II 

Calendar No. 439 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2803 

To amend the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to improve 

the safety of mines and mining. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 16, 2006 

Mr. ENZI (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. ISAKSON, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. 

ROCKEFELLER, Mr. BYRD, Mr. DEWINE, Mr. SANTORUM, Mr. SPECTER, 

Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. BUNNING, and Mr. OBAMA) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

MAY 23, 2006 

Reported by Mr. FRIST for Mr. ENZI, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 

to improve the safety of mines and mining. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mine Improvement and 

3 New Emergency Response Act of 2006’’ or the ‘‘MINER 

4 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RESPONSE. 

6 Section 316 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

7 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 876) is amended— 

8 (1) in the section heading by adding at the end 

9 the following: ‘‘AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS’’; 

10 (2) by striking ‘‘Telephone’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 

11 IN GENERAL.—Telephone’’; and 

12 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(b) ACCIDENT PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each underground coal 

15 mine operator shall carry out on a continuing basis 

16 a program to improve accident preparedness and re17 sponse at each mine. 

18 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE AND PREPAREDNESS PLAN.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 

20 days after the date of enactment of the Mine 

21 Improvement and New Emergency Response 

22 Act of 2006, each underground coal mine oper23 ator shall develop and adopt a written accident 

24 response plan that complies with this subsection 

25 with respect to each mine of the operator, and 

26 periodically update such plans to reflect 


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1 changes in operations in the mine, advances in 

2 technology, or other relevant considerations. 

3 Each such operator shall make the accident re4 sponse plan available to the miners and the 

5 miners’ representatives. 

6 ‘‘(B) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—An accident 

7 response plan under subparagraph (A) shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) provide for the evacuation of all 

9 individuals endangered by an emergency; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(ii) provide for the maintenance of 

12 individuals trapped underground in the 

13 event that miners are not able to evacuate 

14 the mine. 

15 ‘‘(C) PLAN APPROVAL.—The accident re16 sponse plan under subparagraph (A) shall be 

17 subject to review and approval by the Secretary. 

18 In determining whether to approve a particular 

19 plan the Secretary shall take into consideration 

20 all comments submitted by miners or their rep21 resentatives. Approved plans shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) afford miners a level of safety 

23 protection at least consistent with the ex24 isting standards, including standards man25 dated by law and regulation; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) reflect the most recent credible 

2 scientific research; 

3 ‘‘(iii) be technologically feasible, make 

4 use of current commercially available tech5 nology, and account for the specific phys6 ical characteristics of the mine; and 

7 ‘‘(iv) reflect the improvements in mine 

8 safety gained from experience under this 

9 Act and other worker safety and health 

10 laws. 

11 ‘‘(D) PLAN REVIEW.—The accident re12 sponse plan under subparagraph (A) shall be 

13 reviewed periodically, but at least every 6 

14 months, by the Secretary. In such periodic re15 views, the Secretary shall consider all comments 

16 submitted by miners and miners’ representa17 tives and intervening advancements in science 

18 and technology that could be implemented to 

19 enhance miners’ ability to evacuate or otherwise 

20 survive in an emergency. 

21 ‘‘(E) PLAN CONTENT-GENERAL REQUIRE22 MENTS.—To be approved under subparagraph 

23 (C), an accident response plan shall include the 

24 following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) POST-ACCIDENT COMMUNICA2 TIONS.—The plan shall provide for a re3 dundant means of communication with the 

4 surface for persons underground, such as 

5 secondary telephone or equivalent two-way 

6 communication. 

7 ‘‘(ii) POST-ACCIDENT TRACKING.— 

8 Consistent with commercially available 

9 technology and with the physical con10 straints, if any, of the mine, the plan shall 

11 provide for above ground personnel to de12 termine the current, or immediately pre-ac13 cident, location of all underground per14 sonnel. Any system so utilized shall be 

15 functional, reliable, and calculated to re16 main serviceable in a post-accident setting. 

17 ‘‘(iii) POST-ACCIDENT BREATHABLE

18 AIR.—The plan shall provide for— 

19 ‘‘(I) emergency supplies of 

20 breathable air for individuals trapped 

21 underground sufficient to maintain 

22 such individuals for a sustained period 

23 of time; 

24 ‘‘(II) caches of self-rescuers pro25 viding in the aggregate not less than 


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1 2 hours for each miner to be kept in 

2 escapeways from the deepest work 

3 area to the surface at a distance of no 

4 further than an average miner could 

5 walk in 30 minutes; 

6 ‘‘(III) a maintenance schedule for 

7 checking the reliability of self res8 cuers, retiring older self-rescuers first, 

9 and introducing new self-rescuer tech10 nology, such as units with inter11 changeable air or oxygen cylinders not 

12 requiring doffing to replenish airflow 

13 and units with supplies of greater 

14 than 60 minutes, as they are approved 

15 by the Administration and become 

16 available on the market; and 

17 ‘‘(IV) training for each miner in 

18 proper procedures for donning self19 rescuers, switching from one unit to 

20 another, and ensuring a proper fit. 

21 ‘‘(iv) POST-ACCIDENT LIFELINES.— 

22 The plan shall provide for the use of 

23 flame-resistant directional lifelines or 

24 equivalent systems in escapeways to enable 

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1 ment of this clause shall apply upon the re2 placement of existing lifelines, or, in the 

3 case of lifelines in working sections, upon 

4 the earlier of the replacement of such life5 lines or 3 years after the date of enact6 ment of the Mine Improvement and New 

7 Emergency Response Act of 2006. 

8 ‘‘(v) TRAINING.—The plan shall pro9 vide a training program for emergency pro10 cedures described in the plan which will 

11 not diminish the requirements for manda12 tory health and safety training currently 

13 required under section 115. 

14 ‘‘(vi) LOCAL COORDINATION.—The 

15 plan shall set out procedures for coordina16 tion and communication between the oper17 ator, mine rescue teams, and local emer18 gency response personnel and make provi19 sions for familiarizing local rescue per20 sonnel with surface functions that may be 

21 required in the course of mine rescue work. 

22 ‘‘(F) PLAN CONTENT-SPECIFIC REQUIRE23 MENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 

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1 graph (E), and subject to the consider2 ations contained in subparagraph (C), the 

3 Secretary may make additional plan re4 quirements with respect to any of the con5 tent matters. 

6 ‘‘(ii) POST ACCIDENT COMMUNICA7 TIONS.—Not later than 3 years after the 

8 date of enactment of the Mine Improve9 ment and New Emergency Response Act of 

10 2006, a plan shall, to be approved, provide 

11 for post accident communication between 

12 underground and surface personnel via a 

13 wireless two-way medium, and provide for 

14 an electronic tracking system permitting 

15 surface personnel to determine the location 

16 of any persons trapped underground or set 

17 forth within the plan the reasons such pro18 visions can not be adopted. Where such 

19 plan sets forth the reasons such provisions 

20 can not be adopted, the plan shall also set 

21 forth the operator’s alternative means of 

22 compliance. Such alternative shall approxi23 mate, as closely as possible, the degree of 

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1 vided by the wireless two-way medium and 

2 tracking system referred to in this subpart. 

3 ‘‘(G) PLAN DISPUTE RESOLUTION.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any dispute be5 tween the Secretary and an operator with 

6 respect to the content of the operator’s 

7 plan or any refusal by the Secretary to ap8 prove such a plan shall be resolved on an 

9 expedited basis. 

10 ‘‘(ii) DISPUTES.—In the event of a 

11 dispute or refusal described in clause (i), 

12 the Secretary shall issue a technical cita13 tion which shall be immediately referred to 

14 a Department of Labor Administrative 

15 Law Judge. The Secretary and the oper16 ator shall submit all relevant material re17 garding the dispute to the Administrative 

18 Law Judge within 15 days of the date of 

19 the referral. The Administrative Law 

20 Judge shall render his or her decision with 

21 respect to the plan content dispute within 

22 15 days of the receipt of the submission. 

23 ‘‘(iii) FURTHER APPEALS.—A party 

24 adversely affected by a decision under 

25 clause (ii) may pursue all further available 


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1 appeal rights with respect to the citation 

2 involved, except that inclusion of the dis3 puted provision in the plan will not be lim4 ited by such appeal unless such relief is re5 quested by the operator and permitted by 

6 the Administrative Law Judge. 

7 ‘‘(iv) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

8 Nothing in this subparagraph shall be con9 strued to modify the authority of the Sec10 retary to issue citations or orders as pro11 vided for in this Act. 

12 ‘‘(H) MAINTAINING PROTECTIONS FOR

13 MINERS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

14 of this Act, nothing in this section, and no re15 sponse and preparedness plan developed under 

16 this section, shall be approved if it reduces the 

17 protection afforded miners by an existing man18 datory health or safety standard.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. INCIDENT COMMAND AND CONTROL. 

20 Title I of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

21 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811 et seq.) is amended by adding 

22 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 116. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN LIABILITY FOR RES2 CUE OPERATIONS. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No person shall bring an action 

4 against any covered individual or his or her regular em5 ployer for property damage or an injury (or death) sus6 tained as a result of carrying out activities relating to 

7 mine accident rescue or recovery operations. This sub8 section shall not apply where the action that is alleged to 

9 result in the property damages or injury (or death) was 

10 the result of gross negligence, reckless conduct, or illegal 

11 conduct or, where the regular employer (as such term is 

12 used in this Act) is the operator of the mine at which the 

13 rescue activity takes place. Nothing in this section shall 

14 be construed to preempt State workers’ compensation laws 

15 ‘‘(b) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of sub16 section (a), the term ‘covered individual’ means an indi17 vidual— 

18 ‘‘(1) who is a member of a mine rescue team 

19 or who is otherwise a volunteer with respect to a 

20 mine accident; and 

21 ‘‘(2) who is carrying out activities relating to 

22 mine accident rescue or recovery operations. 

23 ‘‘(c) REGULAR EMPLOYER.—For purposes of sub24 section (a), the term ‘regular employer’ means the entity 

25 that is the covered employee’s legal or statutory employer 

26 pursuant to applicable State law.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. MINE RESCUE TEAMS. 

2 Section 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and 

3 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)) is amended— 

4 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection des5 ignation; and 

6 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(1)(A) The Secretary shall issue regulations with re8 gard to mine rescue teams which shall be finalized and 

9 in effect not later than 18 months after the date of enact10 ment of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Re11 sponse Act of 2006. 

12 ‘‘(B) Such regulations shall provide for the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) That such regulations shall not be con14 strued to waive operator training requirements appli15 cable to existing mine rescue teams. 

16 ‘‘(ii) That the Mine Safety and Health Admin17 istration shall establish, and update every 5 years 

18 thereafter, criteria to certify the qualifications of 

19 mine rescue teams. 

20 ‘‘(iii)(I) That the operator of each underground 

21 coal mine with more than 36 employees— 

22 ‘‘(aa) have an employee knowledgeable in 

23 mine emergency response who is employed at 

24 the mine on each shift at each underground 

25 mine; and 


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1 ‘‘(bb) make available two certified mine 

2 rescue teams whose members— 

3 ‘‘(AA) are familiar with the operations 

4 of such coal mine; 

5 ‘‘(BB) participate at least annually in 

6 two local mine rescue contests; 

7 ‘‘(CC) participate at least annually in 

8 mine rescue training at the underground 

9 coal mine covered by the mine rescue team; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(DD) are available at the mine with12 in one hour ground travel time from the 

13 mine rescue station. 

14 ‘‘(II)(aa) For the purpose of complying with 

15 subclause (I), an operator shall employ one team 

16 that is either an individual mine site mine rescue 

17 team or a composite team as provided for in item 

18 (bb). 

19 ‘‘(bb) The following options may be used by an 

20 operator to comply with the requirements of item 

21 (aa): 

22 ‘‘(AA) An individual mine-site mine rescue 

23 team. 

24 ‘‘(BB) A multi-employer composite team 

25 that is made up of team members who are 


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1 knowledgeable about the operations and ventila2 tion of the covered mines and who train on a 

3 semi-annual basis at the covered underground 

4 coal mine— 

5 ‘‘(aaa) which provides coverage for 

6 multiple operators that have team mem7 bers which include at least two active em8 ployees from each of the covered mines; 

9 ‘‘(bbb) which provides coverage for 

10 multiple mines owned by the same operator 

11 which members include at least two active 

12 employees from each mine; or 

13 ‘‘(ccc) which is a State-sponsored 

14 mine rescue team comprised of at least two 

15 active employees from each of the covered 

16 mines. 

17 ‘‘(CC) A commercial mine rescue team pro18 vided by contract through a third-party vendor 

19 or mine rescue team provided by another coal 

20 company, if such team— 

21 ‘‘(aaa) trains on a quarterly basis at 

22 covered underground coal mines; 

23 ‘‘(bbb) is knowledgeable about the op24 erations and ventilation of the covered 

25 mines; and 


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1 ‘‘(ccc) is comprised of individuals with 

2 a minimum of 3 years underground coal 

3 mine experience that shall have occurred 

4 within the 10-year period preceding their 

5 employment on the contract mine rescue 

6 team. 

7 ‘‘(DD) A State-sponsored team made up of 

8 State employees. 

9 ‘‘(iv) That the operator of each underground 

10 coal mine with 36 or less employees shall— 

11 ‘‘(I) have an employee on each shift who is 

12 knowledgeable in mine emergency responses; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(II) make available two certified mine res15 cue teams whose members— 

16 ‘‘(aa) are familiar with the operations 

17 of such coal mine; 

18 ‘‘(bb) participate at least annually in 

19 two local mine rescue contests; 

20 ‘‘(cc) participate at least semi-annu21 ally in mine rescue training at the under22 ground coal mine covered by the mine res23 cue team; 


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1 ‘‘(dd) are available at the mine within 

2 one hour ground travel time from the mine 

3 rescue station; 

4 ‘‘(ee) are knowledgeable about the op5 erations and ventilation of the covered 

6 mines; and 

7 ‘‘(ff) are comprised of individuals with 

8 a minimum of 3 years underground coal 

9 mine experience that shall have occurred 

10 within the 10-year period preceding their 

11 employment on the contract mine rescue 

12 team.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. PROMPT INCIDENT NOTIFICATION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(j) of the Federal 

15 Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 813(j)) 

16 is amended by inserting after the first sentence the fol17 lowing: ‘‘For purposes of the preceding sentence, the noti18 fication required shall be provided by the operator within 

19 15 minutes of the time at which the operator realizes that 

20 the death of an individual at the mine, or an injury or 

21 entrapment of an individual at the mine which has a rea22 sonable potential to cause death, has occurred.’’. 

23 (b) PENALTY.—Section 110(a) of the Federal Mine 

24 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820(a)) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘The operator’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘(1) The operator’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(2) The operator of a coal or other mine who fails 

5 to provide timely notification to the Secretary as required 

6 under section 103(j) (relating to the 15 minute require7 ment) shall be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary 

8 of not less than $5,000 and not more than $60,000.’’. 

9 SEC. 6. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY 

10 AND HEALTH. 

11 (a) GRANTS.—Section 22 of the Occupational Safety 

12 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 671) is amended by 

13 adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(h) OFFICE OF MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be permanently 

16 established within the Institute an Office of Mine 

17 Safety and Health which shall be administered by an 

18 Associate Director to be appointed by the Director. 

19 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office is to 

20 enhance the development of new mine safety tech21 nology and technological applications and to expedite 

22 the commercial availability and implementation of 

23 such technology in mining environments. 

24 ‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.—In addition to all purposes 

25 and authorities provided for under this section, the 


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1 Office of Mine Safety and Health shall be respon2 sible for research, development, and testing of new 

3 technologies and equipment designed to enhance 

4 mine safety and health. To carry out such functions 

5 the Director of the Institute, acting through the Of6 fice, shall have the authority to— 

7 ‘‘(A) award competitive grants to institu8 tions and private entities to encourage the de9 velopment and manufacture of mine safety 

10 equipment; 

11 ‘‘(B) award contracts to educational insti12 tutions or private laboratories for the perform13 ance of product testing or related work with re14 spect to new mine technology and equipment; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) establish an interagency working 

17 group as provided for in paragraph (5). 

18 ‘‘(4) GRANT AUTHORITY.—To be eligible to re19 ceive a grant under the authority provided for under 

20 paragraph (3)(A), an entity or institution shall— 

21 ‘‘(A) submit to the Director of the Insti22 tute an application at such time, in such man23 ner, and containing such information as the Di24 rector may require; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) include in the application under sub2 paragraph (A), a description of the mine safety 

3 equipment to be developed and manufactured 

4 under the grant and a description of the rea5 sons that such equipment would otherwise not 

6 be developed or manufactured, including rea7 sons relating to the limited potential commer8 cial market for such equipment. 

9 ‘‘(5) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 

10 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of 

11 the Institute, in carrying out paragraph (3)(D) 

12 shall establish an interagency working group to 

13 share technology and technological research and 

14 developments that could be utilized to enhance 

15 mine safety and accident response. 

16 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The working group 

17 under subparagraph (A) shall be chaired by the 

18 Associate Director of the Office who shall ap19 point the members of the working group, which 

20 may include representatives of other Federal 

21 agencies or departments as determined appro22 priate by the Associate Director. 

23 ‘‘(C) DUTIES.—The working group under 

24 subparagraph (A) shall conduct an evaluation 

25 of research conducted by, and the technological 


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1 developments of, agencies and departments who 

2 are represented on the working group that may 

3 have applicability to mine safety and accident 

4 response and make recommendations to the Di5 rector for the further development and eventual 

6 implementation of such technology. 

7 ‘‘(6) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

8 after the establishment of the Office under this sub9 section, and annually thereafter, the Director of the 

10 Institute shall submit to the Committee on Health, 

11 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

12 the Committee on Education and the Workforce of 

13 the House of Representatives a report that, with re14 spect to the year involved, described the new mine 

15 safety technologies and equipment that have been 

16 studied, tested, and certified for use, and with re17 spect to those instances of technologies and equip18 ment that have been considered but not yet certified 

19 for use, there reasons therefore. 

20 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

21 There is authorized to be appropriated, such sums 

22 as may be necessary to enable the Institute and the 

23 Office of Mine Safety and Health to carry out this 

24 subsection.’’. 


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1 SEC. 7. REQUIREMENT CONCERNING FAMILY LIAISONS. 

2 The Secretary of Labor shall establish a policy that— 

3 (1) requires the temporary assignment of an in4 dividual Department of Labor official to be a liaison 

5 between the Department and the families of victims 

6 of mine tragedies involving multiple deaths; 

7 (2) requires the Mine Safety and Health Ad8 ministration to be as responsive as possible to re9 quests from the families of mine accident victims for 

10 information relating to mine accidents; and 

11 (3) requires that in such accidents, that the 

12 Mine Safety and Health Administration shall serve 

13 as the primary communicator with the operator, 

14 miners’ families, the press and the public. 

15 SEC. 8. PENALTIES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 110 of the Federal Mine 

17 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) in subsection (a)— 

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection 

21 designation; and 

22 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(2) Any operator who willfully violates a mandatory 

24 health or safety standard, or knowingly violates or fails 

25 or refuses to comply with any order issued under section 

26 104 and section 107, or any order incorporated in a final 


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1 decision issued under this title, except an order incor2 porated in a decision under paragraph (1) or section 

3 105(c), shall, upon conviction, be punished by a fine of 

4 not more than $250,000, or by imprisonment for not more 

5 than one year, or by both, except that if the conviction 

6 is for a violation committed after the first conviction of 

7 such operator under this Act, punishment shall be by a 

8 fine of not more than $500,000, or by imprisonment for 

9 not more than five years, or both. 

10 ‘‘(3)(A) The minimum penalty for any citation issued 

11 under section 104(d)(1) shall be $2,000. 

12 ‘‘(B) The minimum penalty for a failure or refusal 

13 to comply with any order issued under section 104(d)(2) 

14 shall be $4,000. 

15 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

16 prevent an operator from obtaining a review, in accord17 ance with section 106, of an order imposing a penalty de18 scribed in this subsection. If a court, in making such re19 view, sustains the order, the court shall apply the min20 imum penalties required under this subsection.’’; and 

21 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the 

22 following: ‘‘Violations under this section that are 

23 deemed to be flagrant may be assessed a civil pen24 alty of not more than $220,000. For purposes of the 

25 preceding sentence, the term ‘flagrant’ with respect 


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1 to a violation means a reckless or repeated failure to 

2 make reasonable efforts to eliminate a known viola3 tion of a mandatory health or safety standard that 

4 substantially and proximately caused, or reasonably 

5 could have been expected to cause, death or serious 

6 bodily injury.’’. 

7 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than December 31, 

8 2006, the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate final regu9 lations with respect to the penalties provided for under 

10 the amendments made by this section. 

11 SEC. 9. FINE COLLECTIONS. 

12 Section 108(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Mine Safety and 

13 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 818(a)(1)(A)) is amended 

14 by inserting before the comma, the following: ‘‘, or fails 

15 or refuses to comply with any order or decision, including 

16 a civil penalty assessment order, that is issued under this 

17 Act’’. 

18 SEC. 10. SEALING OF ABANDONED AREAS. 

19 Not later than 18 months after the issuance by the 

20 Mine Safety and Health Administration of a final report 

21 on the Sago Mine accident or the date of enactment of 

22 the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act 

23 of 2006, whichever occurs earlier, the Secretary of Labor 

24 shall finalize mandatory heath and safety standards relat25 ing to the sealing of abandoned areas in underground coal 


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1 mines. Such health and safety standards shall provide for 

2 an increase in the 20 psi standard currently set forth in 

3 section 75.335(a)(2) of title 30, Code of Federal Regula4 tions. 

5 SEC. 11. TECHNICAL STUDY PANEL. 

6 Title V of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

7 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) is amended by adding 

8 at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘SEC. 514. TECHNICAL STUDY PANEL. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Tech11 nical Study Panel (referred to in this section as the 

12 ‘Panel’) which shall provide independent scientific and en13 gineering review and recommendations with respect to the 

14 utilization of belt air and the composition and fire retard15 ant properties of belt materials in underground coal min16 ing. 

17 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be composed 

18 of— 

19 ‘‘(1) two individuals to be appointed by the Sec20 retary of Health and Human Services, in consulta21 tion with the Director of the National Institute for 

22 Occupational Safety and Health and the Associate 

23 Director of the Office of Mine Safety; 


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1 ‘‘(2) two individuals to be appointed by the Sec2 retary of Labor, in consultation with the Assistant 

3 Secretary for Mine Safety and Health; and 

4 ‘‘(3) two individuals, one to be appointed jointly 

5 by the majority leaders of the Senate and House of 

6 Representatives and one to be appointed jointly by 

7 the minority leader of the Senate and House of Rep8 resentatives, each to be appointed prior to the sine 

9 die adjournment of the second session of the 109th 

10 Congress. 

11 ‘‘(c) QUALIFICATIONS.—Four of the six individuals 

12 appointed to the Panel under subsection (b) shall possess 

13 a masters or doctoral level degree in mining engineering 

14 or another scientific field demonstrably related to the sub15 ject of the report. No individual appointed to the Panel 

16 shall be an employee of any coal or other mine, or of any 

17 labor organization, or of any State or Federal agency pri18 marily responsible for regulating the mining industry. 

19 ‘‘(d) REPORT.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

21 the date on which all members of the Panel are ap22 pointed under subsection (b), the Panel shall pre23 pare and submit to the Secretary of Labor, the Sec24 retary of Health and Human Services, the Com25 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 


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1 of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and 

2 the Workforce of the House of Representatives a re3 port concerning the utilization of belt air and the 

4 composition and fire retardant properties of belt ma5 terials in underground coal mining. 

6 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE BY SECRETARY.—Not later 

7 than 180 days after the receipt of the report under 

8 paragraph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall provide 

9 a response to the Committee on Health, Education, 

10 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Com11 mittee on Education and the Workforce of the 

12 House of Representatives containing a description of 

13 the actions, if any, that the Secretary intends to 

14 take based upon the report, including proposing reg15 ulatory changes, and the reasons for such actions. 

16 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION.—Members appointed to the 

17 panel, while carrying out the duties of the Panel shall be 

18 entitled to receive compensation, per diem in lieu of sub19 sistence, and travel expenses in the same manner and 

20 under the same conditions as that prescribed under section 

21 208(c) of the Public Health Service Act.’’. 

22 SEC. 12. SCHOLARSHIPS. 

23 Title V of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

24 of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 951 et seq.), as amended by section 

25 12, is further amended by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 515. SCHOLARSHIPS. 

2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Education 

3 (referred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’), in consulta4 tion with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 

5 Health and Human Services, shall establish a program to 

6 provide scholarships to eligible individuals to increase the 

7 skilled workforce for both private sector coal mine opera8 tors and mine safety inspectors and other regulatory per9 sonnel for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. 

10 ‘‘(b) FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program under 

12 subsection (a), the Secretary may award scholarship 

13 to fully or partially pay the tuition costs of eligible 

14 individuals enrolled in 2-year associate’s degree pro15 grams at community colleges or other colleges and 

16 universities that focus on providing the fundamental 

17 skills and training that is of immediate use to a be18 ginning coal miner. 

19 ‘‘(2) SKILLS.—The skills described in para20 graph (1) shall include basic math, basic health and 

21 safety, business principles, management and super22 visory skills, skills related to electric circuitry, skills 

23 related to heavy equipment operations, and skills re24 lated to communications. 


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1 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

2 scholarship under this subsection an individual 

3 shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) have a high school diploma or a 

5 GED; 

6 ‘‘(B) have at least 2 years experience in 

7 full-time employment in mining or mining-re8 lated activities; 

9 ‘‘(C) submit to the Secretary an applica10 tion at such time, in such manner, and con11 taining such information; and 

12 ‘‘(D) demonstrate an interest in working in 

13 the field of mining and performing an intern14 ship with the Mine Safety and Health Adminis15 tration or the National Institute for Occupa16 tional Safety and Health Office of Mine Safety. 

17 ‘‘(c) MINE SAFETY INSPECTOR SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program under 

19 subsection (a), the Secretary may award scholarship 

20 to fully or partially pay the tuition costs of eligible 

21 individuals enrolled in undergraduate bachelor’s de22 gree programs at accredited colleges or universities 

23 that provide the skills needed to become mine safety 

24 inspectors. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SKILLS.—The skills described in para2 graph (1) include skills developed through programs 

3 leading to a degree in mining engineering, civil engi4 neering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineer5 ing, industrial engineering, environmental engineer6 ing, industrial hygiene, occupational health and safe7 ty, geology, chemistry, or other fields of study re8 lated to mine safety and health work. 

9 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

10 scholarship under this subsection an individual 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) have a high school diploma or a 

13 GED; 

14 ‘‘(B) have at least 5 years experience in 

15 full-time employment in mining or mining-re16 lated activities; 

17 ‘‘(C) submit to the Secretary an applica18 tion at such time, in such manner, and con19 taining such information; and 

20 ‘‘(D) agree to be employed for a period of 

21 at least 5 years at the Mine Safety and Health 

22 Administration or, to repay, on a pro-rated 

23 basis, the funds received under this program, 

24 plus interest, at a rate established by the Sec25 retary upon the issuance of the scholarship. 


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1 ‘‘(d) ADVANCED RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program under 

3 subsection (a), the Secretary may award scholar4 ships to fully or partially pay the tuition costs of eli5 gible individuals enrolled in undergraduate bach6 elor’s degree, masters degree, and Ph.D. degree pro7 grams at accredited colleges or universities that pro8 vide the skills needed to augment and advance re9 search in mine safety and to broaden, improve, and 

10 expand the universe of candidates for mine safety in11 spector and other regulatory positions in the Mine 

12 Safety and Health Administration. 

13 ‘‘(2) SKILLS.—The skills described in para14 graph (1) include skills developed through programs 

15 leading to a degree is mining engineering, civil engi16 neering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineer17 ing, industrial engineering, environmental engineer18 ing, industrial hygiene, occupational health and safe19 ty, geology, chemistry, or other fields of study re20 lated to mine safety and health work. 

21 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

22 scholarship under this subsection an individual 

23 shall— 

24 ‘‘(A) have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent 

25 from an accredited 4-year institution; 


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1 ‘‘(B) have at least 5 years experience in 

2 full-time employment in underground mining or 

3 mining-related activities; and 

4 ‘‘(C) submit to the Secretary an applica5 tion at such time, in such manner, and con6 taining such information. 

7 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

8 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

9 necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

10 SEC. 13. RESEARCH CONCERNING REFUGE ALTERNATIVES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Institute of Occupa12 tional Safety and Health shall provide for the conduct of 

13 research, including field tests, concerning the utility, prac14 ticality, survivability, and cost of various refuge alter15 natives in an underground coal mine environment, includ16 ing commercially-available portable refuge chambers. 

17 (b) REPORT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the National 

20 Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shall 

21 prepare and submit to the Secretary of Labor, the 

22 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Com23 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

24 of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and 

25 the Workforce of the House of Representatives a reVerDate Aug 31 2005 11:22 May 24, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00031 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2803.RS S2803

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1 port concerning the results of the research con2 ducted under subsection (a), including any field 

3 tests. 

4 (2) RESPONSE BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 

5 180 days after the receipt of the report under para6 graph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall provide a re7 sponse to the Committee on Health, Education, 

8 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Com9 mittee on Education and the Workforce of the 

10 House of Representatives containing a description of 

11 the actions, if any, that the Secretary intends to 

12 take based upon the report, including proposing reg13 ulatory changes, and the reasons for such actions. 

14 SEC. 14. SAGO MINE SAFETY GRANTS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall es16 tablish a program to award competitive grants for edu17 cation and training to carry out the purposes of this sec18 tion. 

19 (b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this section, to 

20 provide for the funding of education and training pro21 grams to better identify, avoid, and prevent unsafe work22 ing conditions in and around mines. 

23 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

24 under this section, an entity shall— 

25 (1) be a public or private nonprofit entity; and 


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1 (2) submit to the Secretary of Labor an appli2 cation at such time, in such manner, and containing 

3 such information as the Secretary may require. 

4 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received under a 

5 grant under this section shall be used to establish and im6 plement education and training programs, or to develop 

7 training materials for employers and miners, concerning 

8 safety and health topics in mines, as determined appro9 priate by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. 

10 (e) AWARDING OF GRANTS.— 

11 (1) ANNUAL BASIS.—Grants under this section 

12 shall be awarded on an annual basis. 

13 (2) SPECIAL EMPHASIS.—In awarding grants 

14 under this section, the Secretary of Labor shall give 

15 special emphasis to programs and materials that tar16 get workers in smaller mines, including training 

17 miners and employers about new Mine Safety and 

18 Health Administration standards, high risk activi19 ties, or hazards identified by such Administration. 

20 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

21 section, the Secretary of Labor shall give priority to 

22 the funding of pilot and demonstration projects that 

23 the Secretary determines will provide opportunities 

24 for broad applicability for mine safety. 


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1 (f) EVALUATION.—The Secretary of Labor shall use 

2 not less than 1 percent of the funds made available to 

3 carry out this section in a fiscal year to conduct evalua4 tions of the projects funded under grants under this sec5 tion. 

6 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year, 

8 such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 

9 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

10 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mine Improvement and 

11 New Emergency Response Act of 2006’’ or the ‘‘MINER 

12 Act’’. 

13 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY RESPONSE. 

14 Section 316 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

15 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 876) is amended— 

16 (1) in the section heading by adding at the end 

17 the following: ‘‘AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANS’’; 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘Telephone’’ and inserting ‘‘(a) 

19 IN GENERAL.—Telephone’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(b) ACCIDENT PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each underground coal mine 

23 operator shall carry out on a continuing basis a pro24 gram to improve accident preparedness and response 

25 at each mine. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE AND PREPAREDNESS PLAN.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days 

3 after the date of enactment of the Mine Improve4 ment and New Emergency Response Act of 2006, 

5 each underground coal mine operator shall de6 velop and adopt a written accident response plan 

7 that complies with this subsection with respect to 

8 each mine of the operator, and periodically up9 date such plans to reflect changes in operations 

10 in the mine, advances in technology, or other rel11 evant considerations. Each such operator shall 

12 make the accident response plan available to the 

13 miners and the miners’ representatives. 

14 ‘‘(B) PLAN REQUIREMENTS.—An accident 

15 response plan under subparagraph (A) shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) provide for the evacuation of all 

17 individuals endangered by an emergency; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(ii) provide for the maintenance of 

20 individuals trapped underground in the 

21 event that miners are not able to evacuate 

22 the mine. 

23 ‘‘(C) PLAN APPROVAL.—The accident re24 sponse plan under subparagraph (A) shall be 

25 subject to review and approval by the Secretary. 


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1 In determining whether to approve a particular 

2 plan the Secretary shall take into consideration 

3 all comments submitted by miners or their rep4 resentatives. Approved plans shall— 

5 ‘‘(i) afford miners a level of safety pro6 tection at least consistent with the existing 

7 standards, including standards mandated 

8 by law and regulation; 

9 ‘‘(ii) reflect the most recent credible sci10 entific research; 

11 ‘‘(iii) be technologically feasible, make 

12 use of current commercially available tech13 nology, and account for the specific physical 

14 characteristics of the mine; and 

15 ‘‘(iv) reflect the improvements in mine 

16 safety gained from experience under this 

17 Act and other worker safety and health 

18 laws. 

19 ‘‘(D) PLAN REVIEW.—The accident response 

20 plan under subparagraph (A) shall be reviewed 

21 periodically, but at least every 6 months, by the 

22 Secretary. In such periodic reviews, the Sec23 retary shall consider all comments submitted by 

24 miners or miners’ representatives and inter25 vening advancements in science and technology 


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1 that could be implemented to enhance miners’ 

2 ability to evacuate or otherwise survive in an 

3 emergency. 

4 ‘‘(E) PLAN CONTENT-GENERAL REQUIRE5 MENTS.—To be approved under subparagraph 

6 (C), an accident response plan shall include the 

7 following: 

8 ‘‘(i) POST-ACCIDENT COMMUNICA9 TIONS.—The plan shall provide for a redun10 dant means of communication with the sur11 face for persons underground, such as sec12 ondary telephone or equivalent two-way 

13 communication. 

14 ‘‘(ii) POST-ACCIDENT TRACKING.—Con15 sistent with commercially available tech16 nology and with the physical constraints, if 

17 any, of the mine, the plan shall provide for 

18 above ground personnel to determine the 

19 current, or immediately pre-accident, loca20 tion of all underground personnel. Any sys21 tem so utilized shall be functional, reliable, 

22 and calculated to remain serviceable in a 

23 post-accident setting. 

24 ‘‘(iii) POST-ACCIDENT BREATHABLE

25 AIR.—The plan shall provide for— 


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1 ‘‘(I) emergency supplies of breath2 able air for individuals trapped under3 ground sufficient to maintain such in4 dividuals for a sustained period of 

5 time; 

6 ‘‘(II) in addition to the 2 hours of 

7 breathable air per miner required by 

8 law under the emergency temporary 

9 standard as of the day before the date 

10 of enactment of the Mine Improvement 

11 and New Emergency Response Act of 

12 2006, caches of self-rescuers providing 

13 in the aggregate not less than 2 hours 

14 per miner to be kept in escapeways 

15 from the deepest work area to the sur16 face at a distance of no further than 

17 an average miner could walk in 30 

18 minutes; 

19 ‘‘(III) a maintenance schedule for 

20 checking the reliability of self rescuers, 

21 retiring older self-rescuers first, and 

22 introducing new self-rescuer tech23 nology, such as units with interchange24 able air or oxygen cylinders not requir25 ing doffing to replenish airflow and 


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1 units with supplies of greater than 60 

2 minutes, as they are approved by the 

3 Administration and become available 

4 on the market; and 

5 ‘‘(IV) training for each miner in 

6 proper procedures for donning self-res7 cuers, switching from one unit to an8 other, and ensuring a proper fit. 

9 ‘‘(iv) POST-ACCIDENT LIFELINES.—The 

10 plan shall provide for the use of flame-re11 sistant directional lifelines or equivalent 

12 systems in escapeways to enable evacuation. 

13 The flame-resistance requirement of this 

14 clause shall apply upon the replacement of 

15 existing lifelines, or, in the case of lifelines 

16 in working sections, upon the earlier of the 

17 replacement of such lifelines or 3 years after 

18 the date of enactment of the Mine Improve19 ment and New Emergency Response Act of 

20 2006. 

21 ‘‘(v) TRAINING.—The plan shall pro22 vide a training program for emergency pro23 cedures described in the plan which will not 

24 diminish the requirements for mandatory 


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1 health and safety training currently re2 quired under section 115. 

3 ‘‘(vi) LOCAL COORDINATION.—The 

4 plan shall set out procedures for coordina5 tion and communication between the oper6 ator, mine rescue teams, and local emer7 gency response personnel and make provi8 sions for familiarizing local rescue per9 sonnel with surface functions that may be 

10 required in the course of mine rescue work. 

11 ‘‘(F) PLAN CONTENT-SPECIFIC REQUIRE12 MENTS.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the 

14 content requirements contained in subpara15 graph (E), and subject to the considerations 

16 contained in subparagraph (C), the Sec17 retary may make additional plan require18 ments with respect to any of the content 

19 matters. 

20 ‘‘(ii) POST ACCIDENT COMMUNICA21 TIONS.—Not later than 3 years after the 

22 date of enactment of the Mine Improvement 

23 and New Emergency Response Act of 2006, 

24 a plan shall, to be approved, provide for 

25 post accident communication between unVerDate Aug 31 2005 11:22 May 24, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00040 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2803.RS S2803

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1 derground and surface personnel via a wire2 less two-way medium, and provide for an 

3 electronic tracking system permitting sur4 face personnel to determine the location of 

5 any persons trapped underground or set 

6 forth within the plan the reasons such pro7 visions can not be adopted. Where such plan 

8 sets forth the reasons such provisions can 

9 not be adopted, the plan shall also set forth 

10 the operator’s alternative means of compli11 ance. Such alternative shall approximate, 

12 as closely as possible, the degree of func13 tional utility and safety protection provided 

14 by the wireless two-way medium and track15 ing system referred to in this subpart. 

16 ‘‘(G) PLAN DISPUTE RESOLUTION.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any dispute be18 tween the Secretary and an operator with 

19 respect to the content of the operator’s plan 

20 or any refusal by the Secretary to approve 

21 such a plan shall be resolved on an expe22 dited basis. 

23 ‘‘(ii) DISPUTES.—In the event of a dis24 pute or refusal described in clause (i), the 

25 Secretary shall issue a citation which shall 


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1 be immediately referred to a Commission 

2 Administrative Law Judge. The Secretary 

3 and the operator shall submit all relevant 

4 material regarding the dispute to the Ad5 ministrative Law Judge within 15 days of 

6 the date of the referral. The Administrative 

7 Law Judge shall render his or her decision 

8 with respect to the plan content dispute 

9 within 15 days of the receipt of the submis10 sion. 

11 ‘‘(iii) FURTHER APPEALS.—A party 

12 adversely affected by a decision under clause 

13 (ii) may pursue all further available appeal 

14 rights with respect to the citation involved, 

15 except that inclusion of the disputed provi16 sion in the plan will not be limited by such 

17 appeal unless such relief is requested by the 

18 operator and permitted by the Administra19 tive Law Judge. 

20 ‘‘(H) MAINTAINING PROTECTIONS FOR MIN21 ERS.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

22 this Act, nothing in this section, and no response 

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1 tion afforded miners by an existing mandatory 

2 health or safety standard.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. INCIDENT COMMAND AND CONTROL. 

4 Title I of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 

5 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

6 end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 116. LIMITATION ON CERTAIN LIABILITY FOR RESCUE 

8 OPERATIONS. 

9 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—No person shall bring an action 

10 against any covered individual or his or her regular em11 ployer for property damage or an injury (or death) sus12 tained as a result of carrying out activities relating to mine 

13 accident rescue or recovery operations. This subsection shall 

14 not apply where the action that is alleged to result in the 

15 property damages or injury (or death) was the result of 

16 gross negligence, reckless conduct, or illegal conduct or, 

17 where the regular employer (as such term is used in this 

18 Act) is the operator of the mine at which the rescue activity 

19 takes place. Nothing in this section shall be construed to 

20 preempt State workers’ compensation laws. 

21 ‘‘(b) COVERED INDIVIDUAL.—For purposes of sub22 section (a), the term ‘covered individual’ means an indi23 vidual— 


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1 ‘‘(1) who is a member of a mine rescue team or 

2 who is otherwise a volunteer with respect to a mine 

3 accident; and 

4 ‘‘(2) who is carrying out activities relating to 

5 mine accident rescue or recovery operations. 

6 ‘‘(c) REGULAR EMPLOYER.—For purposes of sub7 section (a), the term ‘regular employer’ means the entity 

8 that is the covered employee’s legal or statutory employer 

9 pursuant to applicable State law.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. MINE RESCUE TEAMS. 

11 Section 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

12 Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)) is amended— 

13 (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection des14 ignation; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall issue regulations with re17 gard to mine rescue teams which shall be finalized and in 

18 effect not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

19 of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act 

20 of 2006. 

21 ‘‘(B) Such regulations shall provide for the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) That such regulations shall not be construed 

23 to waive operator training requirements applicable to 

24 existing mine rescue teams. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) That the Mine Safety and Health Adminis2 tration shall establish, and update every 5 years 

3 thereafter, criteria to certify the qualifications of 

4 mine rescue teams. 

5 ‘‘(iii)(I) That the operator of each underground 

6 coal mine with more than 36 employees— 

7 ‘‘(aa) have an employee knowledgeable in 

8 mine emergency response who is employed at the 

9 mine on each shift at each underground mine; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(bb) make available two certified mine res12 cue teams whose members— 

13 ‘‘(AA) are familiar with the operations 

14 of such coal mine; 

15 ‘‘(BB) participate at least annually in 

16 two local mine rescue contests; 

17 ‘‘(CC) participate at least annually in 

18 mine rescue training at the underground 

19 coal mine covered by the mine rescue team; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(DD) are available at the mine with22 in one hour ground travel time from the 

23 mine rescue station. 

24 ‘‘(II)(aa) For the purpose of complying with sub25 clause (I), an operator shall employ one team that is 


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1 either an individual mine site mine rescue team or a 

2 composite team as provided for in item (bb)(BB). 

3 ‘‘(bb) The following options may be used by an 

4 operator to comply with the requirements of item 

5 (aa): 

6 ‘‘(AA) An individual mine-site mine rescue 

7 team. 

8 ‘‘(BB) A multi-employer composite team 

9 that is made up of team members who are 

10 knowledgeable about the operations and ventila11 tion of the covered mines and who train on a 

12 semi-annual basis at the covered underground 

13 coal mine— 

14 ‘‘(aaa) which provides coverage for 

15 multiple operators that have team members 

16 which include at least two active employees 

17 from each of the covered mines; 

18 ‘‘(bbb) which provides coverage for 

19 multiple mines owned by the same operator 

20 which members include at least two active 

21 employees from each mine; or 

22 ‘‘(ccc) which is a State-sponsored mine 

23 rescue team comprised of at least two active 

24 employees from each of the covered mines. 


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1 ‘‘(CC) A commercial mine rescue team pro2 vided by contract through a third-party vendor 

3 or mine rescue team provided by another coal 

4 company, if such team— 

5 ‘‘(aaa) trains on a quarterly basis at 

6 covered underground coal mines; 

7 ‘‘(bbb) is knowledgeable about the oper8 ations and ventilation of the covered mines; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(ccc) is comprised of individuals with 

11 a minimum of 3 years underground coal 

12 mine experience that shall have occurred 

13 within the 10-year period preceding their 

14 employment on the contract mine rescue 

15 team. 

16 ‘‘(DD) A State-sponsored team made up of 

17 State employees. 

18 ‘‘(iv) That the operator of each underground coal 

19 mine with 36 or less employees shall— 

20 ‘‘(I) have an employee on each shift who is 

21 knowledgeable in mine emergency responses; and 

22 ‘‘(II) make available two certified mine res23 cue teams whose members— 

24 ‘‘(aa) are familiar with the operations 

25 of such coal mine; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) participate at least annually in 

2 two local mine rescue contests; 

3 ‘‘(cc) participate at least semi-annu4 ally in mine rescue training at the under5 ground coal mine covered by the mine res6 cue team; 

7 ‘‘(dd) are available at the mine within 

8 one hour ground travel time from the mine 

9 rescue station; 

10 ‘‘(ee) are knowledgeable about the oper11 ations and ventilation of the covered mines; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ff) are comprised of individuals with 

14 a minimum of 3 years underground coal 

15 mine experience that shall have occurred 

16 within the 10-year period preceding their 

17 employment on the contract mine rescue 

18 team.’’. 

19 SEC. 5. PROMPT INCIDENT NOTIFICATION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(j) of the Federal Mine 

21 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 813(j)) is amend22 ed by inserting after the first sentence the following: ‘‘For 

23 purposes of the preceding sentence, the notification required 

24 shall be provided by the operator within 15 minutes of the 

25 time at which the operator realizes that the death of an 


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1 individual at the mine, or an injury or entrapment of an 

2 individual at the mine which has a reasonable potential 

3 to cause death, has occurred.’’. 

4 (b) PENALTY.—Section 110(a) of the Federal Mine 

5 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820(a)) is 

6 amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘The operator’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘(1) The operator’’; and 

9 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(2) The operator of a coal or other mine who fails 

11 to provide timely notification to the Secretary as required 

12 under section 103(j) (relating to the 15 minute requirement) 

13 shall be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary of not less 

14 than $5,000 and not more than $60,000.’’. 

15 SEC. 6. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY 

16 AND HEALTH. 

17 (a) GRANTS.—Section 22 of the Occupational Safety 

18 and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 671) is amended by 

19 adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(h) OFFICE OF MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be permanently 

22 established within the Institute an Office of Mine 

23 Safety and Health which shall be administered by an 

24 Associate Director to be appointed by the Director. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office is to 

2 enhance the development of new mine safety tech3 nology and technological applications and to expedite 

4 the commercial availability and implementation of 

5 such technology in mining environments. 

6 ‘‘(3) FUNCTIONS.—In addition to all purposes 

7 and authorities provided for under this section, the 

8 Office of Mine Safety and Health shall be responsible 

9 for research, development, and testing of new tech10 nologies and equipment designed to enhance mine 

11 safety and health. To carry out such functions the Di12 rector of the Institute, acting through the Office, shall 

13 have the authority to— 

14 ‘‘(A) award competitive grants to institu15 tions and private entities to encourage the devel16 opment and manufacture of mine safety equip17 ment; 

18 ‘‘(B) award contracts to educational insti19 tutions or private laboratories for the perform20 ance of product testing or related work with re21 spect to new mine technology and equipment; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(C) establish an interagency working 

24 group as provided for in paragraph (5). 


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1 ‘‘(4) GRANT AUTHORITY.—To be eligible to re2 ceive a grant under the authority provided for under 

3 paragraph (3)(A), an entity or institution shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) submit to the Director of the Institute 

5 an application at such time, in such manner, 

6 and containing such information as the Director 

7 may require; and 

8 ‘‘(B) include in the application under sub9 paragraph (A), a description of the mine safety 

10 equipment to be developed and manufactured 

11 under the grant and a description of the reasons 

12 that such equipment would otherwise not be de13 veloped or manufactured, including reasons re14 lating to the limited potential commercial mar15 ket for such equipment. 

16 ‘‘(5) INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.— 

17 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the 

18 Institute, in carrying out paragraph (3)(D) shall 

19 establish an interagency working group to share 

20 technology and technological research and devel21 opments that could be utilized to enhance mine 

22 safety and accident response. 

23 ‘‘(B) MEMBERSHIP.—The working group 

24 under subparagraph (A) shall be chaired by the 

25 Associate Director of the Office who shall apVerDate Aug 31 2005 11:22 May 24, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00051 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2803.RS S2803

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1 point the members of the working group, which 

2 may include representatives of other Federal 

3 agencies or departments as determined appro4 priate by the Associate Director. 

5 ‘‘(C) DUTIES.—The working group under 

6 subparagraph (A) shall conduct an evaluation of 

7 research conducted by, and the technological de8 velopments of, agencies and departments who are 

9 represented on the working group that may have 

10 applicability to mine safety and accident re11 sponse and make recommendations to the Direc12 tor for the further development and eventual im13 plementation of such technology. 

14 ‘‘(6) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the establishment of the Office under this sub16 section, and annually thereafter, the Director of the 

17 Institute shall submit to the Committee on Health, 

18 Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

19 Committee on Education and the Workforce of the 

20 House of Representatives a report that, with respect 

21 to the year involved, describes the new mine safety 

22 technologies and equipment that have been studied, 

23 tested, and certified for use, and with respect to those 

24 instances of technologies and equipment that have 


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1 been considered but not yet certified for use, the rea2 sons therefore. 

3 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 There is authorized to be appropriated, such sums as 

5 may be necessary to enable the Institute and the Of6 fice of Mine Safety and Health to carry out this sub7 section.’’. 

8 SEC. 7. REQUIREMENT CONCERNING FAMILY LIAISONS. 

9 The Secretary of Labor shall establish a policy that— 

10 (1) requires the temporary assignment of an in11 dividual Department of Labor official to be a liaison 

12 between the Department and the families of victims of 

13 mine tragedies involving multiple deaths; 

14 (2) requires the Mine Safety and Health Admin15 istration to be as responsive as possible to requests 

16 from the families of mine accident victims for infor17 mation relating to mine accidents; and 

18 (3) requires that in such accidents, that the Mine 

19 Safety and Health Administration shall serve as the 

20 primary communicator with the operator, miners’ 

21 families, the press and the public. 

22 SEC. 8. PENALTIES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 110 of the Federal Mine 

24 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) is amend25 ed— 


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1 (1) in subsection (a)— 

2 (A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection 

3 designation; and 

4 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(2) Any operator who willfully violates a mandatory 

6 health or safety standard, or knowingly violates or fails or 

7 refuses to comply with any order issued under section 104 

8 and section 107, or any order incorporated in a final deci9 sion issued under this title, except an order incorporated 

10 in a decision under paragraph (1) or section 105(c), shall, 

11 upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not more than 

12 $250,000, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, 

13 or by both, except that if the conviction is for a violation 

14 committed after the first conviction of such operator under 

15 this Act, punishment shall be by a fine of not more than 

16 $500,000, or by imprisonment for not more than five years, 

17 or both. 

18 ‘‘(3)(A) The minimum penalty for any citation or 

19 order issued under section 104(d)(1) shall be $2,000. 

20 ‘‘(B) The minimum penalty for any order issued under 

21 section 104(d)(2) shall be $4,000. 

22 ‘‘(4) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to 

23 prevent an operator from obtaining a review, in accordance 

24 with section 106, of an order imposing a penalty described 

25 in this subsection. If a court, in making such review, susVerDate Aug 31 2005 11:22 May 24, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2803.RS S2803

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1 tains the order, the court shall apply at least the minimum 

2 penalties required under this subsection.’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (b) the fol4 lowing: ‘‘Violations under this section that are deemed 

5 to be flagrant may be assessed a civil penalty of not 

6 more than $220,000. For purposes of the preceding 

7 sentence, the term ‘flagrant’ with respect to a viola8 tion means a reckless or repeated failure to make rea9 sonable efforts to eliminate a known violation of a 

10 mandatory health or safety standard that substan11 tially and proximately caused, or reasonably could 

12 have been expected to cause, death or serious bodily 

13 injury.’’. 

14 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than December 30, 2006, 

15 the Secretary of Labor shall promulgate final regulations 

16 with respect to penalties. 

17 SEC. 9. FINE COLLECTIONS. 

18 Section 108(a)(1)(A) of the Federal Mine Safety and 

19 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 818(a)(1)(A)) is amended 

20 by inserting before the comma, the following: ‘‘, or fails or 

21 refuses to comply with any order or decision, including a 

22 civil penalty assessment order, that is issued under this 

23 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 10. SEALING OF ABANDONED AREAS. 

2 Not later than 18 months after the issuance by the 

3 Mine Safety and Health Administration of a final report 

4 on the Sago Mine accident or the date of enactment of the 

5 Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 

6 2006, whichever occurs earlier, the Secretary of Labor shall 

7 finalize mandatory heath and safety standards relating to 

8 the sealing of abandoned areas in underground coal mines. 

9 Such health and safety standards shall provide for an in10 crease in the 20 psi standard currently set forth in section 

11 75.335(a)(2) of title 30, Code of Federal Regulations. 

12 SEC. 11. TECHNICAL STUDY PANEL. 

13 Title V of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 

14 1977 (30 U.S.C. 951 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 

15 end the following: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 514. TECHNICAL STUDY PANEL. 

17 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a Tech18 nical Study Panel (referred to in this section as the ‘Panel’) 

19 which shall provide independent scientific and engineering 

20 review and recommendations with respect to the utilization 

21 of belt air and the composition and fire retardant properties 

22 of belt materials in underground coal mining. 

23 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be composed of— 

24 ‘‘(1) two individuals to be appointed by the Sec25 retary of Health and Human Services, in consulta26 tion with the Director of the National Institute for 


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1 Occupational Safety and Health and the Associate 

2 Director of the Office of Mine Safety; 

3 ‘‘(2) two individuals to be appointed by the Sec4 retary of Labor, in consultation with the Assistant 

5 Secretary for Mine Safety and Health; and 

6 ‘‘(3) two individuals, one to be appointed jointly 

7 by the majority leaders of the Senate and House of 

8 Representatives and one to be appointed jointly by 

9 the minority leader of the Senate and House of Rep10 resentatives, each to be appointed prior to the sine die 

11 adjournment of the second session of the 109th Con12 gress. 

13 ‘‘(c) QUALIFICATIONS.—Four of the six individuals 

14 appointed to the Panel under subsection (b) shall possess 

15 a masters or doctoral level degree in mining engineering 

16 or another scientific field demonstrably related to the subject 

17 of the report. No individual appointed to the Panel shall 

18 be an employee of any coal or other mine, or of any labor 

19 organization, or of any State or Federal agency primarily 

20 responsible for regulating the mining industry. 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORT.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

23 the date on which all members of the Panel are ap24 pointed under subsection (b), the Panel shall prepare 

25 and submit to the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary 


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1 of Health and Human Services, the Committee on 

2 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Sen3 ate, and the Committee on Education and the Work4 force of the House of Representatives a report con5 cerning the utilization of belt air and the composition 

6 and fire retardant properties of belt materials in un7 derground coal mining. 

8 ‘‘(2) RESPONSE BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 

9 180 days after the receipt of the report under para10 graph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall provide a re11 sponse to the Committee on Health, Education, 

12 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee 

13 on Education and the Workforce of the House of Rep14 resentatives containing a description of the actions, if 

15 any, that the Secretary intends to take based upon the 

16 report, including proposing regulatory changes, and 

17 the reasons for such actions. 

18 ‘‘(e) COMPENSATION.—Members appointed to the 

19 panel, while carrying out the duties of the Panel shall be 

20 entitled to receive compensation, per diem in lieu of subsist21 ence, and travel expenses in the same manner and under 

22 the same conditions as that prescribed under section 208(c) 

23 of the Public Health Service Act.’’. 


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1 SEC. 12. SCHOLARSHIPS. 

2 Title V of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 

3 1977 (30 U.S.C. 951 et seq.), as amended by section 11, 

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

5 ‘‘SEC. 515. SCHOLARSHIPS. 

6 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Education 

7 (referred to in this section as the ‘Secretary’), in consulta8 tion with the Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 

9 Health and Human Services, shall establish a program to 

10 provide scholarships to eligible individuals to increase the 

11 skilled workforce for both private sector coal mine operators 

12 and mine safety inspectors and other regulatory personnel 

13 for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. 

14 ‘‘(b) FUNDAMENTAL SKILLS SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program under 

16 subsection (a), the Secretary may award scholarship 

17 to fully or partially pay the tuition costs of eligible 

18 individuals enrolled in 2-year associate’s degree pro19 grams at community colleges or other colleges and 

20 universities that focus on providing the fundamental 

21 skills and training that is of immediate use to a be22 ginning coal miner. 

23 ‘‘(2) SKILLS.—The skills described in paragraph 

24 (1) shall include basic math, basic health and safety, 

25 business principles, management and supervisory 

26 skills, skills related to electric circuitry, skills related 


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1 to heavy equipment operations, and skills related to 

2 communications. 

3 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

4 scholarship under this subsection an individual 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) have a high school diploma or a GED; 

7 ‘‘(B) have at least 2 years experience in 

8 full-time employment in mining or mining-re9 lated activities; 

10 ‘‘(C) submit to the Secretary an application 

11 at such time, in such manner, and containing 

12 such information; and 

13 ‘‘(D) demonstrate an interest in working in 

14 the field of mining and performing an intern15 ship with the Mine Safety and Health Adminis16 tration or the National Institute for Occupa17 tional Safety and Health Office of Mine Safety. 

18 ‘‘(c) MINE SAFETY INSPECTOR SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program under 

20 subsection (a), the Secretary may award scholarship 

21 to fully or partially pay the tuition costs of eligible 

22 individuals enrolled in undergraduate bachelor’s de23 gree programs at accredited colleges or universities 

24 that provide the skills needed to become mine safety 

25 inspectors. 


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1 ‘‘(2) SKILLS.—The skills described in paragraph 

2 (1) include skills developed through programs leading 

3 to a degree in mining engineering, civil engineering, 

4 mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, indus5 trial engineering, environmental engineering, indus6 trial hygiene, occupational health and safety, geology, 

7 chemistry, or other fields of study related to mine 

8 safety and health work. 

9 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

10 scholarship under this subsection an individual 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) have a high school diploma or a GED; 

13 ‘‘(B) have at least 5 years experience in 

14 full-time employment in mining or mining-re15 lated activities; 

16 ‘‘(C) submit to the Secretary an application 

17 at such time, in such manner, and containing 

18 such information; and 

19 ‘‘(D) agree to be employed for a period of at 

20 least 5 years at the Mine Safety and Health Ad21 ministration or, to repay, on a pro-rated basis, 

22 the funds received under this program, plus in23 terest, at a rate established by the Secretary 

24 upon the issuance of the scholarship. 

25 ‘‘(d) ADVANCED RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program under 

2 subsection (a), the Secretary may award scholarships 

3 to fully or partially pay the tuition costs of eligible 

4 individuals enrolled in undergraduate bachelor’s de5 gree, masters degree, and Ph.D. degree programs at 

6 accredited colleges or universities that provide the 

7 skills needed to augment and advance research in 

8 mine safety and to broaden, improve, and expand the 

9 universe of candidates for mine safety inspector and 

10 other regulatory positions in the Mine Safety and 

11 Health Administration. 

12 ‘‘(2) SKILLS.—The skills described in paragraph 

13 (1) include skills developed through programs leading 

14 to a degree in mining engineering, civil engineering, 

15 mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, indus16 trial engineering, environmental engineering, indus17 trial hygiene, occupational health and safety, geology, 

18 chemistry, or other fields of study related to mine 

19 safety and health work. 

20 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a 

21 scholarship under this subsection an individual 

22 shall— 

23 ‘‘(A) have a bachelor’s degree or equivalent 

24 from an accredited 4-year institution; 


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1 ‘‘(B) have at least 5 years experience in 

2 full-time employment in underground mining or 

3 mining-related activities; and 

4 ‘‘(C) submit to the Secretary an application 

5 at such time, in such manner, and containing 

6 such information. 

7 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

8 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec9 essary to carry out this section.’’. 

10 SEC. 13. RESEARCH CONCERNING REFUGE ALTERNATIVES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The National Institute of Occupa12 tional Safety and Health shall provide for the conduct of 

13 research, including field tests, concerning the utility, practi14 cality, survivability, and cost of various refuge alternatives 

15 in an underground coal mine environment, including com16 mercially-available portable refuge chambers. 

17 (b) REPORT.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the National 

20 Institute for Occupational Safety and Health shall 

21 prepare and submit to the Secretary of Labor, the 

22 Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Com23 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

24 the Senate, and the Committee on Education and the 

25 Workforce of the House of Representatives a report 


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1 concerning the results of the research conducted under 

2 subsection (a), including any field tests. 

3 (2) RESPONSE BY SECRETARY.—Not later than 

4 180 days after the receipt of the report under para5 graph (1), the Secretary of Labor shall provide a re6 sponse to the Committee on Health, Education, 

7 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee 

8 on Education and the Workforce of the House of Rep9 resentatives containing a description of the actions, if 

10 any, that the Secretary intends to take based upon the 

11 report, including proposing regulatory changes, and 

12 the reasons for such actions. 

13 SEC. 14. BROOKWOOD-SAGO MINE SAFETY GRANTS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall estab15 lish a program to award competitive grants for education 

16 and training, to be known as Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety 

17 Grants, to carry out the purposes of this section. 

18 (b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this section, to 

19 provide for the funding of education and training programs 

20 to better identify, avoid, and prevent unsafe working condi21 tions in and around mines. 

22 (c) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

23 under this section, an entity shall— 

24 (1) be a public or private nonprofit entity; and 


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1 (2) submit to the Secretary of Labor an applica2 tion at such time, in such manner, and containing 

3 such information as the Secretary may require. 

4 (d) USE OF FUNDS.—Amounts received under a grant 

5 under this section shall be used to establish and implement 

6 education and training programs, or to develop training 

7 materials for employers and miners, concerning safety and 

8 health topics in mines, as determined appropriate by the 

9 Mine Safety and Health Administration. 

10 (e) AWARDING OF GRANTS.— 

11 (1) ANNUAL BASIS.—Grants under this section 

12 shall be awarded on an annual basis. 

13 (2) SPECIAL EMPHASIS.—In awarding grants 

14 under this section, the Secretary of Labor shall give 

15 special emphasis to programs and materials that tar16 get workers in smaller mines, including training min17 ers and employers about new Mine Safety and Health 

18 Administration standards, high risk activities, or 

19 hazards identified by such Administration. 

20 (3) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants under this 

21 section, the Secretary of Labor shall give priority to 

22 the funding of pilot and demonstration projects that 

23 the Secretary determines will provide opportunities 

24 for broad applicability for mine safety. 


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1 (f) EVALUATION.—The Secretary of Labor shall use not 

2 less than 1 percent of the funds made available to carry 

3 out this section in a fiscal year to conduct evaluations of 

4 the projects funded under grants under this section. 

5 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There are 

6 authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal year, such 

7 sums as may be necessary to carry out this section. 


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Calendar No. 439 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2803 

A BILL 

of 1977 to improve the safety of mines and mining. 

To amend the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

MAY 23, 2006 

Reported with an amendment 


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