II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3450 

To require publicly traded coal companies to include certain safety records 

in their reports to the Commission, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 27 (legislative day, MAY 26), 2010 

Mr. ROCKEFELLER (for himself and Mr. BYRD) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To require publicly traded coal companies to include certain 

safety records in their reports to the Commission, 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. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS REGARDING COAL 

4 OR OTHER MINE SAFETY. 

5 (a) REPORTING MINE SAFETY INFORMATION.—Each 

6 issuer that is required to file reports pursuant to section 

7 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

8 (15 U.S.C. 78m, 78o) and that is an operator, or that 

9 has a subsidiary that is an operator, of a coal or other 


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1 mine shall include, in each periodic report filed with the 

2 Securities and Exchange Commission under the securities 

3 laws on or after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

4 following information for the time period covered by such 

5 report: 

6 (1) For each coal or other mine of which the 

7 issuer or a subsidiary of the issuer is an operator— 

8 (A) the total number of violations of man9 datory health or safety standards that could 

10 significantly and substantially contribute to the 

11 cause and effect of a coal or other mine safety 

12 or health hazard under section 104 of the Fed13 eral Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 

14 U.S.C. 814) for which the operator received a 

15 citation from the Mine Safety and Health Ad16 ministration; 

17 (B) the total number of orders issued 

18 under section 104(b) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 

19 814(b)); 

20 (C) the total number of citations and or21 ders for unwarrantable failure of the mine oper22 ator to comply with mandatory health or safety 

23 standards under section 104(d) of such Act (30 

24 U.S.C. 814(d)); 


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1 (D) the total number of flagrant violations 

2 under section 110(b)(2) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 

3 820(b)(2)); 

4 (E) the total number of imminent danger 

5 orders issued under section 107(a) of such Act 

6 (30 U.S.C. 817(a)); 

7 (F) the total dollar value of proposed as8 sessments from the Mine Safety and Health 

9 Administration under such Act (30 U.S.C. 801 

10 et seq.); and 

11 (G) the total number of mining-related fa12 talities. 

13 (2) A list of such coal or other mines, of which 

14 the issuer or a subsidiary of the issuer is an oper15 ator, that receive written notice from the Mine Safe16 ty and Health Administration of— 

17 (A) a pattern of violations of mandatory 

18 health or safety standards that are of such na19 ture as could have significantly and substan20 tially contributed to the cause and effect of coal 

21 or other mine health or safety hazards under 

22 section 104(e) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 814(e)); 

23 or 

24 (B) the potential to have such a pattern. 


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1 (3) Any pending legal action before the Federal 

2 Mine Safety and Health Review Commission involv3 ing such coal or other mine. 

4 (b) REPORTING SHUTDOWNS AND PATTERNS OF

5 VIOLATIONS.—Beginning on and after the date of enact6 ment of this Act, each issuer that is an operator, or that 

7 has a subsidiary that is an operator, of a coal or other 

8 mine shall file a current report with the Securities and 

9 Exchange Commission on Form 8–K (or any successor 

10 form) disclosing the following regarding each coal or other 

11 mine of which the issuer or subsidiary is an operator: 

12 (1) The receipt of an imminent danger order 

13 issued under section 107(a) of the Federal Mine 

14 Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 817(a)). 

15 (2) The receipt of written notice from the Mine 

16 Safety and Health Administration that the coal or 

17 other mine has— 

18 (A) a pattern of violations of mandatory 

19 health or safety standards that are of such na20 ture as could have significantly and substan21 tially contributed to the cause and effect of coal 

22 or other mine health or safety hazards under 

23 section 104(e) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 814(e)); 

24 or 

25 (B) the potential to have such a pattern. 


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1 (c) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

2 shall be construed to affect any obligation of a person to 

3 make a disclosure under any other applicable law in effect 

4 before, on, or after the date of enactment of this Act. 

5 (d) COMMISSION AUTHORITY.— 

6 (1) ENFORCEMENT.—A violation by any person 

7 of this Act, or any rule or regulation of the Securi8 ties and Exchange Commission issued under this 

9 Act, shall be treated for all purposes in the same 

10 manner as a violation of the Securities Exchange 

11 Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) or the rules and 

12 regulations issued thereunder, consistent with the 

13 provisions of this Act, and any such person shall be 

14 subject to the same penalties, and to the same ex15 tent, as for a violation of the Securities Exchange 

16 Act of 1934 or the rules or regulations issued there17 under. 

18 (2) RULES AND REGULATIONS.—The Securities 

19 and Exchange Commission is authorized to issue 

20 such rules or regulations as are necessary or appro21 priate for the protection of investors and to carry 

22 out the purposes of this Act. 

23 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 


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1 (1) the terms ‘‘issuer’’ and ‘‘securities laws’’ 

2 have the meaning given the terms in section 3 of the 

3 Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c); 

4 (2) the term ‘‘coal or other mine’’ means a coal 

5 or other mine, as defined in section 3 of the Federal 

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

7 802), that is subject to the provisions of such Act 

8 (30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.); and 

9 (3) the term ‘‘operator’’ has the meaning given 

10 the term in section 3 of the Federal Mine Safety and 

11 Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 802). 

12 (f) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect on 

13 the day that is 30 days after the date of enactment of 

14 this Act. 

Æ 


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