I 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5389 

To establish improved mandatory standards to protect miners during 

emergencies, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 16, 2006 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. OWENS, 

Mr. CHANDLER, Mr. HOLT, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. 

BROWN of Ohio, Mr. COSTELLO, and Mr. MURTHA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 

Workforce 

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 


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

2 to help miners survive underground mining emergencies 

3 and has failed to adequately prepare for the significant 

4 losses to a highly-trained Mine Safety and Health Admin5 istration inspector workforce that are pending, Congres6 sional intervention is needed. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

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

11 meaning given the term in such section. 

12 SEC. 4. IMPROVED ESCAPE AND REFUGE REQUIREMENTS 

13 TO HELP PROTECT MINERS IN THE EVENT OF 

14 AN EMERGENCY. 

15 Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

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

17 the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(f) IMPROVED MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS TO

19 PROTECT MINERS IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY.— 

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

21 provision of this section regarding the promulgation 

22 of mandatory health or safety standards, and in ad23 dition to the requirements of any mandatory health 

24 or safety standards promulgated under this Act, the 


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1 following shall be mandatory safety standards that 

2 apply to all underground areas of coal mines: 

3 ‘‘(A) EMERGENCY DETECTION, WARNING, 

4 AND MESSAGING SYSTEMS.—Not later than 180 

5 days after the date of enactment of the Pro6 tecting America’s Miners Act, an operator of an 

7 underground coal mine shall— 

8 ‘‘(i) install atmospheric detection and 

9 warning systems, in all underground areas 

10 where miners normally work and travel, 

11 that provide real-time information regard12 ing methane levels, carbon monoxide levels, 

13 oxygen levels, air flow, and temperature 

14 and that can, to the maximum extent pos15 sible, withstand explosions and fires; 

16 ‘‘(ii) provide each miner working in 

17 any underground area of the mine with a 

18 device that is designed to enable the oper19 ator to send a message to the miner pro20 viding instructions during an emergency; 

21 and 

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

23 for Occupational Safety and Health cer24 tifies that portable devices providing 2-way 

25 communications between the surface and 


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1 underground are available and are capable 

2 of operation during some mining emer3 gencies, provide each miner working in any 

4 underground area of the mine with such a 

5 device, and, in addition, continue to pro6 vide the devices required under clause (ii) 

7 until such time as the 2-way communica8 tions devices required by this paragraph 

9 are certified by the National Institute for 

10 Occupational Safety and Health to be at 

11 least as effective as the other devices in all 

12 mining emergency circumstances. 

13 The Secretary shall establish procedures for 

14 regularly consulting with other Federal, State, 

15 and foreign agencies with respect to new com16 munications technologies for use in accordance 

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

18 approval of such new technologies. 

19 ‘‘(B) FACILITATING EMERGENCY ES20 CAPE.— 

21 ‘‘(i) EMERGENCY CACHES.—Not later 

22 than 30 days after the date of enactment 

23 of the Protecting America’s Miners Act, 

24 each operator of an underground coal mine 

25 shall provide emergency underground 


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1 caches of air and self-contained breathing 

2 equipment, in amounts sufficient to enable 

3 all miners working anywhere in a par4 ticular mine to escape from the mine in an 

5 emergency in which any direct inhalation 

6 of the mine atmosphere by a miner would 

7 likely produce adverse health effects. The 

8 caches shall be located throughout the 

9 mine, including in escapeways. In order to 

10 determine the specific location of each 

11 cache in an escapeway, an operator shall 

12 develop a risk assessment plan that cal13 culates the necessary amount and place14 ment of the caches based on the travel 

15 time by foot from the deepest work area in 

16 the mine to the surface, taking into ac17 count the impact of emergency conditions 

18 and the demographics of the miners in the 

19 particular mine, except that such caches 

20 shall not be spaced further apart than the 

21 distance an average miner can walk in 30 

22 minutes. Each cache located in an 

23 escapeway shall be marked with flame re24 tardant lifeline cords or similar devices, 

25 and reflective material shall be placed at 


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1 25-foot intervals along the route to the 

2 cache to indicate the cache’s location. 

3 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL EMERGENCY

4 CACHES.—Until the date that the require5 ment to provide refuges under subpara6 graph (C) is effective, each operator of an 

7 underground coal mine shall maintain, in 

8 addition to the caches described in clause 

9 (i), emergency supplies of air and self-con10 tained breathing equipment for miners 

11 awaiting rescue due to an emergency with12 in the mine. Such equipment shall be suffi13 cient to supply the highest number of min14 ers expected to be in the working areas of 

15 the mine for not less than 5 days. 

16 ‘‘(iii) SELF-RESCUE DEVICE AP17 PROVAL AND INSPECTION PROCESS.— 

18 ‘‘(I) EXPEDITED APPROVAL.— 

19 The Secretary shall expedite the proc20 ess for approving any self-rescue de21 vice that permits the replenishment of 

22 oxygen without requiring the device 

23 user to remove the device. 

24 ‘‘(II) INSPECTION PROGRAM.— 

25 The Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) establish a program to 

2 randomly check samples of any 

3 self-rescue devices used in an un4 derground coal mine on a regular 

5 basis, in order to ensure that the 

6 self-rescue devices in the coal 

7 mine inventories are working in 

8 accordance with the approval cri9 teria for such devices; 

10 ‘‘(bb) require a manufac11 turer of a self-rescue device to 

12 contact the Secretary imme13 diately upon notification of any 

14 potential problem with such de15 vice; and 

16 ‘‘(cc) notify immediately all 

17 operators of underground coal 

18 mines if the Secretary detects or 

19 is advised of any problems with 

20 the self-rescue devices. 

21 ‘‘(iv) SELF-RESCUE DEVICE MAINTE22 NANCE SCHEDULE.—Not later than 30 

23 days after the date of enactment of the 

24 Protecting America’s Miners Act, each op25 erator of an underground coal mine shall 


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1 develop and implement a maintenance 

2 schedule for— 

3 ‘‘(I) checking the reliability of 

4 self-rescue devices; 

5 ‘‘(II) retiring older self-rescue de6 vices first; and 

7 ‘‘(III) introducing new self-rescue 

8 device technology, such as devices 

9 with interchangeable air or oxygen 

10 cylinders that do not require doffing 

11 to replenish airflow and devices with 

12 air or oxygen supplies of more than 1 

13 hour, as such devices are approved by 

14 the Secretary and become available. 

15 ‘‘(v) SELF-RESCUE DEVICE TRAIN16 ING.—Not later than 30 days after the 

17 date of enactment of the Protecting Amer18 ica’s Miners Act, each operator of an un19 derground coal mine shall implement a 

20 program to ensure that all miners are 

21 trained in the proper procedures for don22 ning self-rescue devices, switching from 1 

23 self-rescue device to another, and ensuring 

24 a proper fit of the self-rescue devices. 


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1 ‘‘(vi) FLAME-RETARDANT LIFE2 LINES.—Whenever required by law to in3 stall lifelines, each operator of an under4 ground coal mine shall use flame-retardant 

5 lifelines exclusively. 

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

7 after the date of enactment of the Protecting 

8 America’s Miners Act, each operator of an un9 derground coal mine shall establish or provide 

10 refuges underground in sufficient locations to 

11 ensure that all miners working at any location 

12 in a mine can reach a refuge that can accom13 modate such miner within 15 minutes, should 

14 such miner determine that escape from the 

15 mine is not the best course of action to take 

16 during an emergency and without regard to the 

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

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

19 Each operator shall ensure that the locations of 

20 the refuges are marked and kept current on 

21 mine maps, and that mine rescue teams for the 

22 mine are regularly provided with information 

23 about the design and features of the refuges. 

24 Each such refuge shall be— 


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

2 and water to accommodate the calculated 

3 number of miners for a period of not less 

4 than 5 days; 

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

6 way as to seal out toxic mine atmospheres 

7 and to eliminate the buildup of toxic 

8 atmospheres or other hazardous conditions 

9 within the refuge; and 

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

11 equivalent 2-way communications to the 

12 surface. 

13 ‘‘(D) TRACKING DEVICES TO FACILITATE

14 RESCUE.—Not later than 180 days after the 

15 date of enactment of the Protecting America’s 

16 Miners Act, each operator of an underground 

17 coal mine shall provide each miner working in 

18 an underground location with an electronic 

19 tracking device that permits the continuous 

20 tracking of the location of the miner within the 

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

22 rescue in an emergency. 

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

24 provisions of this subsection may be superseded in 

25 whole or in part by improved mandatory safety 


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1 standards promulgated by the Secretary under this 

2 section, and may be modified with respect to a par3 ticular mine only in accordance with the require4 ments and procedure described in subsection (c). 

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

6 mandatory safety standard under this subsection, or 

7 a mandatory safety standard promulgated by the 

8 Secretary that supercedes a standard under this 

9 subsection, shall be deemed to create an imminent 

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

11 SEC. 5. FACILITATING THE PROMPT INITIATION OF RES12 CUE AND MINE RECOVERY EFFORTS. 

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

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

15 shall establish, within the Mine Safety and Health Admin16 istration, a central communications emergency call center 

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

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

19 employees of the Mine Safety and Health Administration. 

20 All calls placed to the emergency call center shall be an21 swered by an individual with adequate experience and 

22 training to handle emergency mine situations. A single na23 tional phone number shall be provided for this purpose 

24 and the Secretary shall ensure that all miners and mine 


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1 operators are issued laminated cards with emergency call 

2 center information. 

3 (b) CONTACT INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall 

4 provide the emergency call center with a contact list, up5 dated not less often than quarterly, that contains— 

6 (1) the contact phone numbers, including the 

7 home phone numbers, for the members of each mine 

8 rescue team responsible for each coal or other mine; 

9 (2) the phone numbers for the local emergency 

10 and rescue services unit that is located nearest to 

11 each mine; 

12 (3) the contact phone numbers, including the 

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

14 (4) the contact phone numbers, including the 

15 home phone numbers, for the national and district 

16 officials of the Mine Safety and Health Administra17 tion; 

18 (5) the contact phone numbers, including the 

19 home phone numbers, for the State officials in each 

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

21 emergency in such State; and 

22 (6) the contact phone numbers, including the 

23 home phone number, for the authorized representa24 tive of the miners at each mine. 


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1 (c) MINE LOCATION MAPS.—The Secretary shall es2 tablish, maintain, and keep current on the Department of 

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

4 the exact geographic location of each operating or aban5 doned mine in the United States. Such map or maps 

6 shall— 

7 (1) be presented, through links within the 

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

9 mine instantly available to the emergency personnel 

10 responding to the mine; 

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

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

13 of a particular mine, or the geographic locations of 

14 all mines of a particular type in a county, congres15 sional district, State, or other commonly used geo16 graphic region. 

17 (d) REQUIRED NOTIFICATION OF EMERGENCIES AND

18 SERIOUS INCIDENTS.— 

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

20 other mine shall report any emergency or serious 

21 mine incident to the emergency call center not later 

22 than 15 minutes after becoming aware of any such 

23 emergency or serious mine incident, regardless of 

24 whether miners remain at risk. 


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1 (2) EMERGENCIES OR SERIOUS INCIDENTS.— 

2 For the purposes of this subsection, an emergency or 

3 serious mine incident includes— 

4 (A) a mine fire; 

5 (B) a roof fall, unplanned inundation, col6 lapse, or unplanned explosion; 

7 (C) a sudden change in mine atmospheric 

8 conditions; 

9 (D) a rib fall that impairs ventilation or 

10 impedes passage; 

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

12 withdrawal of miners; 

13 (F) the failure of an impoundment; 

14 (G) damage to hoisting equipment in a 

15 shaft or slope that endangers an individual; 

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

17 serious injury with a reasonable potential to 

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

19 (I) any other emergency or incident, as de20 termined in regulations promulgated by the 

21 Secretary, that needs to be examined in order 

22 to determine if the working conditions in the 

23 mine are safe. 

24 (e) ENHANCING THE AVAILABILITY AND CAPABILI25 TIES OF MINE RESCUE TEAMS.— 


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1 (1) COAL MINE RESCUE TEAM REQUIRE2 MENTS.— 

3 (A) OPERATORS WITH LESS THAN 36 EM4 PLOYEES.—Not later than 30 days after the 

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

6 underground coal mine for which the total num7 ber of employees employed in the underground 

8 areas of the mine, at any time during the pre9 vious year, did not exceed 35 employees, shall 

10 ensure that— 

11 (i) each mine rescue team that is re12 quired under section 115(e) of the Federal 

13 Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 

14 U.S.C. 825(e)), and the regulations pro15 mulgated pursuant to such section, in16 cludes miners who are employed by the op17 erator and who are familiar with the work18 ings of such mine; 

19 (ii) all members of the mine rescue 

20 team can reach the mine in not more than 

21 1 hour; and 

22 (iii) each mine rescue team conducts 

23 at least 2 mine rescue drills each year in 

24 the mine for which the rescue team has 

25 mine rescue responsibilities. 


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1 (B) OPERATORS WITH 36 OR MORE EM2 PLOYEES.—Not later than 30 days after the 

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

4 underground coal mine that employed, at any 

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

6 more employees for work in the underground 

7 areas of the mine shall ensure that— 

8 (i) each mine rescue team that is re9 quired under section 115(e) of the Federal 

10 Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 

11 U.S.C. 825(e)), and the regulations pro12 mulgated pursuant to such section, con13 sists exclusively of miners who are em14 ployed by such operator and who are famil15 iar with the workings of such mine; and 

16 (ii) all members of the mine rescue 

17 team are available for immediate deploy18 ment. 

19 (C) ADDITIONAL TEAMS.—Nothing in this 

20 paragraph shall be construed to preclude an op21 erator of a coal mine from contracting for the 

22 services of other mine rescue teams in addition 

23 to the mine rescue teams required by section 

24 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

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


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1 (2) MINE RESCUE TEAM REGULATIONS.— 

2 (A) INITIATION OF RULEMAKING.—Not 

3 later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Secretary shall initiate rule5 making activity to revise the Secretary’s regula6 tions under section 115(e) of the Federal Mine 

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

8 825(e)) regarding mine rescue teams, and shall 

9 in this regard directly contact and solicit the 

10 participation of— 

11 (i) all existing mine rescue teams; 

12 (ii) organizations representing other 

13 types of rescue workers (such as fire14 fighters); 

15 (iii) State and local emergency au16 thorities; and 

17 (iv) others whom the Secretary deter18 mines may have information relevant to 

19 this rulemaking. 

20 (B) INTERIM FINAL RULES.—The Sec21 retary shall issue the regulations revised under 

22 subparagraph (A) as interim final rules not 

23 later than 270 days after the date of enactment 

24 of this Act. 


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1 (C) CONTENT OF REVISED REGULA2 TIONS.—In revising the regulations under sub3 paragraph (A), the Secretary shall address, at 

4 a minimum— 

5 (i) the training and qualifications for 

6 mine rescue team members; 

7 (ii) the equipment and technology 

8 used in mine rescue; 

9 (iii) the structure and organization of 

10 mine rescue teams; 

11 (iv) the identification of qualified sur12 face personnel to communicate with mine 

13 rescue teams during rescue efforts; 

14 (v) the provision of uniform creden15 tials to mine rescue team members, sup16 port personnel, or vehicles for immediate 

17 access to any mine site; 

18 (vi) the plans required at each mine to 

19 ensure coordination with local emergency 

20 response personnel and to ensure that such 

21 personnel receive adequate training in 

22 mine rescue needs and in coordinating with 

23 the mine rescue teams at each mine; and 

24 (vii) requirements to ensure that oper25 ators are prepared to facilitate the work of 


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1 mine rescue teams during an emergency 

2 by— 

3 (I) storing necessary equipment 

4 in locations readily accessible to mine 

5 rescue teams; 

6 (II) providing mine rescue teams 

7 with a parking and staging area ade8 quate for their needs; 

9 (III) identifying a space appro10 priate for coordinating emergency 

11 communications with the mine rescue 

12 team; and 

13 (IV) identifying and maintaining 

14 separate spaces for family members, 

15 community members, and press to as16 semble during an emergency so as to 

17 facilitate communications with these 

18 groups while ensuring the efforts of 

19 the mine rescue teams are not hin20 dered. 

21 SEC. 6. ENHANCING THE INVESTIGATION OF MINE ACCI22 DENTS. 

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

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

25 Secretary shall initiate rulemaking activity to establish 


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1 regulations regarding the investigation of accidents, and 

2 shall in this regard directly contact and solicit the partici3 pation of— 

4 (1) individuals identified by the Secretary as 

5 family members of miners who perished in mining 

6 accidents of any type during the preceding 10-year 

7 period; 

8 (2) organizations representing miners; 

9 (3) mine rescue teams; 

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

11 prosecutorial authorities; and 

12 (5) others whom the Secretary determines may 

13 have information relevant to this rulemaking. 

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

15 issue the regulations revised under subsection (a) as in16 terim final rules not later than 270 days after the date 

17 of enactment of this Act. 

18 (c) CONTENT OF REVISED REGULATIONS.—In revis19 ing the regulations under subsection (a), the Secretary 

20 shall require that— 

21 (1) public hearings are held in connection with 

22 any fatal accident and in connection with an acci23 dent that could have resulted in multiple fatalities; 

24 (2) the recommendations of an investigation of 

25 an accident undertaken in accordance with subVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:31 May 20, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5389.IH H5389

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1 section (a) are made public at such time as the rec2 ommendations are provided to the Secretary; 

3 (3) the Secretary designate an employee as a 

4 family advocate to act as the liaison between the 

5 Secretary and the family of any miner killed or in6 jured in any accident that is the subject of an inves7 tigation; 

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

9 accident that is the subject of an investigation is in10 cluded in all phases of the investigation (including 

11 witness interviews) in which a representative of the 

12 operator or the miners is included; and 

13 (5) the Secretary is the coordinator of rescue 

14 operations and communications with the public and 

15 families during any investigation of an accident. 

16 (d) INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATIONS.—After an acci17 dent and upon the timely request of the authorized rep18 resentative of the miners at a mine, or representatives of 

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

20 have been killed in such accident, the Secretary shall con21 tract with the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation 

22 Board or other appropriate independent Federal investiga23 tive authority to conduct an independent investigation of 

24 the accident and provide recommendations to the Sec25 retary. Such investigation shall be in addition to any invesVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:31 May 20, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5389.IH H5389

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1 tigation conducted by the Secretary, and shall be con2 ducted pursuant to whatever procedures such authority 

3 determines are appropriate for the investigation. The Sec4 retary shall provide such authority with all information 

5 and expertise requested, and shall pay for such authority 

6 to conduct the authority’s investigation, including the 

7 costs of obtaining the services of independent experts re8 quired for any such investigation. 

9 SEC. 7. ENHANCING OPERATOR AND OWNER INCENTIVES 

10 TO AVOID SERIOUS RISKS TO MINERS. 

11 (a) PATTERN OF VIOLATIONS.— 

12 (1) PROMPT IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERN.— 

13 Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment 

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

15 regulations issued by the Secretary under section 

16 104(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

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

18 before such date of enactment, so that the regula19 tions provide that— 

20 (A) when a potential pattern of violations 

21 is identified by any inspector or district man22 ager of the Mine Safety and Health Adminis23 tration, the operator of the coal or other mine 

24 and the authorized representative of miners for 

25 the mine shall be notified by the inspector or 


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1 district manager not later than 10 days after 

2 such identification; and 

3 (B) after receiving the notification de4 scribed in subparagraph (A), the appropriate 

5 Administrator of the Mine Safety and Health 

6 Administration shall promptly review any such 

7 potential pattern of violations and, not later 

8 than 45 days after receiving such notification, 

9 make a final decision as to whether a citation 

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

11 should be issued. 

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

13 Section 110 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health 

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

15 (A) by redesignating subsections (i) 

16 through (l) as subsections (k) through (n), re17 spectively; and 

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

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(i) PATTERNS OF VIOLATION.— 

21 ‘‘(1) ADDITIONAL PENALTIES.—If the Sec22 retary determines that a pattern of violations under 

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

24 penalty, in addition to any other penalty authorized 

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


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1 more than $1,000,000. All operators of the mine, in2 cluding any corporate owners, shall be jointly and 

3 severally liable for such penalty. The amount of the 

4 assessment under this paragraph shall be designed 

5 to ensure a change in the future conduct of the op6 erators and corporate owners of such mine with re7 spect to mine safety and health, given the overall re8 sources of such operators. Notwithstanding sub9 section (k) or section 113, a penalty assessed by the 

10 Secretary under this paragraph may not be reduced 

11 by the Commission. 

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

13 to the authority to withdraw miners from an area of 

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

15 Secretary shall withdraw all miners from the entire 

16 mine when any pattern of violations has been deter17 mined to exist until such time as the Secretary cer18 tifies that all identified violations have been cor19 rected and the operator has agreed to abide by a 

20 written plan approved by the Mine Safety and 

21 Health Administration to ensure that such a pattern 

22 of conduct will not recur.’’. 

23 (b) FAILURE TO TIMELY PAY PENALTY ASSESS24 MENTS.—Section 105(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and 

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


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1 striking the third sentence and inserting the following: 

2 ‘‘The operator has 30 days from the receipt of the notifica3 tion of a citation issued by the Secretary, to notify the 

4 Secretary that the operator intends to contest the citation 

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

6 the amount of the proposed assessment. If notification and 

7 proof of escrow is not provided to the Secretary, the cita8 tion and the proposed assessment of penalty shall be 

9 deemed a final order of the Commission and not subject 

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

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

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

13 under this Act for which payment has been demanded. 

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

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

16 year.’’. 

17 (c) MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM PENALTIES.—Section 

18 110(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 

19 (30 U.S.C. 820(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘more than 

20 $50,000 for each such violation.’’ and inserting ‘‘less than 

21 $500 or more than $250,000 for each such violation, ex22 cept that, in the case of a violation of a mandatory health 

23 or safety standard that could significantly and substan24 tially contribute to the cause and effect of a coal or other 

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


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1 than $1,000 or more than $500,000, for each such viola2 tion.’’. 

3 (d) PENALTY FOR LATE ACCIDENT NOTIFICATION.— 

4 Section 110 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act 

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

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

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(j) Any operator who fails to provide timely notifica9 tion of an accident as required under section 5(d)(1) of 

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

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

12 than $60,000.’’. 

13 (e) FACTORS IN ASSESSING PENALTIES.—Section 

14 110(k) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 

15 (30 U.S.C. 820(k)) (as redesignated by subsection 

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

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

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

19 SEC. 8. ENHANCING THE WILLINGNESS OF MINERS AND 

20 OTHERS TO REPORT SERIOUS PROBLEMS BE21 FORE ACCIDENTS OCCUR. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF MINER OMBUDSMAN.— 

23 There shall be established, within the Office of the Inspec24 tor General of the Department of Labor, the position of 

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


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

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

3 Ombudsman. 

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

5 (1) be responsible for establishing practices to 

6 ensure the confidentiality of the identity of miners, 

7 and the families or personal representatives of the 

8 miners, who contact mine operators, authorized rep9 resentatives of the miners, the Mine Safety and 

10 Health Administration, the Department of Labor, or 

11 others with information about mining conditions 

12 that may threaten, or have recently threatened as of 

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

14 ensuring that the Mine Safety and Health Adminis15 tration has the information needed to promptly in16 vestigate such complaints; 

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

18 appropriate Internet website to permit individuals to 

19 confidentially report possible mine mandatory health 

20 or safety standard violations or concerns; 

21 (3) collect and forward information concerning 

22 possible mine safety or health violations or concerns 

23 to the appropriate officials of the Mine Safety and 

24 Health Administration for investigation; 


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

2 protect miners who report that their rights under 

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

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

5 violated, and report to the Congress any rec6 ommendations that would enhance such rights or 

7 protections; and 

8 (5) carry out public outreach and other activi9 ties to facilitate the transmission, to the Secretary of 

10 Labor, of information that could avoid help avoid 

11 mine accidents. 

12 SEC. 9. ENHANCING SPECIFIC PROTECTIONS FOR UNDER13 GROUND COAL MINES. 

14 (a) SPECIAL RULEMAKING.—Section 101 of the Fed15 eral Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 811) 

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

17 ‘‘(g) SPECIAL RULEMAKING PROCEDURE FOR CER18 TAIN SAFETY STANDARDS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) CONVEYOR BELTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) RULEMAKING AND INTERIM STAND21 ARDS.—Not later than 30 days after the date 

22 of enactment of the Protecting America’s Min23 ers Act, the Secretary shall initiate rulemaking 

24 activity to develop mandatory safety standards 

25 that implement the recommendations of the NaVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:31 May 20, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5389.IH H5389

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1 tional Institute for Occupational Safety and 

2 Health that conveyor belts used in underground 

3 coal mines be designed to minimize flamma4 bility. Such revised mandatory safety standards 

5 shall be issued as interim standards not later 

6 than 270 days after the date of enactment of 

7 such Act. 

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

9 such time as the interim standards described in 

10 subparagraph (A) are issued and new require11 ments on belt flammability are placed in effect, 

12 the amendments made by the final rule pub13 lished on April 2, 2004, in the Federal Register 

14 (69 Fed. Reg. 17480) to the mandatory safety 

15 standard in section 75.350 of title 30, Code of 

16 Federal Regulations, that authorized belt haul17 age entries to be used to ventilate active work18 ing places are suspended, and the Secretary 

19 shall instead apply such mandatory safety 

20 standard as it was in effect the day before the 

21 effective date of such amendments, including all 

22 modifications to such standard that had been 

23 approved under subsection (c) prior to such 

24 date and any new modifications that may be ap25 proved in the future pursuant to such section. 


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

2 date of enactment of the Protecting America’s Min3 ers Act, the Secretary shall initiate rulemaking ac4 tivity to modernize and improve mandatory safety 

5 standards relating to seals for abandoned areas in 

6 underground coal mines. As part of such rule7 making, the Secretary shall improve the 20 psi 

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

9 30, Code of Federal Regulations (as such section 

10 was in effect on the date of enactment of the Pro11 tecting America’s Miners Act). The Secretary shall 

12 give particular consideration to the standards in ef13 fect in other countries in this regard. The Secretary 

14 shall further consider whether the Secretary should 

15 be required to inspect seals during the seals’ con16 struction to ensure that the seals are constructed in 

17 a safe manner. Such improved standards shall be 

18 issued as interim mandatory safety standards not 

19 later than 270 days after the date of enactment of 

20 such Act.’’. 

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

22 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consulta23 tion with the National Institute for Occupational Safety 

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

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1 sure that the seals are constructed in a safe manner, and 

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

3 regardless of plan approval, shall be promptly recon4 structed in a safe manner. 

5 (c) MANDATORY HEALTH STANDARDS.—Section 101 

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

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

8 following: 

9 ‘‘(h) MANDATORY HEALTH STANDARDS REGARDING

10 RESPIRABLE DUST.— 

11 ‘‘(1) CONCENTRATION LEVELS.—Notwith12 standing any other requirement of this Act, not later 

13 than 90 days after the date of enactment of the Pro14 tecting America’s Miners Act, the Secretary shall 

15 initiate rulemaking to develop mandatory health 

16 standards that provide the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) CONCENTRATION OF DUST.—Each 

18 operator of a coal or other mine shall continu19 ously maintain a concentration of respirable 

20 dust, in the mine atmosphere during each shift 

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

22 other mine where miners are normally required 

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

24 than 1.0 milligram of respirable dust per cubic 

25 meter of air. In meeting this standard, each 


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1 concentration level shall be considered inde2 pendently and shall not be averaged with other 

3 such levels. 

4 ‘‘(B) METHOD OF MEASUREMENT.—To 

5 measure the level of respirable dust in an area 

6 of a coal or other mine, samples shall be 

7 taken— 

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

9 operator; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) by using personal dust monitors 

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

12 working section of the mine and in any 

13 section known to contain the highest dust 

14 concentrations, and not less often than 

15 once a year on each miner who works in 

16 the mine. 

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

18 issue the rules described under subparagraph (A) as 

19 interim final rules not later than 270 days after the 

20 date of enactment of the Protecting America’s Min21 ers Act.’’. 

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

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

24 amended by adding at the end the following: 


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

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

3 section 3(h)(2).’’. 

4 SEC. 10. TRANSITION TO A NEW GENERATION OF INSPEC5 TORS. 

6 (a) PERSONNEL CEILING TEMPORARILY LIFTED.— 

7 In order to ensure that the Secretary has adequate time 

8 to provide that a sufficient number of qualified and prop9 erly trained inspectors of the Mine Safety and Health Ad10 ministration are in place before any inspectors employed 

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

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

13 Administration with respect to mine inspectors are abol14 ished for the 5-year period beginning on the date of enact15 ment of this Act. 

16 (b) CONTRACTING WITH RETIRED INSPECTORS.—In 

17 the event that, notwithstanding the actions taken by the 

18 Secretary to hire and train qualified inspectors, the Sec19 retary is temporarily unable, at any time during the 5- 

20 year period beginning on the date of enactment of this 

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

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

23 highest historical levels without transferring personnel 

24 from supervisory or plan review activities or diminishing 

25 current inspection resources devoted to other types of 


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1 mines, the Administration is authorized to hire retired in2 spectors on a contractual basis to conduct mine inspec3 tions, and the retirement benefits of such retired inspec4 tors shall not be reduced as a result of such temporary 

5 contractual employment. 

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

7 order to ensure that the Secretary has sufficient resources 

8 to carry out the enforcement activities of the Mine Safety 

9 and Health Administration, during the 5-year period be10 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act— 

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

12 technical support or advice to an operator of a par13 ticular mine, except funds that are collected through 

14 user fees under paragraph (2); and 

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

16 fine under section 110 of the Federal Mine Safety 

17 and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) shall be as18 sessed a user fee of $100 for each such penalty or 

19 fine, which fee shall be maintained in a separate ac20 count by the Secretary to be used to provide tech21 nical support or advice to mine operators, with pri22 ority given to requests from mines with less than 20 

23 miners. 

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

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


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1 Secretary shall issue a special report to the appropriate 

2 committees of Congress every year, or at such more fre3 quent intervals as the Secretary or any such committee 

4 may deem appropriate, providing information about the 

5 actions being taken under this section, the size and train6 ing of the inspector workforce at the Mine Safety and 

7 Health Administration, the level of enforcement activities, 

8 and the number of requests by individual operators of 

9 mines for compliance assistance. 

10 SEC. 11. TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH PRIORITIES. 

11 In implementing its research activities in the 5-year 

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

13 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 

14 shall give due consideration to new technologies, and exist15 ing technologies that could be adapted for use in under16 ground coal or other mines, that could facilitate the sur17 vival of miners in a mining emergency. Such technologies 

18 include— 

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

20 delivering enhanced performance; 

21 (2) two-way communications devices capable of 

22 delivering enhanced performance between under23 ground locations or between underground and sur24 face locations, including devices capable of sustained 

25 operation after underground explosions; 


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1 (3) improved battery capacity and common con2 nection specifications to enable emergency commu3 nication devices for miners to be run from the same 

4 portable power source as a headlamp, continuous 

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

6 (4) improved technology for assisting mine res7 cue teams, including devices to enhance vision dur8 ing rescue or recovery operations; and 

9 (5) improved technology, and improved proto10 cols for the use of existing technologies, to enable 

11 conditions underground to be assessed promptly and 

12 continuously in emergencies, so as to facilitate the 

13 determination by appropriate officials of the instruc14 tions to provide both to miners trapped underground 

15 and to mine rescue teams and others engaged in res16 cue efforts. 

Æ 


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