mines, the Administration is authorized to hire retired in-
spectors on a contractual basis to conduct mine inspec-
tions, and the retirement benefits of such retired inspec-
tors shall not be reduced as a result of such temporary 
contractual employment. 
(c) COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE AND USER FEES.—In 
order to ensure that the Secretary has sufficient resources 
to carry out the enforcement activities of the Mine Safety 
and Health Administration, during the 5-year period be-
ginning on the date of enactment of this Act— 
(1) the Secretary may not expend any funds for 
technical support or advice to an operator of a par-
ticular mine, except funds that are collected through 
user fees under paragraph (2); and 
(2) an operator who incurs a civil penalty or 
fine under section 110 of the Federal Mine Safety 
and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820) shall be as-
sessed a user fee of $100 for each such penalty or 
fine, which fee shall be maintained in a separate ac-
count by the Secretary to be used to provide tech-
nical support or advice to mine operators, with pri-
ority given to requests from mines with less than 20 
miners. 
(d) REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.—During the 5-year 
period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 
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Secretary shall issue a special report to the appropriate 
committees of Congress every year, or at such more fre-
quent intervals as the Secretary or any such committee 
may deem appropriate, providing information about the 
actions being taken under this section, the size and train-
ing of the inspector workforce at the Mine Safety and 
Health Administration, the level of enforcement activities, 
and the number of requests by individual operators of 
mines for compliance assistance. 
SEC. 11. TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH PRIORITIES. 
In implementing its research activities in the 5-year 
period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, the 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
shall give due consideration to new technologies, and exist-
ing technologies that could be adapted for use in under-
ground coal or other mines, that could facilitate the sur-
vival of miners in a mining emergency. Such technologies 
include— 
(1) self-contained self-rescue devices capable of 
delivering enhanced performance; 
(2) two-way communications devices capable of 
delivering enhanced performance between under-
ground locations or between underground and sur-
face locations, including devices capable of sustained 
operation after underground explosions; 
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(3) improved battery capacity and common con-
nection specifications to enable emergency commu-
nication devices for miners to be run from the same 
portable power source as a headlamp, continuous 
dust monitor, or other device carried by a miner; 
(4) improved technology for assisting mine res-
cue teams, including devices to enhance vision dur-
ing rescue or recovery operations; and 
(5) improved technology, and improved proto-
cols for the use of existing technologies, to enable 
conditions underground to be assessed promptly and 
continuously in emergencies, so as to facilitate the 
determination by appropriate officials of the instruc-
tions to provide both to miners trapped underground 
and to mine rescue teams and others engaged in res-
cue efforts. 
Æ 
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