II 

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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting America’s 

5 Miners Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that, because the Sec8 retary of Labor has failed in recent years to adequately 

9 fulfill the Secretary’s obligations under the Federal Mine 

10 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) 


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1 to help miners survive underground mining emergencies 

2 and has failed to adequately prepare for the significant 

3 losses to a highly-trained Mine Safety and Health Admin4 istration inspector workforce that are pending, Congres5 sional intervention is needed. 

6 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For purposes of this Act, any term used in this Act 

8 that is defined in section 3 of the Federal Mine Safety 

9 and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 802) shall have the 

10 meaning given the term in such section. 

11 SEC. 4. IMPROVED ESCAPE AND REFUGE REQUIREMENTS 

12 TO HELP PROTECT MINERS IN THE EVENT OF 

13 AN EMERGENCY. 

14 Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

15 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) is amended by adding at 

16 the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(f) IMPROVED MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS TO

18 PROTECT MINERS IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of this section regarding the promulgation 

21 of mandatory health or safety standards, and in ad22 dition to the requirements of any mandatory health 

23 or safety standards promulgated under this Act, the 

24 following shall be mandatory safety standards that 

25 apply to all underground areas of coal mines: 


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1 ‘‘(A) EMERGENCY DETECTION, WARNING, 

2 AND MESSAGING SYSTEMS.—Not later than 180 

3 days after the date of enactment of the Pro4 tecting America’s Miners Act, an operator of an 

5 underground coal mine shall— 

6 ‘‘(i) install atmospheric detection and 

7 warning systems, in all underground areas 

8 where miners normally work and travel, 

9 that provide real-time information regard10 ing methane levels, carbon monoxide levels, 

11 oxygen levels, air flow, and temperature 

12 and that can, to the maximum extent pos13 sible, withstand explosions and fires; 

14 ‘‘(ii) provide each miner working in 

15 any underground area of the mine with a 

16 device that is designed to enable the oper17 ator to send a message to the miner pro18 viding instructions during an emergency; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(iii) as soon as the National Institute 

21 for Occupational Safety and Health cer22 tifies that portable devices providing 2-way 

23 communications between the surface and 

24 underground are available and are capable 

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1 gencies, provide each miner working in any 

2 underground area of the mine with such a 

3 device, and, in addition, continue to pro4 vide the devices required under clause (ii) 

5 until such time as the 2-way communica6 tions devices required by this paragraph 

7 are certified by the National Institute for 

8 Occupational Safety and Health to be at 

9 least as effective as the other devices in all 

10 mining emergency circumstances. 

11 The Secretary shall establish procedures for 

12 regularly consulting with other Federal, State, 

13 and foreign agencies with respect to new com14 munications technologies for use in accordance 

15 with clauses (ii) and (iii) and for expediting the 

16 approval of such new technologies. 

17 ‘‘(B) FACILITATING EMERGENCY ES18 CAPE.— 

19 ‘‘(i) EMERGENCY CACHES.—Not later 

20 than 30 days after the date of enactment 

21 of the Protecting America’s Miners Act, 

22 each operator of an underground coal mine 

23 shall provide emergency underground 

24 caches of air and self-contained breathing 

25 equipment, in amounts sufficient to enable 


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1 all miners working anywhere in a par2 ticular mine to escape from the mine in an 

3 emergency in which any direct inhalation 

4 of the mine atmosphere by a miner would 

5 likely produce adverse health effects. The 

6 caches shall be located throughout the 

7 mine, including in escapeways. In order to 

8 determine the specific location of each 

9 cache in an escapeway, an operator shall 

10 develop a risk assessment plan that cal11 culates the necessary amount and place12 ment of the caches based on the travel 

13 time by foot from the deepest work area in 

14 the mine to the surface, taking into ac15 count the impact of emergency conditions 

16 and the demographics of the miners in the 

17 particular mine, except that such caches 

18 shall not be spaced further apart than the 

19 distance an average miner can walk in 30 

20 minutes. Each cache located in an 

21 escapeway shall be marked with flame re22 tardant lifeline cords or similar devices, 

23 and reflective material shall be placed at 

24 25-foot intervals along the route to the 

25 cache to indicate the cache’s location. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY

2 CACHES.—Until the date that the require3 ment to provide refuges under subpara4 graph (C) is effective, each operator of an 

5 underground coal mine shall maintain, in 

6 addition to the caches described in clause 

7 (i), emergency supplies of air and self-con8 tained breathing equipment for miners 

9 awaiting rescue due to an emergency with10 in the mine. Such equipment shall be suffi11 cient to supply the highest number of min12 ers expected to be in the working areas of 

13 the mine for not less than 5 days. 

14 ‘‘(iii) SELF-RESCUE DEVICE AP15 PROVAL AND INSPECTION PROCESS.— 

16 ‘‘(I) EXPEDITED APPROVAL.— 

17 The Secretary shall expedite the proc18 ess for approving any self-rescue de19 vice that permits the replenishment of 

20 oxygen without requiring the device 

21 user to remove the device. 

22 ‘‘(II) INSPECTION PROGRAM.— 

23 The Secretary shall— 

24 ‘‘(aa) establish a program to 

25 randomly check samples of any 


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1 self-rescue devices used in an un2 derground coal mine on a regular 

3 basis, in order to ensure that the 

4 self-rescue devices in the coal 

5 mine inventories are working in 

6 accordance with the approval cri7 teria for such devices; 

8 ‘‘(bb) require a manufac9 turer of a self-rescue device to 

10 contact the Secretary imme11 diately upon notification of any 

12 potential problem with such de13 vice; and 

14 ‘‘(cc) notify immediately all 

15 operators of underground coal 

16 mines if the Secretary detects or 

17 is advised of any problems with 

18 the self-rescue devices. 

19 ‘‘(iv) SELF-RESCUE DEVICE MAINTE20 NANCE SCHEDULE.—Not later than 30 

21 days after the date of enactment of the 

22 Protecting America’s Miners Act, each op23 erator of an underground coal mine shall 

24 develop and implement a maintenance 

25 schedule for— 


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1 ‘‘(I) checking the reliability of 

2 self-rescue devices; 

3 ‘‘(II) retiring older self-rescue de4 vices first; and 

5 ‘‘(III) introducing new self-rescue 

6 device technology, such as devices 

7 with interchangeable air or oxygen 

8 cylinders that do not require doffing 

9 to replenish airflow and devices with 

10 air or oxygen supplies of more than 1 

11 hour, as such devices are approved by 

12 the Secretary and become available. 

13 ‘‘(v) SELF-RESCUE DEVICE TRAIN14 ING.—Not later than 30 days after the 

15 date of enactment of the Protecting Amer16 ica’s Miners Act, each operator of an un17 derground coal mine shall implement a 

18 program to ensure that all miners are 

19 trained in the proper procedures for don20 ning self-rescue devices, switching from 1 

21 self-rescue device to another, and ensuring 

22 a proper fit of the self-rescue devices. 

23 ‘‘(vi) FLAME-RETARDANT LIFE24 LINES.—Whenever required by law to in25 stall lifelines, each operator of an underVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:21 May 16, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798

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1 ground coal mine shall use flame-retardant 

2 lifelines exclusively. 

3 ‘‘(C) REFUGES.—Not later than 1 year 

4 after the date of enactment of the Protecting 

5 America’s Miners Act, each operator of an un6 derground coal mine shall establish or provide 

7 refuges underground in sufficient locations to 

8 ensure that all miners working at any location 

9 in a mine can reach a refuge that can accom10 modate such miner within 15 minutes, should 

11 such miner determine that escape from the 

12 mine is not the best course of action to take 

13 during an emergency and without regard to the 

14 length of time it might take to escape the mine. 

15 Each such refuge shall be a stand-alone refuge. 

16 Each operator shall ensure that the locations of 

17 the refuges are marked and kept current on 

18 mine maps, and that mine rescue teams for the 

19 mine are regularly provided with information 

20 about the design and features of the refuges. 

21 Each such refuge shall be— 

22 ‘‘(i) equipped with adequate air, food, 

23 and water to accommodate the calculated 

24 number of miners for a period of not less 

25 than 5 days; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) constructed or designed in such a 

2 way as to seal out toxic mine atmospheres 

3 and to eliminate the buildup of toxic 

4 atmospheres or other hazardous conditions 

5 within the refuge; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) equipped with telephone lines, or 

7 equivalent 2-way communications to the 

8 surface. 

9 ‘‘(D) TRACKING DEVICES TO FACILITATE

10 RESCUE.—Not later than 180 days after the 

11 date of enactment of the Protecting America’s 

12 Miners Act, each operator of an underground 

13 coal mine shall provide each miner working in 

14 an underground location with an electronic 

15 tracking device that permits the continuous 

16 tracking of the location of the miner within the 

17 mine, for the purpose of facilitating the miner’s 

18 rescue in an emergency. 

19 ‘‘(2) MODIFICATION AND SUPERSESSION.—The 

20 provisions of this subsection may be superseded in 

21 whole or in part by improved mandatory safety 

22 standards promulgated by the Secretary under this 

23 section, and may be modified with respect to a par24 ticular mine only in accordance with the require25 ments and procedure described in subsection (c). 


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1 ‘‘(3) IMMINENT DANGER.—Any violation of a 

2 mandatory safety standard under this subsection, or 

3 a mandatory safety standard promulgated by the 

4 Secretary that supercedes a standard under this 

5 subsection, shall be deemed to create an imminent 

6 danger to miners for the purposes of section 107.’’. 

7 SEC. 5. FACILITATING THE PROMPT INITIATION OF RES8 CUE AND MINE RECOVERY EFFORTS. 

9 (a) EMERGENCY CALL CENTER.—Not later than 30 

10 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

11 shall establish, within the Mine Safety and Health Admin12 istration, a central communications emergency call center 

13 for all coal or other mine operations that shall be staffed 

14 and operated 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by 1 or more 

15 employees of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. 

16 All calls placed to the emergency call center shall be an17 swered by an individual with adequate experience and 

18 training to handle emergency mine situations. A single na19 tional phone number shall be provided for this purpose 

20 and the Secretary shall ensure that all miners and mine 

21 operators are issued laminated cards with emergency call 

22 center information. 

23 (b) CONTACT INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall 

24 provide the emergency call center with a contact list, up25 dated not less often than quarterly, that contains— 


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1 (1) the contact phone numbers, including the 

2 home phone numbers, for the members of each mine 

3 rescue team responsible for each coal or other mine; 

4 (2) the phone numbers for the local emergency 

5 and rescue services unit that is located nearest to 

6 each mine; 

7 (3) the contact phone numbers, including the 

8 home phone number, for the operator of each mine; 

9 (4) the contact phone numbers, including the 

10 home phone numbers, for the national and district 

11 officials of the Mine Safety and Health Administra12 tion; 

13 (5) the contact phone numbers, including the 

14 home phone numbers, for the State officials in each 

15 State who should be contacted in the event of a mine 

16 emergency in such State; and 

17 (6) the contact phone numbers, including the 

18 home phone number, for the authorized representa19 tive of the miners at each mine. 

20 (c) MINE LOCATION MAPS.—The Secretary shall es21 tablish, maintain, and keep current on the Department of 

22 Labor’s website a detailed map or set of maps showing 

23 the exact geographic location of each operating or aban24 doned mine in the United States. Such map or maps 

25 shall— 


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1 (1) be presented, through links within the 

2 website, in such a way as to make the location of a 

3 mine instantly available to the emergency personnel 

4 responding to the mine; 

5 (2) be available to members of the public; and 

6 (3) allow a user to find the geographic location 

7 of a particular mine, or the geographic locations of 

8 all mines of a particular type in a county, congres9 sional district, State, or other commonly used geo10 graphic region. 

11 (d) REQUIRED NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCIES AND

12 SERIOUS INCIDENTS.— 

13 (1) REPORTING.—An operator of a coal or 

14 other mine shall report any emergency or serious 

15 mine incident to the emergency call center not later 

16 than 15 minutes after becoming aware of any such 

17 emergency or serious mine incident, regardless of 

18 whether miners remain at risk. 

19 (2) EMERGENCIES OR SERIOUS INCIDENTS.— 

20 For the purposes of this subsection, an emergency or 

21 serious mine incident includes— 

22 (A) a mine fire; 

23 (B) a roof fall, unplanned inundation, col24 lapse, or unplanned explosion; 


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1 (C) a sudden change in mine atmospheric 

2 conditions; 

3 (D) a rib fall that impairs ventilation or 

4 impedes passage; 

5 (E) a coal or rock outburst that causes the 

6 withdrawal of miners; 

7 (F) the failure of an impoundment; 

8 (G) damage to hoisting equipment in a 

9 shaft or slope that endangers an individual; 

10 (H) any incident that leads to the death, 

11 serious injury with a reasonable potential to 

12 cause death, or entrapment, of a miner; and 

13 (I) any other emergency or incident, as de14 termined in regulations promulgated by the 

15 Secretary, that needs to be examined in order 

16 to determine if the working conditions in the 

17 mine are safe. 

18 (e) ENHANCING THE AVAILABILITY AND CAPABILI19 TIES OF MINE RESCUE TEAMS.— 

20 (1) COAL MINE RESCUE TEAM REQUIRE21 MENTS.— 

22 (A) OPERATORS WITH LESS THAN 36 EM23 PLOYEES.—Not later than 30 days after the 

24 date of enactment of this Act, an operator of an 

25 underground coal mine for which the total numVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:21 May 16, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798

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1 ber of employees employed in the underground 

2 areas of the mine, at any time during the pre3 vious year, did not exceed 35 employees, shall 

4 ensure that— 

5 (i) each mine rescue team that is re6 quired under section 115(e) of the Federal 

7 Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 

8 U.S.C. 825(e)), and the regulations pro9 mulgated pursuant to such section, in10 cludes miners who are employed by the op11 erator and who are familiar with the work12 ings of such mine; 

13 (ii) all members of the mine rescue 

14 team can reach the mine in not more than 

15 1 hour; and 

16 (iii) each mine rescue team conducts 

17 at least 2 mine rescue drills each year in 

18 the mine for which the rescue team has 

19 mine rescue responsibilities. 

20 (B) OPERATORS WITH 36 OR MORE EM21 PLOYEES.—Not later than 30 days after the 

22 date of enactment of this Act, an operator of an 

23 underground coal mine that employed, at any 

24 time during the previous year, a total of 36 or 


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1 more employees for work in the underground 

2 areas of the mine shall ensure that— 

3 (i) each mine rescue team that is re4 quired under section 115(e) of the Federal 

5 Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 

6 U.S.C. 825(e)), and the regulations pro7 mulgated pursuant to such section, con8 sists exclusively of miners who are em9 ployed by such operator and who are famil10 iar with the workings of such mine; and 

11 (ii) all members of the mine rescue 

12 team are available for immediate deploy13 ment. 

14 (C) ADDITIONAL TEAMS.—Nothing in this 

15 paragraph shall be construed to preclude an op16 erator of a coal mine from contracting for the 

17 services of other mine rescue teams in addition 

18 to the mine rescue teams required by section 

19 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

20 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)). 

21 (2) MINE RESCUE TEAM REGULATIONS.— 

22 (A) INITIATION OF RULEMAKING.—Not 

23 later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

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1 tions under section 115(e) of the Federal Mine 

2 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 

3 825(e)) regarding mine rescue teams, and shall 

4 in this regard directly contact and solicit the 

5 participation of— 

6 (i) all existing mine rescue teams; 

7 (ii) organizations representing other 

8 types of rescue workers (such as fire9 fighters); 

10 (iii) State and local emergency au11 thorities; and 

12 (iv) others whom the Secretary deter13 mines may have information relevant to 

14 this rulemaking. 

15 (B) INTERIM FINAL RULES.—The Sec16 retary shall issue the regulations revised under 

17 subparagraph (A) as interim final rules not 

18 later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

19 of this Act. 

20 (C) CONTENT OF REVISED REGULA21 TIONS.—In revising the regulations under sub22 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall address, at 

23 a minimum— 

24 (i) the training and qualifications for 

25 mine rescue team members; 


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1 (ii) the equipment and technology 

2 used in mine rescue; 

3 (iii) the structure and organization of 

4 mine rescue teams; 

5 (iv) the identification of qualified sur6 face personnel to communicate with mine 

7 rescue teams during rescue efforts; 

8 (v) the provision of uniform creden9 tials to mine rescue team members, sup10 port personnel, or vehicles for immediate 

11 access to any mine site; 

12 (vi) the plans required at each mine to 

13 ensure coordination with local emergency 

14 response personnel and to ensure that such 

15 personnel receive adequate training in 

16 mine rescue needs and in coordinating with 

17 the mine rescue teams at each mine; and 

18 (vii) requirements to ensure that oper19 ators are prepared to facilitate the work of 

20 mine rescue teams during an emergency 

21 by— 

22 (I) storing necessary equipment 

23 in locations readily accessible to mine 

24 rescue teams; 


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1 (II) providing mine rescue teams 

2 with a parking and staging area ade3 quate for their needs; 

4 (III) identifying a space appro5 priate for coordinating emergency 

6 communications with the mine rescue 

7 team; and 

8 (IV) identifying and maintaining 

9 separate spaces for family members, 

10 community members, and press to as11 semble during an emergency so as to 

12 facilitate communications with these 

13 groups while ensuring the efforts of 

14 the mine rescue teams are not hin15 dered. 

16 SEC. 6. ENHANCING THE INVESTIGATION OF MINE ACCI17 DENTS. 

18 (a) INVESTIGATIONS BY THE SECRETARY.—Not later 

19 than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

20 Secretary shall initiate rulemaking activity to establish 

21 regulations regarding the investigation of accidents, and 

22 shall in this regard directly contact and solicit the partici23 pation of— 

24 (1) individuals identified by the Secretary as 

25 family members of miners who perished in mining 


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1 accidents of any type during the preceding 10-year 

2 period; 

3 (2) organizations representing miners; 

4 (3) mine rescue teams; 

5 (4) Federal, State, and local investigation and 

6 prosecutorial authorities; and 

7 (5) others whom the Secretary determines may 

8 have information relevant to this rulemaking. 

9 (b) INTERIM FINAL RULES.—The Secretary shall 

10 issue the regulations revised under subsection (a) as in11 terim final rules not later than 270 days after the date 

12 of enactment of this Act. 

13 (c) CONTENT OF REVISED REGULATIONS.—In revis14 ing the regulations under subsection (a), the Secretary 

15 shall require that— 

16 (1) public hearings are held in connection with 

17 any fatal accident and in connection with an acci18 dent that could have resulted in multiple fatalities; 

19 (2) the recommendations of an investigation of 

20 an accident undertaken in accordance with sub21 section (a) are made public at such time as the rec22 ommendations are provided to the Secretary; 

23 (3) the Secretary designate an employee as a 

24 family advocate to act as the liaison between the 

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1 jured in any accident that is the subject of an inves2 tigation; 

3 (4) the family of a miner killed or injured in an 

4 accident that is the subject of an investigation is in5 cluded in all phases of the investigation (including 

6 witness interviews) in which a representative of the 

7 operator or the miners is included; and 

8 (5) the Secretary is the coordinator of rescue 

9 operations and communications with the public and 

10 families during any investigation of an accident. 

11 (d) INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS.—After an acci12 dent and upon the timely request of the authorized rep13 resentative of the miners at a mine, or representatives of 

14 a majority of the families of the miners killed or who could 

15 have been killed in such accident, the Secretary shall con16 tract with the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation 

17 Board or other appropriate independent Federal investiga18 tive authority to conduct an independent investigation of 

19 the accident and provide recommendations to the Sec20 retary. Such investigation shall be in addition to any inves21 tigation conducted by the Secretary, and shall be con22 ducted pursuant to whatever procedures such authority 

23 determines are appropriate for the investigation. The Sec24 retary shall provide such authority with all information 

25 and expertise requested, and shall pay for such authority 


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1 to conduct the authority’s investigation, including the 

2 costs of obtaining the services of independent experts re3 quired for any such investigation. 

4 SEC. 7. ENHANCING OPERATOR AND OWNER INCENTIVES 

5 TO AVOID SERIOUS RISKS TO MINERS. 

6 (a) PATTERN OF VIOLATIONS.— 

7 (1) PROMPT IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERN.— 

8 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

9 of this Act, the Secretary is directed to revise the 

10 regulations issued by the Secretary under section 

11 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

12 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 814(e)) as in effect on the day 

13 before such date of enactment, so that the regula14 tions provide that— 

15 (A) when a potential pattern of violations 

16 is identified by any inspector or district man17 ager of the Mine Safety and Health Adminis18 tration, the operator of the coal or other mine 

19 and the authorized representative of miners for 

20 the mine shall be notified by the inspector or 

21 district manager not later than 10 days after 

22 such identification; and 

23 (B) after receiving the notification de24 scribed in subparagraph (A), the appropriate 

25 Administrator of the Mine Safety and Health 


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1 Administration shall promptly review any such 

2 potential pattern of violations and, not later 

3 than 45 days after receiving such notification, 

4 make a final decision as to whether a citation 

5 for a violation of section 104(e) of such Act 

6 should be issued. 

7 (2) FINE FOR A PATTERN OF VIOLATIONS.— 

8 Section 110 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

9 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) is amended— 

10 (A) by redesignating subsections (i) 

11 through (l) as subsections (k) through (n), re12 spectively; and 

13 (B) by inserting after subsection (h) the 

14 following: 

15 ‘‘(i) PATTERNS OF VIOLATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL PENALTIES.—If the Sec17 retary determines that a pattern of violations under 

18 section 104(e) exists, the Secretary shall assess a 

19 penalty, in addition to any other penalty authorized 

20 in this Act for a violation of such section, of not 

21 more than $1,000,000. All operators of the mine, in22 cluding any corporate owners, shall be jointly and 

23 severally liable for such penalty. The amount of the 

24 assessment under this paragraph shall be designed 

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1 erators and corporate owners of such mine with re2 spect to mine safety and health, given the overall re3 sources of such operators. Notwithstanding sub4 section (k) or section 113, a penalty assessed by the 

5 Secretary under this paragraph may not be reduced 

6 by the Commission. 

7 ‘‘(2) WITHDRAWAL OF WORKERS.—In addition 

8 to the authority to withdraw miners from an area of 

9 a coal or other mine pursuant to section 104(e), the 

10 Secretary shall withdraw all miners from the entire 

11 mine when any pattern of violations has been deter12 mined to exist until such time as the Secretary cer13 tifies that all identified violations have been cor14 rected and the operator has agreed to abide by a 

15 written plan approved by the Mine Safety and 

16 Health Administration to ensure that such a pattern 

17 of conduct will not recur.’’. 

18 (b) FAILURE TO TIMELY PAY PENALTY ASSESS19 MENTS.—Section 105(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and 

20 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 815(a)) is amended by 

21 striking the third sentence and inserting the following: 

22 ‘‘The operator has 30 days from the receipt of the notifica23 tion of a citation issued by the Secretary, to notify the 

24 Secretary that the operator intends to contest the citation 

25 or proposed assessment of a penalty and to place in escrow 


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1 the amount of the proposed assessment. If notification and 

2 proof of escrow is not provided to the Secretary, the cita3 tion and the proposed assessment of penalty shall be 

4 deemed a final order of the Commission and not subject 

5 to review by any court or agency. It shall be a felony for 

6 any mine operator, including a corporate owner, of a coal 

7 or other mine to fail to timely pay any penalties assessed 

8 under this Act for which payment has been demanded. 

9 Such felony shall be punishable, for each operator, by a 

10 fine of not less than $50,000 or by imprisonment for 1 

11 year.’’. 

12 (c) MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM PENALTIES.—Section 

13 110(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 

14 (30 U.S.C. 820(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘more than 

15 $50,000 for each such violation.’’ and inserting ‘‘less than 

16 $500 or more than $250,000 for each such violation, ex17 cept that, in the case of a violation of a mandatory health 

18 or safety standard that could significantly and substan19 tially contribute to the cause and effect of a coal or other 

20 mine health or safety hazard, the penalty shall not be less 

21 than $1,000 or more than $500,000, for each such viola22 tion.’’. 

23 (d) PENALTY FOR LATE ACCIDENT NOTIFICATION.— 

24 Section 110 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

25 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) is further amended by inserting 


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1 after subsection (i) (as inserted by subsection (a)(2)(B)) 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(j) Any operator who fails to provide timely notifica4 tion of an accident as required under section 5(d)(1) of 

5 the Protecting America’s Miners Act shall be subject to 

6 a civil penalty of not more than $100,000 and not less 

7 than $60,000.’’. 

8 (e) FACTORS IN ASSESSING PENALTIES.—Section 

9 110(k) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 

10 (30 U.S.C. 820(k)) (as redesignated by subsection 

11 (a)(2)(A)) is amended by striking ‘‘the appropriateness’’ 

12 and all that follows through ‘‘the gravity’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘whether the operator was negligent, the gravity’’. 

14 SEC. 8. ENHANCING THE WILLINGNESS OF MINERS AND 

15 OTHERS TO REPORT SERIOUS PROBLEMS BE16 FORE ACCIDENTS OCCUR. 

17 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF MINER OMBUDSMAN.— 

18 There shall be established, within the Office of the Inspec19 tor General of the Department of Labor, the position of 

20 Miner Ombudsman. The President, by and with the advice 

21 and consent of the Senate, shall appoint an individual with 

22 expertise in mine safety and health to serve as the Miner 

23 Ombudsman. 

24 (b) DUTIES.—The Miner Ombudsman shall— 


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1 (1) be responsible for establishing practices to 

2 ensure the confidentiality of the identity of miners, 

3 and the families or personal representatives of the 

4 miners, who contact mine operators, authorized rep5 resentatives of the miners, the Mine Safety and 

6 Health Administration, the Department of Labor, or 

7 others with information about mining conditions 

8 that may threaten, or have recently threatened as of 

9 the time of the contact, miner safety or health, while 

10 ensuring that the Mine Safety and Health Adminis11 tration has the information needed to promptly in12 vestigate such complaints; 

13 (2) establish a toll-free telephone number and 

14 appropriate Internet website to permit individuals to 

15 confidentially report possible mine mandatory health 

16 or safety standard violations or concerns; 

17 (3) collect and forward information concerning 

18 possible mine safety or health violations or concerns 

19 to the appropriate officials of the Mine Safety and 

20 Health Administration for investigation; 

21 (4) monitor the Secretary of Labor’s efforts to 

22 protect miners who report that their rights under 

23 section 105(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and 

24 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 815(c)) have been 

25 violated, and report to the Congress any recVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:21 May 16, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798

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1 ommendations that would enhance such rights or 

2 protections; and 

3 (5) carry out public outreach and other activi4 ties to facilitate the transmission, to the Secretary of 

5 Labor, of information that could help avoid mine ac6 cidents. 

7 SEC. 9. ENHANCING SPECIFIC PROTECTIONS FOR UNDER8 GROUND COAL MINES. 

9 (a) SPECIAL RULEMAKING.—Section 101 of the Fed10 eral Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) 

11 is further amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(g) SPECIAL RULEMAKING PROCEDURE FOR CER13 TAIN SAFETY STANDARDS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) CONVEYOR BELTS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) RULEMAKING AND INTERIM STAND16 ARDS.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

17 of enactment of the Protecting America’s Min18 ers Act, the Secretary shall initiate rulemaking 

19 activity to develop mandatory safety standards 

20 that implement the recommendations of the Na21 tional Institute for Occupational Safety and 

22 Health that conveyor belts used in underground 

23 coal mines be designed to minimize flamma24 bility. Such revised mandatory safety standards 

25 shall be issued as interim standards not later 


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1 than 270 days after the date of enactment of 

2 such Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION OF PRIOR RULE.—Until 

4 such time as the interim standards described in 

5 subparagraph (A) are issued and new require6 ments on belt flammability are placed in effect, 

7 the amendments made by the final rule pub8 lished on April 2, 2004, in the Federal Register 

9 (69 Fed. Reg. 17480) to the mandatory safety 

10 standard in section 75.350 of title 30, Code of 

11 Federal Regulations, that authorized belt haul12 age entries to be used to ventilate active work13 ing places are suspended, and the Secretary 

14 shall instead apply such mandatory safety 

15 standard as it was in effect the day before the 

16 effective date of such amendments, including all 

17 modifications to such standard that had been 

18 approved under subsection (c) prior to such 

19 date and any new modifications that may be ap20 proved in the future pursuant to such section. 

21 ‘‘(2) SEALS.—Not later than 30 days after the 

22 date of enactment of the Protecting America’s Min23 ers Act, the Secretary shall initiate rulemaking ac24 tivity to modernize and improve mandatory safety 

25 standards relating to seals for abandoned areas in 


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1 underground coal mines. As part of such rule2 making, the Secretary shall improve the 20 psi 

3 standard described in section 75.335(a)(2) of title 

4 30, Code of Federal Regulations (as such section 

5 was in effect on the date of enactment of the Pro6 tecting America’s Miners Act). The Secretary shall 

7 give particular consideration to the standards in ef8 fect in other countries in this regard. The Secretary 

9 shall further consider whether the Secretary should 

10 be required to inspect seals during the seals’ con11 struction to ensure that the seals are constructed in 

12 a safe manner. Such improved standards shall be 

13 issued as interim mandatory safety standards not 

14 later than 270 days after the date of enactment of 

15 such Act.’’. 

16 (b) INSPECTIONS.—Not later than 30 days after the 

17 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta18 tion with the National Institute for Occupational Safety 

19 and Health, shall inspect the seals of all underground coal 

20 mines that are composed of nontraditional materials to en21 sure that the seals are constructed in a safe manner, and 

22 ensure that any seals not constructed in a safe manner, 

23 regardless of plan approval, shall be promptly recon24 structed in a safe manner. 


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1 (c) MANDATORY HEALTH STANDARDS.—Section 101 

2 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 

3 U.S.C. 811) is further amended by adding at the end the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(h) MANDATORY HEALTH STANDARDS REGARDING

6 RESPIRABLE DUST.— 

7 ‘‘(1) CONCENTRATION LEVELS.—Notwith8 standing any other requirement of this Act, not later 

9 than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Pro10 tecting America’s Miners Act, the Secretary shall 

11 initiate rulemaking to develop mandatory health 

12 standards that provide the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) CONCENTRATION OF DUST.—Each 

14 operator of a coal or other mine shall continu15 ously maintain a concentration of respirable 

16 dust, in the mine atmosphere during each shift 

17 for which a miner is in any place in a coal or 

18 other mine where miners are normally required 

19 to work or travel of such mine, of not more 

20 than 1.0 milligram of respirable dust per cubic 

21 meter of air. In meeting this standard, each 

22 concentration level shall be considered inde23 pendently and shall not be averaged with other 

24 such levels. 


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1 ‘‘(B) METHOD OF MEASUREMENT.—To 

2 measure the level of respirable dust in an area 

3 of a coal or other mine, samples shall be 

4 taken— 

5 ‘‘(i) by the Secretary, and not by the 

6 operator; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) by using personal dust monitors 

8 on not less than 3 miners per shift, in each 

9 working section of the mine and in any 

10 section known to contain the highest dust 

11 concentrations, and not less often than 

12 once a year on each miner who works in 

13 the mine. 

14 ‘‘(2) INTERIM RULES.—The Secretary shall 

15 issue the rules described under subparagraph (A) as 

16 interim final rules not later than 270 days after the 

17 date of enactment of the Protecting America’s Min18 ers Act.’’. 

19 (d) DEFINITION.—Section 101 of the Federal Mine 

20 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) is further 

21 amended by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF COAL MINE.—In this section, 

23 the term ‘coal mine’ has the meaning given the term in 

24 section 3(h)(2).’’. 


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1 SEC. 10. TRANSITION TO A NEW GENERATION OF INSPEC2 TORS. 

3 (a) PERSONNEL CEILING TEMPORARILY LIFTED.— 

4 In order to ensure that the Secretary has adequate time 

5 to provide that a sufficient number of qualified and prop6 erly trained inspectors of the Mine Safety and Health Ad7 ministration are in place before any inspectors employed 

8 as of the date of enactment of this Act retire, any ceilings 

9 on the number of personnel that may be employed by the 

10 Administration with respect to mine inspectors are abol11 ished for the 5-year period beginning on the date of enact12 ment of this Act. 

13 (b) CONTRACTING WITH RETIRED INSPECTORS.—In 

14 the event that, notwithstanding the actions taken by the 

15 Secretary to hire and train qualified inspectors, the Sec16 retary is temporarily unable, at any time during the 5- 

17 year period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

18 Act, to employ the number of inspectors required to staff 

19 all district offices devoted to coal mines at the offices’ 

20 highest historical levels without transferring personnel 

21 from supervisory or plan review activities or diminishing 

22 current inspection resources devoted to other types of 

23 mines, the Administration is authorized to hire retired in24 spectors on a contractual basis to conduct mine inspec25 tions, and the retirement benefits of such retired inspecVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:21 May 16, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00033 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2798.IS S2798

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1 tors shall not be reduced as a result of such temporary 

2 contractual employment. 

3 (c) COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE AND USER FEES.—In 

4 order to ensure that the Secretary has sufficient resources 

5 to carry out the enforcement activities of the Mine Safety 

6 and Health Administration, during the 5-year period be7 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act— 

8 (1) the Secretary may not expend any funds for 

9 technical support or advice to an operator of a par10 ticular mine, except funds that are collected through 

11 user fees under paragraph (2); and 

12 (2) an operator who incurs a civil penalty or 

13 fine under section 110 of the Federal Mine Safety 

14 and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) shall be as15 sessed a user fee of $100 for each such penalty or 

16 fine, which fee shall be maintained in a separate ac17 count by the Secretary to be used to provide tech18 nical support or advice to mine operators, with pri19 ority given to requests from mines with less than 20 

20 miners. 

21 (d) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—During the 5-year 

22 period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 

23 Secretary shall issue a special report to the appropriate 

24 committees of Congress every year, or at such more fre25 quent intervals as the Secretary or any such committee 


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1 may deem appropriate, providing information about the 

2 actions being taken under this section, the size and train3 ing of the inspector workforce at the Mine Safety and 

4 Health Administration, the level of enforcement activities, 

5 and the number of requests by individual operators of 

6 mines for compliance assistance. 

7 SEC. 11. TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH PRIORITIES. 

8 In implementing its research activities in the 5-year 

9 period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 

10 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 

11 shall give due consideration to new technologies, and exist12 ing technologies that could be adapted for use in under13 ground coal or other mines, that could facilitate the sur14 vival of miners in a mining emergency. Such technologies 

15 include— 

16 (1) self-contained self-rescue devices capable of 

17 delivering enhanced performance; 

18 (2) two-way communications devices capable of 

19 delivering enhanced performance between under20 ground locations or between underground and sur21 face locations, including devices capable of sustained 

22 operation after underground explosions; 

23 (3) improved battery capacity and common con24 nection specifications to enable emergency commu25 nication devices for miners to be run from the same 


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1 portable power source as a headlamp, continuous 

2 dust monitor, or other device carried by a miner; 

3 (4) improved technology for assisting mine res4 cue teams, including devices to enhance vision dur5 ing rescue or recovery operations; and 

6 (5) improved technology, and improved proto7 cols for the use of existing technologies, to enable 

8 conditions underground to be assessed promptly and 

9 continuously in emergencies, so as to facilitate the 

10 determination by appropriate officials of the instruc11 tions to provide both to miners trapped underground 

12 and to mine rescue teams and others engaged in res13 cue efforts. 

Æ 


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