or other approval of the State in which the coal or 
other mine is located satisfies the requirement of 
subsection (a) if the State’s program of certification, 
registration, qualification, or other approval is no 
less stringent than the standards established by the 
Secretary under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(c) OPERATOR FEES FOR CERTIFICATION.— 
‘‘(1) ASSESSMENT
AND
COLLECTION.—Begin-
ning 180 days after the date of enactment of the 
Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2013, 
the Secretary shall assess and collect fees, in accord-
ance with this subsection, from each operator for 
each person certified under this section. Fees shall 
be assessed and collected in amounts determined by 
the Secretary as necessary to fund the certification 
programs established under this section. 
‘‘(2) USE.—Amounts collected as provided in 
paragraph (1) shall only be available to the Sec-
retary, as provided in paragraph (3), for making ex-
penditures to carry out the certification programs 
established under this subsection. 
‘‘(3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—In 
addition to funds authorized to be appropriated 
under section 114, there is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary for each fiscal year in which 
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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-
ments of this section shall be considered to have com-
mitted an unwarrantable failure under section 104(d)(1), 
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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. 
Sec. 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 Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act 
of 2013, the Secretary shall promulgate regulations re-
quiring that mine operators retain records and data re-
quired by this Act, or otherwise required by the Secretary, 
that are created, stored or transmitted in electronic form. 
Such records shall include records pertaining to miner 
safety and health, tracking and communications, atmos-
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pheric monitoring of methane, carbon monoxide, oxygen, 
coal dust and other mine conditions, equipment usage his-
tory and operating parameters, equipment calibration and 
maintenance, and other information relevant to compli-
ance with Federal mine health and safety laws and regula-
tions. Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 
of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2013, 
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. BLACK LUNG MEDICAL REPORTS. 
Title IV of the Black Lung Benefits Act (30 U.S.C. 
901 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 435. MEDICAL REPORTS. 
‘‘In any claim for benefits for a miner under this title, 
an operator that requires a miner to submit to a medical 
examination regarding the miner’s respiratory or pul-
monary condition shall, not later than 14 days after the 
miner has been examined, deliver to the claimant a com-
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plete copy of the examining physician’s report. The exam-
ining physician’s report shall be in writing and shall set 
out in detail the examiner’s findings, including any diag-
noses and conclusions and the results of any diagnostic 
imaging techniques and tests that were performed on the 
miner.’’. 
SEC. 604. 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 
(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. 605. RULES OF APPLICATION TO CERTAIN MINES. 
(a) INAPPLICABILITY OF AMENDMENTS TO CERTAIN 
MINES.— 
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(1) SPECIAL RULE.—Subject to paragraph (2), 
the amendments made by this Act shall not apply 
to— 
(A) surface mines, except for surface facili-
ties or impoundments physically connected to— 
(i) underground coal or underground 
metal mines; or 
(ii) other underground mines which 
are gassy mines; or 
(B) underground mines which are not coal, 
metal, or gassy mines. 
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(1), the amendments made by sections 101, 202, 
301(c) and (d), 303(a)(4), 304, 305(a), 401, 509, 
601, 602, and 603 shall apply to the mines de-
scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph 
(1). 
(3) DEFINITION.—For purposes of this section, 
the term ‘‘gassy mine’’ means a mine, tunnel, or 
other underground workings in which a flammable 
mixture has been ignited, or has been determined by 
air analysis to contain 0.25 percent or more (by vol-
ume) of methane in any open workings when tested 
at a point not less than 12 inches from the roof, face 
of rib. 
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(b) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION RELATING TO APPLICA-
BILITY OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS TO SURFACE MINES.— 
Title I is further amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘SEC. 119. APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN PROVISIONS TO 
CERTAIN MINES. 
‘‘(a) RULE
OF CONSTRUCTION.—Subject to sub-
section (c), with respect to the mines described in sub-
section (b), this Act as in effect on the date before the 
date of enactment of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Pro-
tection Act of 2013, shall continue to apply to such mines 
as then in effect. 
‘‘(b) APPLICABLE MINES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The mines referred to in 
subsection (a) are— 
‘‘(A) surface mines, except for surface fa-
cilities or impoundments physically connected 
to— 
‘‘(i) underground coal or underground 
metal mines; or 
‘‘(ii) other underground mines which 
are gassy mines; and 
‘‘(B) underground mines which are not 
coal, metal, or gassy mines. 
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‘‘(2) DEFINITION.—As used in paragraph (1), 
the term ‘gassy mine’ means a mine, tunnel, or 
other underground workings in which a flammable 
mixture has been ignited, or has been determined by 
air analysis to contain 0.25 percent or more (by vol-
ume) of methane in any open workings when tested 
at a point not less than 12 inches from the roof, face 
of rib. 
‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding subsection (a), 
the amendments made by sections 101, 202, 301(c) and 
(d), 303(a)(4), 304, 305(a), 401, 509, 601, 602, and 603 
of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2013 
shall apply to the mines described in subsection (b). 
‘‘(d) SAVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 
shall impact the authority of the Secretary to promulgate 
or modify regulations pursuant to the authority under any 
such provisions as in effect on the date before the date 
of enactment of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protec-
tion Act of 2013, or shall be construed to alter or modify 
precedent with regards to the Commission or courts.’’. 
SEC. 606. 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-
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