109 
issuance of the final order. Such pre-final order interest 
shall be calculated at the current underpayment rate deter-
mined by the Secretary of the Treasury pursuant to section 
6621 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and shall be 
compounded daily. Post-final order interest shall begin to 
accrue 30 days after the date a final order of the Commis-
sion or the court is issued, and shall be charged at the rate 
of 8 percent per year.’’. 
SEC. 708. REVIEW OF STATE OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND 
HEALTH PLANS. 
Section 18 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 
of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 668) is amended— 
(1) by amending subsection (f) to read as follows: 
‘‘(f)(1) The Secretary shall, on the basis of reports sub-
mitted by the State agency and the Secretary’s own inspec-
tions, make a continuing evaluation of the manner in which 
each State that has a plan approved under this section is 
carrying out such plan. Such evaluation shall include an 
assessment of whether the State continues to meet the re-
quirements of subsection (c) of this section and any other 
criteria or indices of effectiveness specified by the Secretary 
in regulations. Whenever the Secretary finds, on the basis 
of such evaluation, that in the administration of the State 
plan there is a failure to comply substantially with any 
provision of the State plan (or any assurance contained 
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emcdonald on DSK2BSOYB1PROD with BILLS
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therein), the Secretary shall make an initial determination 
of whether the failure is of such a nature that the plan 
should be withdrawn or whether the failure is of such a 
nature that the State should be given the opportunity to 
remedy the deficiencies, and provide notice of the Sec-
retary’s findings and initial determination. 
‘‘(2) If the Secretary makes an initial determination 
to reassert and exercise concurrent enforcement authority 
while the State is given an opportunity to remedy the defi-
ciencies, the Secretary shall afford the State an opportunity 
for a public hearing within 15 days of such request, pro-
vided that such request is made not later than 10 days after 
Secretary’s notice to the State. The Secretary shall review 
and consider the testimony, evidence, or written comments, 
and not later than 30 days following such hearing, make 
a determination to affirm, reverse, or modify the Secretary’s 
initial determination to reassert and exercise concurrent en-
forcement authority under sections 8, 9, 10, 13, and 17 with 
respect to standards promulgated under section 6 and obli-
gations under section 5(a). Following such a determination 
by the Secretary, or in the event that the State does not 
request a hearing within the time frame set forth in this 
paragraph, the Secretary may reassert and exercise such 
concurrent enforcement authority, while a final determina-
tion is pending under paragraph (3) or until the Secretary 
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111 
has determined that the State has remedied the deficiencies 
as provided under paragraph (4). Such determination shall 
be published in the Federal Register. The procedures set 
forth in section 18(g) shall not apply to a determination 
by the Secretary to reassert and exercise such concurrent 
enforcement authority. 
‘‘(3) If the Secretary makes an initial determination 
that the plan should be withdrawn, the Secretary shall pro-
vide due notice and the opportunity for a hearing. If based 
on the evaluation, comments, and evidence, the Secretary 
makes a final determination that there is a failure to com-
ply substantially with any provision of the State plan (or 
any assurance contained therein), he shall notify the State 
agency of the withdrawal of approval of such plan and 
upon receipt of such notice such plan shall cease to be in 
effect, but the State may retain jurisdiction in any case 
commenced before the withdrawal of the plan in order to 
enforce standards under the plan whenever the issues in-
volved do not relate to the reasons for the withdrawal of 
the plan. 
‘‘(4) If the Secretary makes a determination that the 
State should be provided the opportunity to remedy the defi-
ciencies, the Secretary shall provide the State an oppor-
tunity to respond to the Secretary’s findings and the oppor-
tunity to remedy such deficiencies within a time period es-
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112 
tablished by the Secretary, not to exceed 1 year. The Sec-
retary may extend and revise the time period to remedy 
such deficiencies, if the State’s legislature is not in session 
during this 1 year time period, or if the State demonstrates 
that it is not feasible to correct the deficiencies in the time 
period set by the Secretary, and the State has a plan to 
correct the deficiencies within a reasonable time period. If 
the Secretary finds that the State agency has failed to rem-
edy such deficiencies within the time period specified by 
the Secretary and that the State plan continues to fail to 
comply substantially with a provision of the State plan, 
the Secretary shall withdraw the State plan as provided 
for in paragraph (3).’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(i) Not later than 18 months after the date of enact-
ment of this subsection, and every 5 years thereafter, the 
Comptroller General shall complete and issue a review of 
the effectiveness of State plans to develop and enforce safety 
and health standards to determine if they are at least as 
effective as the Federal program and to evaluate whether 
the Secretary’s oversight of State plans is effective. The 
Comptroller General’s evaluation shall assess— 
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‘‘(1) the effectiveness of the Secretary’s oversight 
of State plans, including the indices of effectiveness 
used by the Secretary; 
‘‘(2) whether the Secretary’s investigations in re-
sponse to Complaints About State Plan Administra-
tion (CASPA) are adequate, whether significant pol-
icy issues have been identified by headquarters and 
corrective actions are fully implemented by each 
State; 
‘‘(3) whether the formula for the distribution of 
funds described in section 23(g) to State programs is 
fair and adequate; and 
‘‘(4) whether State plans are as effective as the 
Federal program in preventing occupational injuries, 
illnesses and deaths, and investigating discrimination 
complaints, through an evaluation of at least 20 per-
cent of approved State plans, and which shall cover— 
‘‘(A) enforcement effectiveness, including 
handling of fatalities, serious incidents and com-
plaints, compliance with inspection procedures, 
hazard recognition, verification of abatement, 
violation classification, citation and penalty 
issuance, including appropriate use of willful 
and repeat citations, and employee involvement; 
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‘‘(B) inspections, the number of pro-
grammed health and safety inspections at pri-
vate and public sector establishments, and wheth-
er the State targets the highest hazard private 
sector work sites and facilities in that State; 
‘‘(C) budget and staffing, including whether 
the State is providing adequate budget resources 
to hire, train and retain sufficient numbers of 
qualified staff, including timely filling of vacan-
cies; 
‘‘(D) administrative review, including the 
quality of decisions, consistency with Federal 
precedence, transparency of proceedings, deci-
sions and records are available to the public, 
adequacy of State defense, and whether the State 
appropriately appeals adverse decisions; 
‘‘(E) anti discrimination, including wheth-
er discrimination complaints are processed in a 
timely manner, whether supervisors and inves-
tigators are properly trained to investigate dis-
crimination complaints, whether a case file re-
view indicates merit cases are properly identified 
consistent with Federal policy and procedure, 
whether employees are notified of their rights, 
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and whether there is an effective process for em-
ployees to appeal the dismissal of a complaint; 
‘‘(F) program administration, including 
whether the State’s standards and policies are at 
least as effective as the Federal program and are 
updated in a timely manner, and whether Na-
tional Emphasis Programs that are applicable 
in such States are adopted and implemented in 
a manner that is at least as effective as the Fed-
eral program; 
‘‘(G) whether the State plan satisfies the re-
quirements for approval set forth in this section 
and its implementing regulations; and 
‘‘(H) other such factors identified by the 
Comptroller General, or as requested by the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 
Representatives or the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate.’’. 
SEC. 709. HEALTH HAZARD EVALUATIONS BY THE NA-
TIONAL 
INSTITUTE 
FOR 
OCCUPATIONAL 
SAFETY AND HEALTH. 
Section 20(a)(6) of the Occupational Safety and 
Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 669(a)(6)) is amended by 
striking the second sentence and inserting the following: 
‘‘The Secretary shall determine following a written request 
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by any employer, authorized representative of current or 
former employees, physician, other Federal agency, or State 
or local health department, specifying with reasonable par-
ticularity the grounds on which the request is made, wheth-
er any substance normally found in the place of employ-
ment has potentially toxic effects in such concentrations as 
used or found or whether any physical agents, equipment, 
or working condition found or used has potentially haz-
ardous effects; and shall submit such determination both to 
employers and affected employees as soon as possible.’’. 
SEC. 710. 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 
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health through the development and evaluation of 
new interventions; and’’. 
SEC. 711. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) GENERAL RULE.—Except as provided for in sub-
section (b), this title and the amendments made by this title 
shall take effect not later than 90 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(b) EXCEPTION FOR STATES AND POLITICAL SUBDIVI-
SIONS.—A State that has a State plan approved under sec-
tion 18 (29 U.S.C. 667) shall amend its State plan to con-
form with the requirements of this Act and the amendments 
made by this Act not later than 12 months after the date 
of the enactment of this Act. The Secretary of Labor may 
extend the period for a State to make such amendments to 
its State plan by not more than 12 months, if the State’s 
legislature is not in session during the 12-month period be-
ginning with the date of the enactment of this Act. Such 
amendments to the State plan shall take effect not later 
than 90 days after the adoption of such amendments by 
such State. 
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Union Calendar No. 334 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5663 
[Report No. 111–579, Part I] 
A BILL 
To improve compliance with mine and occupational 
safety and health laws, empower workers to raise 
safety concerns, prevent future mine and other 
workplace tragedies, establish rights of families 
of victims of workplace accidents, and for other 
purposes. 
JULY 29, 2010 
Reported with an amendment, referred to the Committee 
on the Judiciary for a period ending not later than 
July 29, 2010, for consideration of such provisions of 
the bill and amendment as fall within the jurisdiction 
of that committee pursuant to clause 1(k), rule X 
JULY 29, 2010 
Committee on the Judiciary discharged; committed to the 
Committee of the Whole House on the State of the 
Union and ordered to be printed 
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