[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 50 (Wednesday, March 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14647-14648]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-05470]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Office of the Secretary


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; Training Plans and Records of Training, for 
Underground Miners and Miners Working at Surface Mines and Surface 
Areas of Underground Mines

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Mining Safety 
and Health Administration (MSHA)-sponsored information collection 
request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review 
and approval in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
(PRA). Public comments on the ICR are invited.

DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that agency receives 
on or before April 16, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
    Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of information 
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Department, including whether the information will have practical 
utility; (2) if the information will be processed and used in a timely 
manner; (3) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and 
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used; (4) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (5) ways to 
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are 
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony May by telephone at 202-693-
4129 (this is not a toll-free number) or by email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 103(h) of the Federal Mine Safety 
and Health Act of 1977, as amended (Mine Act), 30 U.S.C. 813(h), 
authorizes MSHA to collect information necessary to carry out its duty 
in protecting the safety and health of miners. Further, section 101(a) 
of the Mine Act, 30 U.S.C. 811, authorizes the Secretary of Labor 
(Secretary) to develop, promulgate, and revise as may be appropriate, 
improved mandatory health or safety standards for the protection of 
life and prevention of injuries in coal or other mines. The Mine Act 
recognizes that education and training is an important element of 
efforts to make the nation's mines safe. Section 115(a) of the Mine Act 
states that ``each operator of a coal or other mine shall have a health 
and safety training program which shall be approved by the Secretary.''
    Title 30 CFR 48.3 and 48.23 require training plans for underground 
and surface mines, respectively. These standards are intended to ensure 
that miners will be effectively trained in matters affecting their 
health and safety, with the ultimate goal of reducing the occurrence of 
injury and illness in the nation's mines. Training plans are required 
to be submitted for approval to the MSHA District Manager for the area 
in which the mine is located. Plans must contain the following: (1) 
Company name; (2) mine name; (3) MSHA identification number of the 
mine; (4) the name and position of the person designated by the 
operator who is responsible for health and safety training at the mine; 
(5) a list of MSHA-approved instructors with whom the operator proposes 
to make arrangements to teach the courses and the courses each 
instructor is qualified to teach; (6) the location where training will 
be given for each course; (7) a description of the teaching methods and 
the course materials which are to be used in training; (8) the 
approximate number of miners employed at the mine and the maximum 
number who will attend each session of training; (9) the predicted time 
or periods of time when regularly scheduled refresher training will be 
given including the titles of courses to be taught; (10) the total 
number of instruction hours for each course; and (11) the predicted 
time and length of each session of training for new task training 
including a complete list of task assignments, the titles of personnel 
conducting the training, the outline of training procedures used, and 
the evaluation procedures used to determine the effectiveness of the 
training.
    Title 30 CFR 48.9 and 48.29 require records of training for 
underground and surface mines, respectively. Upon completion of each 
training program, the mine operator certifies on a form approved by the 
Secretary, MSHA Form 5000-23, Certificate of Training, that the miner 
has received the specified training in each subject area of the 
approved health and safety training plan. The Certificate of Training 
forms are to be maintained by the operator for a period of 2 years for 
current employees and for 60 days after termination of a miner's 
employment, and must be available for inspection at the mine site. In 
addition, the miner is entitled to a copy of the certificate upon 
completion of the training and when the miner leaves the operator's 
employment. For additional substantive information about this ICR, see 
the related notice published in the Federal Register on October 29, 
2020 (85 FR 68600).
    This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency 
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and 
the public is generally not required to respond to an information 
collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid 
OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions 
of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to 
comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid 
OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
    DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for 
three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than 
three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information 
collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive 
a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.
    Agency: DOL-MSHA.
    Title of Collection: Training Plans and Records of Training, for 
Underground Miners and Miners Working at Surface

[[Page 14648]]

Mines and Surface Areas of Underground Mines.
    OMB Control Number: 1219-0009.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profits institutions.
    Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 5,828.
    Total Estimated Number of Responses: 143,145.
    Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 14,773 hours.
    Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $468,122.

    Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D).

    Dated: March 10, 2021.
Anthony May,
Management and Program Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2021-05470 Filed 3-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-43-P