going through so many 
emotions that it's difficult for us to even imagine, but to not know 
where their loved ones were was probably the greatest frustration of 
all. If this legislation can provide a path to help provide answers to 
those questions in the future, then, clearly, it's the right thing to 
do.
  I ask for a favorable vote from everybody on this legislation.
  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, as a cosponsor, I rise in 
strong support of H.R. 3877, the Mine Communications Technology 
Innovation Act, which was introduced by our colleague from Utah, Mr. 
Matheson.
  Mining is an important part of our history and it will be critical to 
our future as well, but we have seen too many mining accidents that 
have ended in tragedy. Too often, these tragedies have been related to 
difficulties with communication. The unfortunate deaths of six miners 
and three rescuers at the Crandall Canyon Mine this year has 
highlighted the severe communication challenges that miners face when 
deep underground.
  While mines generally use reliable communications systems, some 
mines--specifically, deep underground mines--present a number of unique 
challenges that make communications and tracking more difficult. For 
example, the open air pathway required for radio signals and WiFi often 
do not exist in underground mines and less than ten percent of the 
radio spectrum that is used above ground can be used underground. 
Additionally, in the event of a catastrophic event, existing 
communications systems are often compromised.
  This bill would help improve tracking and communications systems for 
two-way communication between the miners and people above ground. 
Specifically, H.R. 3877 would accelerate the research and development 
of innovative mine tracking and communications technologies. Since the 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) addresses 
oversight of immediately available technologies, this legislation is 
targeted R&D for new technologies to advance our ability to communicate 
underground. Under this legislation, the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology (NIST) would establish an initiative to 
promote the research, development, and demonstration of miner tracking 
and communications systems and to promote the establishment of 
standards and other measurement services regarding underground miners.
  Not only will this legislation help miners, but it will draw upon the 
expertise of Colorado researchers. NIST's Boulder labs have already 
begun similar work for communications in collapsed buildings and are 
well positioned to support this new effort with its experience in 
developing technical standards, best practices and conformance testing.
  This bill will ensure that our miners have the state-of-the-art 
equipment they need to communicate with people above ground, especially 
in times of emergency. I urge the House to support this important 
legislation that will help us save lives in the future.
  Mr. MATHESON. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California). The 
question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 
Matheson) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 
3877, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  The title was amended so as to read: ``A Bill to require the Director 
of the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish an 
initiative to promote the research, development, and demonstration of 
miner tracking and communications systems and to promote the 
establishment of standards and other measurement services regarding 
underground communications to protect miners in the United States.''.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________