clude one hour of training on the statutory rights 
and responsibilities of miners and their representa-
tives under this Act and other applicable Federal 
and State law, pursuant to a program of instruction 
developed by the Secretary and delivered by an em-
ployee of the Administration or by a trainer ap-
proved by the Administration that is a party inde-
pendent from the operator;’’. 
(b) NATIONAL HAZARD REPORTING HOTLINE.—Sec-
tion 115 (30 U.S.C. 825) is further amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsections (c) through (e) 
as subsections (d) through (f), respectively; and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(c) Any health and safety training program of in-
struction provided under this section shall include dis-
tribution to miners of information regarding miners’ 
rights under the Act, as well as a toll-free hotline tele-
phone number, which the Secretary shall maintain to re-
ceive complaints from miners and the public regarding 
hazardous conditions, discrimination, safety or health vio-
lations, or other mine safety or health concerns. Informa-
tion regarding the hotline shall be provided in a portable, 
convenient format, such as a durable wallet card, to enable 
miners to keep the information on their person.’’. 
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(c) TIMING OF INITIAL STATUTORY RIGHTS TRAIN-
ING.—Notwithstanding section 115 of the Federal Mine 
Safety and Health Act (as amended by subsection (a)) (30 
U.S.C. 825) or the health and safety training program ap-
proved under such section, an operator shall ensure that 
all miners already employed by the operator on the date 
of enactment of this Act shall receive the one hour of stat-
utory rights and responsibilities training described in sec-
tion 115(a)(3) of such Act not later than 180 days after 
such date. 
SEC. 506. AUTHORITY TO MANDATE ADDITIONAL TRAINING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 115 (30 U.S.C. 825) is 
further amended by redesignating subsections (e) and (f) 
(as redesignated) as subsections (f) and (g) and inserting 
after subsection (d) (as redesignated) the following: 
‘‘(e) AUTHORITY TO MANDATE ADDITIONAL TRAIN-
ING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized 
to issue an order requiring that an operator of a 
coal or other mine provide additional training be-
yond what is otherwise required by law, and speci-
fying the time within which such training shall be 
provided, if the Secretary finds that— 
‘‘(A)(i) a serious or fatal accident has oc-
curred at such mine; 
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‘‘(ii) such mine has experienced accident 
and injury rates, citations for violations of this 
Act (including mandatory health or safety 
standards or regulations promulgated under 
this Act), citations for significant and substan-
tial violations, or withdrawal orders issued 
under this Act at a rate above the average for 
mines of similar size and type; or 
‘‘(iii) an operator has a history of failing to 
adequately train miners as required by the Act 
or regulations promulgated under this Act; and 
‘‘(B) additional training would benefit the 
health and safety of miners at the mine. 
‘‘(2) WITHDRAWAL
ORDER.—If the operator 
fails to provide training ordered under paragraph 
(1) within the specified time, the Secretary shall 
issue an order requiring such operator to cause all 
affected persons, except those persons referred to in 
section 104(c), to be withdrawn, and to be prohib-
ited from entering such mine, until such operator 
has provided such training.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 104(g)(2) 
(30 U.S.C. 814(g)(2)) is amended by striking ‘‘under 
paragraph (1)’’ both places it appears and inserting 
‘‘under paragraph (1) or under section 115(e)’’. 
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SEC. 507. BROOKWOOD-SAGO MINE SAFETY GRANTS. 
Section 14(e)(2) of the Mine Improvement and New 
Emergency Response Act of 2006 (30 U.S.C. 965(e)(2)) 
is amended by inserting before the period ‘‘, and under-
ground mine rescue training activities which simulate 
mine accident conditions’’. 
SEC. 508. CERTIFICATION OF PERSONNEL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title I is further amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 118. CERTIFICATION OF PERSONNEL. 
‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.—Any person who is 
authorized or designated by the operator of a coal or other 
mine to perform any duties or provide any training that 
this Act, including a mandatory health or safety standard 
or regulation promulgated pursuant to this Act, requires 
to be performed or provided by a certified, registered, 
qualified, or otherwise approved person, shall be permitted 
to perform such duties or provide such training only if 
such person has a current certification, registration, quali-
fication, or approval to perform such duties or provide 
such training consistent with the requirements of this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF CERTIFICATION REQUIRE-
MENTS AND PROCEDURES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 
the date of enactment of the Robert C. Byrd Mine 
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Safety Protection Act of 2017, the Secretary shall 
issue mandatory standards to establish— 
‘‘(A) requirements for such certification, 
registration, qualification, or other approval, in-
cluding the experience, examinations, and ref-
erences that may be required as appropriate; 
‘‘(B) time limits for such certifications and 
procedures for obtaining and renewing such cer-
tification, registration, qualification, or other 
approval; and 
‘‘(C) procedures and criteria for revoking 
such certification, registration, qualification, or 
other approval, including procedures that en-
sure that the Secretary (or a State agency, as 
applicable) responds to requests for revocation 
and that the names of individuals whose certifi-
cation or other approval has been revoked are 
provided to and maintained by the Secretary, 
and are made available to appropriate State 
agencies through an electronic database. 
‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH STATES.—In devel-
oping such standards, the Secretary shall consult 
with States that have miner certification programs 
to ensure effective coordination with existing State 
standards and requirements for certification. The 
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under section 114, there is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary for each fiscal year in which 
fees are collected under paragraph (1) an amount 
equal to the total amount of fees collected under 
paragraph (1) during that fiscal year. Such amounts 
are authorized to remain available until expended. If 
on the first day of a fiscal year a regular appropria-
tion to the Administration has not been enacted, the 
Administration shall continue to collect fees (as off-
setting collections) under this subsection at the rate 
in effect during the preceding fiscal year, until 5 
days after the date such regular appropriation is en-
acted. 
‘‘(4) COLLECTING AND CREDITING OF FEES.— 
Fees authorized and collected under this subsection 
shall be deposited and credited as offsetting collec-
tions to the account providing appropriations to the 
Mine Safety and Health Administration and shall 
not be collected for any fiscal year except to the ex-
tent and in the amount provided in advance in ap-
propriation Acts. 
‘‘(d) CITATION; WITHDRAWAL ORDER.—Any oper-
ator who permits a person to perform any of the health 
or safety related functions described in subsection (a) 
without a current certification which meets the require-
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ments of this section shall be considered to have com-
mitted an unwarrantable failure under section 104(d)(1), 
and the Secretary shall issue an order requiring that the 
miner be withdrawn or reassigned to duties that do not 
require such certification.’’. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 318 (30 
U.S.C. 878) is amended— 
(1) by striking subsections (a) and (b); 
(2) in subsection (c), by redesignating para-
graphs (1) through (3) as subparagraphs (A) 
through (C), respectively; 
(3) in subsection (g), by redesignating para-
graphs (1) through (4) as subparagraphs (A) 
through (D), respectively; and 
(4) by redesignating subsections (c) through (j) 
as paragraphs (1) through (8), respectively. 
SEC. 509. ELECTRONIC RECORDS REQUIREMENT. 
Section 103 is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(l) Not later than 180 days after the date of enact-
ment of the Act, the Secretary shall promulgate regula-
tions requiring that mine operators retain records and 
data required by this Act, or otherwise required by the 
Secretary, that are created, stored or transmitted in elec-
tronic form. Such records shall include records pertaining 
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to miner safety and health, tracking and communications, 
atmospheric monitoring of methane, carbon monoxide, ox-
ygen, coal dust and other mine conditions, equipment 
usage history and operating parameters, equipment cali-
bration and maintenance, and other information relevant 
to compliance with Federal mine health and safety laws 
and regulations. Not later than 2 years after the date of 
enactment of the Act, the Secretary shall promulgate a 
regulation regarding the minimum necessary capabilities 
of equipment to retain, store, and recover data created or 
transmitted in electronic form.’’. 
TITLE VI—ADDITIONAL MINE 
SAFETY PROVISIONS 
SEC. 601. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) DEFINITION
OF OPERATOR.—Section 3(d) is 
amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(d) ‘operator’ means— 
‘‘(1) any owner, lessee, or other person 
that— 
‘‘(A) operates or supervises a coal or 
other mine; or 
‘‘(B) controls such mine by making or 
having the authority to make management 
or operational decisions that affect, directly 
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or indirectly, the health or safety at such 
mine; or 
‘‘(2) any independent contractor per-
forming services or construction at such mine;’’. 
(b) DEFINITION OF AGENT.—Section 3(e) (30 U.S.C. 
802(e)) is amended by striking ‘‘the miners’’ and inserting 
‘‘any miner’’. 
(c) DEFINITION
OF IMMINENT DANGER.—Section 
3(j) (30 U.S.C. 802(j)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘means the’’ and inserting 
‘‘means— 
‘‘(1) the’’; 
(2) by striking the semicolon at the end and in-
serting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) the existence of multiple conditions or 
practices (regardless of whether related to each 
other) that, when considered in the aggregate, could 
reasonably be expected to cause death or serious 
physical harm before such conditions or practices 
can be abated;’’. 
(d) DEFINITION OF MINER.—Section 3(g) (30 U.S.C. 
802(g)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘or other mine’’ the 
following: ‘‘, and includes any individual who is not cur-
rently working in a coal or other mine but would be cur-
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rently working in such mine, but for an accident in such 
mine’’. 
(e) DEFINITION OF SIGNIFICANT AND SUBSTANTIAL 
VIOLATIONS.—Section 3 (30 U.S.C. 802) is further 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (m), by striking ‘‘and’’ after 
the semicolon; 
(2) in subsection (n), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting a semicolon; 
(3) in subsection (o), by striking the period at 
the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(4) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(p) ‘significant and substantial violation’ 
means a violation of this Act, including any manda-
tory health or safety standard or regulation promul-
gated under this Act, that is of such nature as could 
significantly and substantially contribute to the 
cause and effect of a coal or other mine safety or 
health hazard as described in section 104(d).’’. 
SEC. 602. ASSISTANCE TO STATES. 
Section 503 (30 U.S.C. 953(a)) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 
by striking ‘‘, in coordination with the Sec-
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retary of Health, Education, and Welfare and 
the Secretary of the Interior,’’; 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ 
after the semicolon; 
(C) in paragraph (3), by striking the pe-
riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
(D) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(4) to assist such State in developing and im-
plementing any certification program for coal or 
other mines required for compliance with section 
118.’’; and 
(2) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘$3,000,000 
for fiscal year 1970, and $10,000,000 annually in 
each 
succeeding 
fiscal 
year’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘$20,000,000 for each fiscal year’’. 
SEC. 603. AUTHORIZATION OF COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS 
BY NIOSH OFFICE OF MINE SAFETY AND 
HEALTH. 
Section 22(h)(3) of the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 671(h)(3)) is amended— 
(1) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(2) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub-
paragraph (D); and 
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(3) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(C) enter into cooperative agreements or 
contracts with international institutions and 
private entities to improve mine safety and 
health through the development and evaluation 
of new interventions; and’’. 
SEC. 604. DOUBLE ENCUMBRANCE; SUCCESSION PLAN. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION.—Notwithstanding any per-
sonnel procedures, rules, or guidance, the Secretary of 
Labor is authorized to double encumber a position or uti-
lize early replacement hiring for authorized representa-
tives and technical specialist positions in the Mine Safety 
and Health Administration. The number of such positions 
shall be consistent with the staffing requirements set forth 
in the succession plan under subsection (b). 
(b) SUCCESSION PLAN.—Not later than 90 days after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor 
shall develop and provide to Congress a succession plan 
for the Mine Safety and Health Administration for the 
next five years to assure timely replacement of qualified 
employees critical to maintaining the agency’s mission 
which shall— 
(1) estimate employee turnover for each year; 
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(2) set benchmarks for maximum allowable per-
centage of vacancies, and a maximum ratio of train-
ees to authorized representatives; 
(3) utilize double encumbrance or early replace-
ment hiring for authorized representatives and tech-
nical specialists; 
(4) implement tracking systems to assure that 
staffing levels of authorized representatives and 
technical specialists do not fall below the minimum 
required to conduct necessary inspections, thor-
oughly review mine plans, and conduct accident and 
special investigations; and 
(5) identify resources necessary to implement 
such plan. Such succession plan shall be updated bi-
ennially. 
Æ 
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