of requests by individual operators of mines for compliance 
assistance.’’. 
(c) OFFICE
OF MINER OMBUDSMAN.—Title V is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 516. OFFICE OF MINER OMBUDSMAN. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT
OF MINER OMBUDSMAN.— 
There shall be established, within the Office of the Inspec-
tor General of the Department of Labor, the position of 
Miner Ombudsman. The President, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, shall appoint an individual with 
expertise in mine safety and health to serve as the Miner 
Ombudsman. The Ombudsman shall have authority to 
hire such personnel as are required to administer his du-
ties in accordance with applicable law, provided they meet 
any general requirements for employment within the Of-
fice of the Inspector General. 
‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Miner Ombudsman shall— 
‘‘(1) recommend to the Secretary appropriate 
practices to ensure the confidentiality of the identity 
of miners, and the families or personal representa-
tives of the miners, who contact mine operators, au-
thorized representatives of the miners, the Mine 
Safety and Health Administration, the Department 
of Labor, or others with information about mine ac-
cidents, incidents, injuries, illnesses, possible viola-
tions of mandatory health or safety standard viola-
tions or plans or other mine safety and health con-
cerns; 
‘‘(2) establish a toll-free telephone number and 
appropriate Internet website to permit individuals to 
confidentially report mine accidents, incidents, inju-
ries, illnesses, possible violations of mandatory 
health or safety standard violations or plans or other 
mine safety and health concerns, and provide plastic 
wallet cards, refrigerator magnets, or similar devices 
to all mine operators, which mine operators shall 
distribute to all current and new miners, with con-
tact information for such confidential reports, and 
also provide supplies of these devices to miner com-
munities; 
‘‘(3) collect and forward information concerning 
accidents, incidents, injuries, illnesses, possible viola-
tions of mandatory health or safety standard viola-
tions or plans or other mine safety and health con-
cerns to the appropriate officials of the Mine Safety 
and Health Administration for investigation, or to 
appropriate officials within the Office of Inspector 
General for investigation or audit, or both, while es-
tablishing practices to protect the confidentiality of
the identify of those who provide such information to 
the Ombudsman; and 
‘‘(4) monitor the Secretary of Labor’s efforts to 
promptly act upon complaints filed by miners under 
section 105(c) of the Act or pursuant to other pro-
grams administered by the Department to protect 
whistleblowers, and report to Congress any rec-
ommendations that would enhance such rights or 
protections. 
‘‘(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 appro-
priate action, except that this requirement shall be imple-
mented 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 writing, 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 pursuant to the Privacy Act of 1974. The Om-
budsman 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 regulations. The Ombudsman shall refer to 
appropriate personnel within the Office of the Inspector 
General for further review any case which he determines 
was not handled in such fashion. 
‘‘(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 enactment, 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 Adminis-
tration, 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 identification; and 
(B) after receiving the notification de-
scribed in subparagraph (A), the appropriate 
official of the Mine Safety and Health Adminis-
tration 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 vio-
lation of section 104(e) of such Act should be 
issued in light of the gravity of the violations 
and the operator’s conduct in connection there-
with. 
(2) IDENTIFICATION
OF
PATTERN.—Section 
104(e)(1) (30 U.S.C. 814(e)(1)) is amended by in-
serting after the first sentence the following: ‘‘In de-
termining whether a pattern of violations exists, the 
Secretary shall give due consideration to all relevant 
information, such as the gravity of the violations, 
operator negligence, history of violations, the num-
ber 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 
operation.’’.
(3) 
TERMINATION
OF
PATTERN.—Section 
104(e)(3) (30 U.S.C. 814(e)(3)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: ‘‘In addition, if an op-
erator subject to paragraphs (1) and (2) dem-
onstrates objective evidence that they are correcting 
the problems that gave rise to the pattern of viola-
tions, and the violation frequency rate for such oper-
ator declines significantly 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.— 
Section 110 (30 U.S.C. 820) is amended— 
(A) 
by 
redesignating 
subsections 
(i) 
through (l) as subsections (j) through (m), re-
spectively; and 
(B) by inserting after subsection (h) the 
following: 
‘‘(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 
assessment under this paragraph shall be designed to en-