HR 2768 RH1S 
grams administered by the Department to protect 
whistleblowers, and report to Congress any rec-
ommendations that would enhance such rights or pro-
tections. 
‘‘(c) AUTHORITY.—All complaints of operator viola-
tions of any section of this Act or regulations prescribed 
under this Act that are reported to the Secretary shall be 
forwarded to the Ombudsman for logging and appropriate 
action, except that this requirement shall be implemented 
in such a way as to avoid interference in any way with 
the ability of the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and 
Health to take prompt actions that may be required in such 
situations. This shall include complaints submitted in writ-
ing, via any phone system, or orally, along with all relevant 
information available regarding the complainant. All such 
information shall be retained in a confidential manner pur-
suant to the Privacy Act of 1974. The Ombudsman shall 
use such information to monitor the actions taken to ensure 
that miners’ complaints are addressed in a timely manner 
and in compliance with the appropriate statutes and regu-
lations. The Ombudsman shall refer to appropriate per-
sonnel within the Office of the Inspector General for further 
review any case which he determines was not handled in 
such fashion. 
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‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the Ombuds-
man such sums as may be required for the implementation 
of his duties out of the sums otherwise made available to 
the Mine Safety and Health Administration for its activi-
ties.’’. 
(d) PATTERN OF VIOLATIONS.— 
(1) PROMPT IDENTIFICATION OF PATTERN.—Not 
later than 3 months after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Secretary shall revise the regulations issued 
by the Secretary under section 104(e) of the Federal 
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 
814(e)) as in effect on the day before such date of en-
actment, so that the regulations provide that— 
(A) when a potential pattern of violations 
is identified by any inspector or district man-
ager of the Mine Safety and Health Administra-
tion, the operator of the coal or other mine and 
the authorized representative of miners for the 
mine shall be notified by the inspector or district 
manager not later than 10 days after such iden-
tification; and 
(B) after receiving the notification described 
in subparagraph (A), the appropriate official of 
the Mine Safety and Health Administration 
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shall promptly review any such potential pattern 
of violations and, not later than 45 days after 
receiving such notification, make a final decision 
as to whether a citation for a violation of section 
104(e) of such Act should be issued in light of the 
gravity of the violations and the operator’s con-
duct in connection therewith. 
(2) 
IDENTIFICATION
OF
PATTERN.—Section 
104(e)(1) (30 U.S.C. 814(e)(1)) is amended by insert-
ing after the first sentence the following: ‘‘In deter-
mining whether a pattern of violations exists, the Sec-
retary shall give due consideration to all relevant in-
formation, such as the gravity of the violations, oper-
ator negligence, history of violations, the number of 
inspection shifts the Secretary or her agents have 
spent at the operation, and the frequency of violations 
per number of inspection days spent at the oper-
ation.’’. 
(3) 
TERMINATION
OF
PATTERN.—Section 
104(e)(3) (30 U.S.C. 814(e)(3)) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: ‘‘In addition, if an operator 
subject to paragraphs (1) and (2) demonstrates objec-
tive evidence that they are correcting the problems 
that gave rise to the pattern of violations, and the 
violation frequency rate for such operator declines sig-
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HR 2768 RH1S 
nificantly for a period of 180 days, the withdrawal 
order provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) shall no 
longer apply.’’. 
(4) FINE FOR A PATTERN OF VIOLATIONS.—Sec-
tion 110 (30 U.S.C. 820) is amended— 
(A) by redesignating subsections (i) through 
(l) as subsections (j) through (m), respectively; 
and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(i)(1) If the Secretary determines that a pattern of 
violations under section 104(e) exists, the Secretary shall 
assess a penalty, in addition to any other penalty author-
ized in this Act for a violation of such section, of not less 
than $50,000 nor more than $250,000. All operators of the 
mine, including any corporate owners, shall be jointly and 
severally liable for such penalty. The amount of the assess-
ment under this paragraph shall be designed to ensure a 
change in the future conduct of the operators and corporate 
owners of such mine with respect to mine safety and health, 
given the overall resources of such operators. Notwith-
standing subsection (k) or section 113, a penalty assessed 
by the Secretary under this paragraph may not be reduced 
by the Commission. 
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‘‘(2) In addition to the authority to withdraw miners 
from an area of a coal or other mine pursuant to section 
104(e), the Secretary shall withdraw all miners from the 
entire mine when any pattern of violations has been deter-
mined to exist until such time as the Secretary certifies that 
all identified violations have been corrected and the oper-
ator has agreed to abide by a written plan approved by 
the Mine Safety and Health Administration to ensure that 
such a pattern of conduct will not recur.’’. 
(e) NOTIFICATION
OF ABATEMENT.—Section 104(b) 
(30 U.S.C. 814(b)) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; 
(2) by striking ‘‘If,’’ and inserting: 
‘‘(2) If,’’; and 
(3) by inserting after the subsection designation 
the following: 
‘‘(1) An operator issued a citation pursuant to sub-
section (a) shall notify the Secretary that the operator has 
abated the violation involved. If such operator fails to pro-
vide such a notice to the Secretary within the abatement 
time as provided for in the citation, the Secretary shall 
issue an order that requires the operator (or the agent of 
the operator) to immediately cause all persons, except those 
persons referred to in subsection (c), to be withdrawn from, 
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and to be prohibited from entering, such area as the Sec-
retary determines until an authorized representative of the 
Secretary determines that such violation has been abated. 
Notwithstanding any operator notice, no violation shall be 
determined to be abated until an authorized representative 
of the Secretary visits the site and determines such violation 
has been fully abated.’’. 
(f) FAILURE
TO TIMELY PAY PENALTY ASSESS-
MENTS.—Section 105(a) (30 U.S.C. 815(a)) is amended by 
striking the third sentence and inserting the following: ‘‘The 
operator shall, not later than 30 days from the receipt of 
the notification of a citation issued by the Secretary, notify 
the Secretary that the operator intends to contest the cita-
tion or proposed assessment of a penalty, and the operator 
shall place in escrow with the Secretary the amount of the 
proposed assessment. The Secretary shall place any escrow 
submitted by a mine operator for this purpose into an in-
terest bearing account and shall release the funds to the op-
erator, including interest accrued, upon the payment of any 
final assessment determination. If notification and proof of 
escrow is not provided to the Secretary, the citation and 
the proposed assessment of penalty shall be deemed a final 
order of the Commission and not subject to review by any 
court or agency. In the event that a mine operator refuses 
to comply with a final order of the Commission to pay civil 
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HR 2768 RH1S 
monetary penalties and statutory interest, the Secretary 
shall have the authority to issue an order requiring the 
mine operator to cease production under such final orders 
of the Commission have been paid in full.’’ 
(g) MAXIMUM
AND MINIMUM PENALTIES.—Section 
110(a)(1) (30 U.S.C. 820(a)(1)) is amended by striking 
‘‘more than $50,000 for each such violation.’’ and inserting 
‘‘less than $500 or more than $100,000 for each such viola-
tion, except that, in the case of a violation of a mandatory 
health or safety standard that could significantly and sub-
stantially contribute to the cause and effect of a coal or 
other mine health or safety hazard, the penalty shall not 
be less than $1,000 or more than $150,000, for each such 
violation.’’. 
(h) FACTORS IN ASSESSING PENALTIES.—The Federal 
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 is amended— 
(1) in section 105(b)(1)(B)— 
(A) by striking: ‘‘the size of the business of 
the operator charged’’ and inserting ‘‘the com-
bined size of the business of the operator and any 
controlling entity’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘the effect on the operator’s 
ability to continue in business,’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In 
settling cases, the Secretary shall utilize the same 
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HR 2768 RH1S 
point system as that utilized to propose pen-
alties, so as to ensure consistency in operator 
penalty assessments.’’; and 
(2) in section 110(j) (as redesignated by sub-
section (a)(4))— 
(A) by striking: ‘‘the size of the business of 
the operator charged’’ and inserting ‘‘the com-
bined size of the business of the operator and any 
controlling entity’’; 
(B) by striking ‘‘the effect on the operator’s 
ability to continue in business,’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In 
any review requested by a mine operator, or in 
settling cases, the Commission shall utilize the 
same point system as that developed by the Sec-
retary for proposed assessments so as to ensure 
consistency in operator penalty assessments.’’. 
(i) CIVIL PENALTY FOR INTERFERENCE OR DISCRIMI-
NATION.—Section 110 (30 U.S.C. 820) is further amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(n) CIVIL PENALTY FOR INTERFERENCE OR DIS-
CRIMINATION.—Any operator who is found to be in viola-
tion of section 105(c), or in violation of section 103(a) (as 
amended by this Act) shall be subject to a civil penalty of 
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HR 2768 RH1S 
not less than $10,000 nor more than $100,000 for each oc-
currence of such violation.’’. 
(j) WITHDRAWAL ORDER.—Section 107(a) (30 U.S.C. 
817(a)) is amended by inserting after the first sentence the 
following: ‘‘In addition, in the event of any violation of sec-
tion 315 or section 316, or regulations issued pursuant to 
such sections, such representative shall determine the extent 
of the area of such mine throughout which the danger exists 
and issue an order requiring the operator of such mine to 
cause all persons, except those referred to in section 104(c), 
to be withdrawn from, and to be prohibited from entering, 
such area until an authorized representative of the Sec-
retary determines that the violations have been abated.’’. 
(k) CLARIFICATIONS OF INTENT IN THE 1977 ACT.— 
The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 is amend-
ed— 
(1) in section 3(d) (30 U.S.C. 802)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘mineral’’ before ‘‘owner’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘mineral’’ before ‘‘lessee’’; 
(C) by striking ‘‘or any independent’’ and 
inserting ‘‘and any independent’’; and 
(D) by inserting before the semicolon the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, and no operator may, by contract or 
other agreement, limit any liability under this 
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Act through transfer of any responsibilities to 
another person’’; 
(2) in section 103 (30 U.S.C. 813)— 
(A) in subsection (b)— 
(i) by striking the first sentence and 
inserting the following: ‘‘For the purpose of 
enabling the Secretary to perform the func-
tions under this Act, the Secretary may, 
after notice, hold public hearings and sign 
and issue subpoenas for the attendance and 
testimony of witnesses and the production of 
information, including but not limited to 
relevant data, papers, books, documents and 
items of physical evidence, and administer 
oaths, whether or not in connection with a 
public hearing.’’; and 
(ii) in the last sentence by striking 
‘‘documents’’ and inserting ‘‘information, 
including data, papers, books, documents, 
and items of physical evidence’’; and 
(B) in subsection (h), in the first sentence, 
by striking ‘‘information’’ and inserting ‘‘data, 
papers, books, documents, and items of physical 
evidence’’; 
(3) in section 104 (30 U.S.C. 814)— 
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(A) in subsections (d)(1), (e)(1), (e)(2), 
(e)(3), and (e)(4), as amended by this Act, by in-
serting ‘‘or any provision of this Act’’ after 
‘‘standard’’ or ‘‘standards’’ each place either such 
term appears; and 
(B) in subsection (d)(1), as amended by this 
Act, by striking ‘‘while the conditions created by 
such violation do not cause imminent danger,’’; 
(4) in section 105 (30 U.S.C. 815)— 
(A) in subsection (a), in the first sentence, 
by striking ‘‘, within a reasonable time after the 
termination of such inspection or investigation,’’; 
(B) in subsection (c)— 
(i) in paragraph (1)— 
(I) by inserting ‘‘or an injury or 
illness in a coal or other mine or that 
may be associated with mine employ-
ment,’’ after ‘‘of an alleged danger or 
safety or health violation in a coal or 
other mine,’’; and 
(II) by inserting at the end the 
following: ‘‘No miner shall be required 
to work under conditions he has rea-
sonable grounds to believe to be abnor-
mally and immediately dangerous to 
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