I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4695 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to prescribe additional coal mine safety 

standards, to require additional penalties for habitual violators, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 1, 2006 

Mr. RAHALL (for himself, Mr. MOLLOHAN, and Mrs. CAPITO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Labor to prescribe additional 

coal mine safety standards, to require additional penalties for habitual violators, 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 ‘‘Federal Mine Safety 

5 and Health Act of 2006’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 It is the sense of Congress that the Mine Safety and 

8 Health Administration should strictly enforce mine health 
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1 and safety standards as required under the Federal Mine 

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

3 SEC. 3. ENHANCED UNDERGROUND COAL MINE SAFETY 

4 STANDARDS. 

5 (a) NOTIFICATION.—Not later than 90 days after the 

6 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall revise the regu7 lations prescribed pursuant to section 101 of the Federal 

8 Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) to 

9 require that the operator of each coal mine expeditiously 

10 provide notification of any accident where rescue and re11 covery work is necessary. The Secretary shall take such 

12 steps as are necessary to ensure that a system is in place 

13 within the Mine Health and Safety Administration to im14 mediately receive such notification. 

15 (b) RAPID EMERGENCY RESPONSE.—Not later than 

16 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

17 Secretary of Labor shall revise the regulations prescribed 

18 pursuant to section 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and 

19 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)) regarding mine 

20 rescue teams. Such regulations— 

21 (1) shall address the efficacy and adequacy of— 

22 (A) training and qualifications for rescue 

23 team members; 
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1 (B) the equipment and technology used in 

2 mine rescue, including refuge chambers and 

3 other rescue alternatives; 

4 (C) the structure and organization of res5 cue teams, including the number of team mem6 bers and the procedural rules for the use of 

7 teams, including contractor teams; and 

8 (D) the guidelines addressing the potential 

9 liability of and insurance issues relating to res10 cue teams; and 

11 (2) shall require— 

12 (A) that the operator of each coal mine 

13 maintain mine rescue teams whose members— 

14 (i) are employed by such operator and 

15 who are familiar with the workings of such 

16 coal mine; and 

17 (ii) shall be available at such coal 

18 mine for rescue and recovery work to pro19 vide an immediate and rapid response to 

20 an emergency; and 

21 (B) that the operator of each coal mine 

22 have in place a plan for coordination and com23 munication between the operator and mine res24 cue teams and local emergency response per25 sonnel, and that such local personnel be eligible 
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1 to receive appropriate training in order to be fa2 miliar with mine rescue and recovery work. 

3 (c) EMERGENCY AIR AND COMMUNICATIONS EQUIP4 MENT.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the en5 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe 

6 regulations as authorized by section 315 of the Federal 

7 Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)). 

8 Such regulations shall require that each coal mine main9 tain at strategic locations within each mine, the following: 

10 (1) Emergency supplies of air and self-con11 tained breathing equipment for persons awaiting res12 cue due to an emergency within the mine. Such 

13 equipment shall be sufficient to maintain such per14 sons for a sustained period of time and shall be in 

15 addition to the self-rescue devices referred to in sec16 tion 317 of that Act (30 U.S.C. 877(n)). 

17 (2) Independent means of communication with 

18 the surface for persons awaiting rescue at such loca19 tions, including secondary telephone or equivalent 

20 two-way communications facilities to the surface. 

21 (d) EMERGENCY TRACKING AND COMMUNICATIONS

22 EQUIPMENT.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 

23 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall 

24 prescribe regulations to require each operator of a coal 

25 mine to implement a communication and electronic track-
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1 ing system to assist in rescue and recovery work of persons 

2 awaiting rescue due to an emergency within the coal mine. 

3 Such regulations shall require that each person who enters 

4 a coal mine to be equipped with— 

5 (1) a portable communications device calibrated 

6 to communicate with both the surface and to rescue 

7 personnel; and 

8 (2) an electronic tracking device permitting per9 sons on the surface and rescue personnel to deter10 mine the exact location of each such person within 

11 the mine. 

12 (e) PROHIBITED PRACTICES.—Not later than 90 

13 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec14 retary of Labor shall revise the regulations prescribed pur15 suant to section 303(y) of the Federal Mine Safety and 

16 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 863(y)) to require, in any 

17 coal mine, regardless of the date on which it was opened, 

18 that belt haulage entries not be used to ventilate active 

19 working places. 

20 SEC. 4. INCREASED PENALTIES FOR HABITUAL VIOLATORS. 

21 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact22 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor shall prescribe 

23 regulations— 

24 (1) to establish that no civil penalty less than 

25 $10,000 shall be assessed pursuant to section 110 of 
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1 the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 

2 (30 U.S.C. 820) for a violation which occurs of a 

3 mandatory health or safety standard where the oper4 ator displays negligence or reckless disregard of such 

5 standard; and 

6 (2) to provide for a civil penalty of up to 

7 $100,000 for an operator who fails to comply with 

8 section 3(a) of this Act. 

9 SEC. 5. TECHNOLOGICAL TRANSFER AND APPLICATION. 

10 (a) OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY TRANS11 FER.—The Secretary of Labor shall establish within the 

12 Mine Safety and Health Administration an Office of 

13 Science and Technology Transfer for the purposes of con14 ducting research and development to apply advancing 

15 sciences and technologies to underground coal mine and 

16 coal miner health and safety. Such Office shall consult 

17 with other Federal agencies, as appropriate and on a reg18 ular basis, in order to stay informed of the latest tech19 nologies that are available to ensure coal miner health and 

20 safety. 

21 (b) PERIODIC REVIEW AND APPLICATION.—The Sec22 retary of Labor shall, on a periodic basis, review the un23 derground coal mine health and safety standards for pos24 sible revision with regard to advancing sciences and tech-
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1 nologies, and shall, on a periodic basis, revise such stand2 ards to require the implementation of such technologies. 

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be nec5 essary for the purposes of implementing this section. 

6 SEC. 6. MINER OMBUDSMAN. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established 

8 within the Office of the Inspector General of the Depart9 ment of Labor the position of Miner Ombudsman. The 

10 President, by and with the advice and consent of the Sen11 ate, shall appoint an individual with expertise in mine 

12 safety and health to serve as the Miner Ombudsman. 

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

14 (1) be responsible for ensuring the safety of 

15 mines through information collection and sharing; 

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

17 appropriate Internet website to permit individual 

18 miners to confidentially report mine safety and 

19 health violations; 

20 (3) forward information collected concerning 

21 mine safety and health violations to the appropriate 

22 officials of the Mine Safety and Health Administra23 tion for investigation; and 

24 (4) carry out other activities to improve the 

25 safety of mines. 
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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

2 As used in this Act, the terms ‘‘coal mine’’ and ‘‘oper3 ator’’ have the meanings given such terms in section 3 

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

5 U.S.C. 802). 

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