Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/01/23/2013-01250/pattern-of-violations
Timestamp: 2016-09-29 05:13:56
Document Index: 339152992

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:: Pattern of Violations
A Rule by the Mine Safety and Health Administration on 01/23/2013
5055-5074
2013-01250
A. § 104.1 Purpose and Scope
B. § 104.2 Pattern Criteria
1. § 104.2—Elimination of Potential Pattern of Violations Initial Screening and Notification
2. § 104.2—Elimination of the Final Order Requirement
3. § 104.2(a)—POV Review at Least Annually
4. § 104.2(a)(1) to (8)—General Pattern of Violations Criteria for MSHA Periodic Review
5. § 104.2(a)(7)—Other Information
6. § 104.2(a)(8)—Mitigating Circumstances
7. § 104.2(b)—Specific Criteria
C. § 104.3 Issuance of Notice
1. § 104.3(a) and (b)—Issuance and Posting of POV Notice
2. § 104.3(c) and (d)—Withdrawal of Persons From Area of Mine Affected by Subsequent S&S Violations After Issuance of POV Notice
D. § 104.4 Termination of Notice
Enhanced Content - Submit Public Comment 157
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2013-01250
01/17/2013 at 11:15 am.
Access rulemaking documents electronically at http://www.msha.gov/​regsinfo.htm or http://www.regulations.gov on the day following publication of this notice in the Federal Register.
In enacting the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act), Congress included the pattern of violations (POV) provision in section 104(e) to provide MSHA with an additional enforcement tool to protect miners when the mine operator demonstrated a disregard for the health and safety of miners. The need for such Start Printed Page 5057a provision was forcefully demonstrated during the investigation of the Scotia Mine disaster, which occurred in 1976 in Eastern Kentucky (S. Rep. No. 181, 95th Cong., 1st Sess. at 32). As a result of explosions on March 9 and 11, 1976, caused by dangerous accumulations of methane, 23 miners and three mine inspectors lost their lives. The Scotia Mine had a chronic history of persistent, serious violations that were repeatedly cited by MSHA. After abating the violations, the mine operator would permit the same violations to recur, repeatedly exposing miners to the same hazards. The accident investigation showed that MSHA's then existing enforcement program had been unable to address the Scotia Mine's history of recurring violations.
Is the mine on a § 104(d) unwarrantable failure sequence, indicating that other enforcement measures had been ineffective?
(1) Goes to MSHA's Web site at http://www.msha.gov;​
The on-line Monthly Monitoring Tool reports results in clear, color-coded indicators of the mine's performance (red YES = meets criterion, green NO = does not trigger criterion) for each criteria and a mine's overall performance.Start Printed Page 5058
In 2010, the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) audited MSHA's POV program. On September 29, 2010, the OIG published its audit report titled, “In 32 Years MSHA Has Never Successfully Exercised Its Pattern of Violations Authority” (Report No. 05-10-005-06-001). The OIG found that the existing POV regulation created limitations on MSHA's authority that were not present in the Mine Act, specifically,
Final § 104.1 provides the purpose and scope of the rule and is substantively unchanged from the existing provision.
Like the proposal, final § 104.2 combines existing §§ 104.2 and 104.3 into a single provision. In combining existing §§ 104.2 and 104.3, the final rule eliminates the initial screening review process and the PPOV notification. Like the proposal, the final rule eliminates the requirement that MSHA consider only final orders when evaluating mines for a POV. Final § 104.2 specifies the general criteria that MSHA will use to identify mines with a POV. The final rule simplifies the process for determining whether a mine has a POV and more accurately reflects the statutory intent.
Final § 104.2, like the proposal, does not include a provision for a PPOV. Commenters in support of eliminating the PPOV stated that mine operators should know the details of their compliance history; there is no need for MSHA to warn an operator in advance that a mine may be subject to enhanced enforcement measures. Commenters said that eliminating the PPOV process would remove the incentive for mine operators to make just enough short-term improvements to get off the PPOV list, but then backslide and wait for MSHA to issue the next PPOV notice. Commenters stated that the elimination of the PPOV process should serve to effect greater improvements for more miners, at more operations, and on a longer-term basis.
Commenters stated that MSHA already possesses the graduated enforcement tools necessary to shut down all or any part of unsafe operations through the use of unwarrantable failure to comply, imminent danger, and other elevated enforcement actions. Commenters also stated that MSHA fell short by not requiring mines receiving a PPOV to make fundamental safety process changes as part of their corrective actions. Commenters recognized that long-term continuous safety improvement requires fundamental changes in an organization's culture, Start Printed Page 5059performance processes, and safety leadership.
Mine operators are responsible for operating their mines in compliance with all applicable standards and regulations. The on-line Monthly Monitoring Tool, which is currently available, will continue to provide mine operators, on a monthly basis, their performance status relative to the POV screening criteria posted on MSHA's Web site. MSHA developed the on-line Monthly Monitoring Tool based on feedback from the mining industry. MSHA conducted a stakeholder meeting prior to announcing the implementation of the “Monthly Monitoring Tool for Pattern of Violations” on April 6, 2011. At this meeting, MSHA demonstrated use of the on-line Monthly Monitoring Tool. The POV Single Source Page at http://www.msha.gov/​POV/​POVsinglesource.asp contains the Monthly Monitoring Tool; Pattern of Violations Screening Criteria; Pattern of Violations (POV) Procedures Summary; a copy of the applicable regulations; and contact information to request assistance. MSHA receives and responds to requests for information about the screening criteria, the procedures, and mine-specific data related to the POV procedures and will continue to do so.
Final § 104.2 eliminates existing § 104.3(b), which provides that—
Commenters supporting elimination of the final order requirement stated that the plain language of the Mine Act and its legislative history do not require MSHA to rely on final orders when identifying a pattern of violations. These commenters stated that the language of the Mine Act and its legislative history support MSHA's decision to consider citations and orders as issued, rather Start Printed Page 5060than final orders, when determining whether a mine has demonstrated a pattern of S&S violations. The commenters cited portions of the legislative history where Congress made clear that it intended MSHA to use the pattern sanction simultaneously with other provisions of the Act when it is necessary to bring a mine into compliance. The commenters agreed with MSHA's conclusion that the final order requirement interferes with MSHA's ability to use the pattern sanction in conjunction with the Mine Act's other enforcement provisions.
* * * if it has a pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards. * * * which are of such nature as could have significantly and substantially contributed to the cause and effect of coal or other mine health or safety hazards. (30 U.S.C. 814(e)(1))
Many commenters opposed the Agency's proposal to eliminate the final order requirement. Some stated that the proposal violates mine operators' due process rights under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Commenters stated that the use of violations issued to trigger punitive POV sanctions without a meaningful opportunity for prior independent review, together with the proposed rule's elimination of the PPOV provisions, denies mine operators the constitutional right to notice and the opportunity to be heard.Start Printed Page 5061
Commenters who opposed elimination of the final order requirement were concerned with the possibility of the erroneous deprivation of property that may occur without adequate procedural protections. They stated that the property interest at stake—the economic viability of a mine—is so jeopardized by the threat of the POV sanction that MSHA must provide maximum protection to mine operators before it exercises POV authority. Some commenters stated that the proposed rule, as written, does not provide adequate procedural protections. They cited cases from the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal courts to support their position that due process requires MSHA to provide notice and a hearing to mine operators before imposing the POV sanction.
Final § 104.2(a), like the existing rule, provides that MSHA will review the compliance records of mines at least once each year to determine if any mines meet the specific POV criteria posted on MSHA's Web site at http://www.msha.gov/​POV/​POVsinglesource.asp. The proposed rule would have increased the frequency of MSHA's review to at least twice per year. Commenters stated that the proposed provision for at least two reviews per year was unnecessary; MSHA can conduct multiple reviews per year under the existing rule, which provided for a POV review at least once a year. Some commenters stated that the reviews should be automated and data adjusted essentially in real time so that MSHA could respond quickly, e.g., when an inspector issues an inordinately large number of citations during an inspection of a bad actor. Some commenters supported the proposed twice-a-year review, stating that more frequent reviews provide mine operators an incentive to monitor their compliance more closely.
Final § 104.2(a), like the proposal, contains the criteria that MSHA will consider in evaluating whether a mine exhibits a POV. These criteria do not include numerical measures. MSHA will post the specific criteria, with numerical data, on the Agency's Web site at http://www.msha.gov/​POV/​POVsinglesource.asp for use by mine operators in evaluating their mine's performance. As stated during the proposed rulemaking, when MSHA revises the specific criteria, the Agency will post the revised specific criteria on the Agency's Web site for comment (see section III.B.7 of this preamble).
The Mine Act does not require that MSHA base POV decisions on repeated violations of the same or related standards. The pattern criteria in the existing regulation for a PPOV include repeated S&S violations of a particular standard or standards related to the same hazard that are final orders of the FMSHRC. Like the existing rule, under the final rule, MSHA will base POV decisions on a complete review of a mine's health and safety conditions, not only on repeated violations of the same or related standards as recommended by some commenters. MSHA believes that limiting the scope of the POV regulation to repeated violations of the same or related standards would unnecessarily hinder MSHA's ability to address chronic violators and would ignore the reality that, in dangerous safety situations there are often multiple contributing violations.Start Printed Page 5062
MSHA's interpretation of what constitutes an S&S violation is posted on MSHA's Web site at http://www.msha.gov/​PROGRAMS/​assess/​citationsandorders.asp and is consistent with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission's definition of S&S (Mathies Coal Co., 6 FMSHRC 1 (January 1984)). With respect to inspector training, MSHA is constantly updating and improving new inspector training, journeymen training, and supervisor training to improve consistency in the application of S&S. In addition, MSHA has implemented an improved pre-assessment conferencing process to facilitate early resolution of enforcement disputes that relate to S&S and other issues.
Final § 104.2(a)(7), like the proposal, provides that MSHA will consider other information that demonstrates a serious safety or health management problem at the mine. It includes the information addressed in existing §§ 104.2(b)(2)-(b)(3) and 104.3(a)(1)-(a)(2). Under the final rule, this other information may include, but is not limited to, the following:
Consistent with MSHA's position that the Agency will consider a variety of sources of information bearing on a mine's health and safety record when it conducts POV evaluations, this provision of the final rule restates the other information that the Agency may consider in determining whether a mine has a POV. MSHA data and experience show that violations of approval, Start Printed Page 5063training, or recordkeeping regulations, for example, can significantly and substantially contribute to health or safety hazards, and may be a contributing cause of an accident. This is especially true where the mine operator allows similar violations to occur repeatedly. Under the final rule, MSHA intends to exercise its enforcement authority consistent with Agency experience and statutory intent.
Many commenters stated that MSHA should provide more information about the role that mitigating circumstances play in the POV review process. Some commenters responded as though MSHA will issue a POV notice automatically if the criteria on the MSHA Web site are met. These commenters stated that final § 104.3 requires the District Manager to issue a pattern of violations notice when a mine has a pattern of violations; however, the discussion of mitigating circumstances states that MSHA has discretion to consider other factors before determining whether a POV notice is necessary. One commenter stated that the mining community needs to know more about what mitigating factors MSHA will consider and how the presence of mitigating factors could remove an operation from POV status. This commenter urged MSHA to consider only objective measures that demonstrate significant improvements in mine health and safety for mitigation purposes. This commenter was concerned that MSHA may relieve a mine operator from a POV determination based on short-term improvements without an objective commitment to long-term change. Other commenters stated that the proposed rule did not prescribe a specific procedure for MSHA consideration of mitigating circumstances prior to issuance of the POV notice. They requested that MSHA provide more information about the means for presenting mitigating information to the Agency and include the mechanism for this approach in the rule.
In response to comments, MSHA clarified in its notices of public hearings and its opening statements at the public hearings that the Agency did not intend that these safety and health management programs be the same as those referenced in the Agency's rulemaking on comprehensive safety and health management programs (RIN 1219-AB71). The public hearing notice further stated that MSHA would consider a safety and health management program as a mitigating circumstance in the pattern of violations proposal when it: (1) Includes measurable benchmarks for abating specific violations that could lead to a pattern of violations at a specific mine; and (2) addresses hazardous conditions at that mine. MSHA's use of the term “safety and health program” in relation to mitigating circumstances in the POV proposal is related to corrective action programs focused on reducing S&S violations at a particular mine. Further, MSHA clarified that its rulemaking on safety and health programs is a totally separate action, unrelated to the POV rulemaking. MSHA also stated that these programs referenced in the POV rulemaking would have to be approved by the Agency prior to the issuance of a POV notice. To avoid any confusion, the final rule uses only the term “corrective action program”, it does not address safety and health management programs at all.
MSHA will evaluate the mine operator's corrective action program to determine if it is structured so that MSHA can determine whether the program's parameters are likely to result in meaningful, measurable, and significant reductions in S&S violations. MSHA has guidelines for corrective action programs on the Agency's Web site at http://www.msha.gov/​POV/​POVsinglesource.asp under Pattern of Violations (POV) Procedures Start Printed Page 5064Summary—2010, Appendix B—Guidelines for Corrective Action Programs. In general, programs must contain concrete, meaningful measures that can reasonably be expected to reduce the number of S&S violations at the mine; the measures should be specifically tailored to the compliance problems at the mine; and the measures should contain achievable benchmarks and milestones for implementation. More specific guidance is contained in the aforementioned document.
Final § 104.2(b), proposed as § 104.2(a), provides that MSHA will post, on its Web site at http://www.msha.gov/​POV/​POVsinglesource.asp, the specific criteria, with numerical data, that the Agency will use to identify mines with a pattern of S&S violations. MSHA has determined that posting the specific criteria on its Web site, together with each mine's compliance data, will allow mine operators to monitor their compliance records to determine if they are approaching POV status. In addition, mine operators, as well as other members of the public, can monitor the data to identify any inaccuracies and notify MSHA of such inaccuracies. As stated earlier, MSHA believes that it is the mine operator's responsibility to constantly monitor their compliance performance and to assure that health and safety conditions at their mines are proactively addressed. Access to the specific POV criteria and the compliance data provides mine operators the means to evaluate their own records and determine whether they are approaching the criteria levels for a POV. This access also enables mine operators to be proactive in implementing measures to improve health and safety conditions at their mines and to bring their mines into compliance, which will enhance the health and safety of miners.
As stated in the proposed rule and at the public hearings, to provide transparency and to put operators on notice of how the Agency will determine if a mine has a POV, MSHA will continue to post specific criteria on the Agency's Web site. The specific criteria can be found at http://www.msha.gov/​POV/​POVScreeningCriteria2011.pdf. Further, as stated during the rulemaking, MSHA will seek stakeholder input when revising POV criteria. To involve stakeholders in the process of revising the specific criteria, MSHA will publish proposed changes on the Agency's Web site and solicit public comment. MSHA also will notify those on the Agency's email subscription list that the criteria are posted for comment. MSHA will consider revising the criteria based on comments.
Some commenters requested that MSHA include specific numbers in the final rule for how the general criteria will be measured. Other commenters suggested that MSHA not use absolute numbers as the control for the criteria—large mines should not be compared with small mines and vice versa; they stated that inspection hours provides a better basis for comparison. Some commenters stated that there is a disproportionately large number of inspection hours at large unionized mines, where miners are encouraged to point out all violations to inspectors, Start Printed Page 5065and that the inspection history, in this case, reflects a safer mine not a POV.
Final § 104.3 simplifies the requirements for issuing a POV notice and is essentially unchanged from the proposal. MSHA believes that it allows the Agency to more effectively implement the POV provision in a manner consistent with legislative intent. As stated earlier, some mines made initial safety improvements, however, these improvements declined over time. MSHA's experience and data reveal that some mine operators who received PPOV letters temporarily reduced their S&S violations, but reverted back to allowing the same hazards to occur repeatedly without adequately addressing the underlying causes. MSHA believes that operators who greatly reduced violations after receiving a PPOV letter and maintained this improved level of compliance are likely to continue monitoring their own performance under the final rule.
Final § 104.3(a), like the proposal, provides that, when a mine has a POV, the District Manager will issue a POV notice to the mine operator that specifies the basis for the Agency's action. The District Manager will also provide a copy of the POV notice to the representative of miners. Final § 104.3(b) requires that the mine operator post the POV notice on the mine bulletin board and that it remain posted until MSHA terminates the POV. After the operator receives the POV notice, MSHA's web site Data Retrieval System will list the POV notice, along with other enforcement actions, for the affected mine.
In addition, in response to comments, and to ensure that all data are accurate, MSHA will also provide mine operators an opportunity to meet with the district manager for the limited purpose of discussing discrepancies (e.g., citations that are entered incorrectly or have not yet been updated in MSHA's computer system, Commission decisions rendered, but not yet recorded, on contested citations, and citations issued in error to a mine operator instead of an independent contractor at the mine) in the data. A mine operator may request a meeting with the District Manager for the sole purpose of presenting discrepancies in MSHA data. At this meeting, mine operators will have an Start Printed Page 5066opportunity to question the underlying data on which the POV is based, and provide documentation to support their position. MSHA will make changes, as appropriate, which could result in rescission of the POV notice if MSHA verifies data discrepancies and the mine no longer meets the criteria for a POV. The time to request, schedule, and hold this meeting does not affect the 90-day schedule for abatement of the POV. In addition, consistent with existing policy, field office supervisors and district managers will continue to review all violations. This would include S&S violations issued to mine operators with a POV.
Final § 104.3(c) and (d) are the same as proposed. They restate the requirements in the Mine Act for MSHA actions after a POV notice is issued. Final § 104.3(c) requires MSHA to issue an order withdrawing all persons from the affected area of the mine if the Agency finds any S&S violation within 90 days after the issuance of the POV notice. Final § 104.3(d) provides that if a withdrawal order is issued under § 104.3(c), any subsequent S&S violation will result in an order withdrawing all persons, except those responsible for correcting the cited condition, from the affected area of the mine until MSHA determines that the violation has been abated. Commenters stated that MSHA must clarify that a subsequent withdrawal order must apply only to persons in the specific area who are exposed to risk of harm from the cited violation.
Final § 104.4 addresses the termination of a POV notice and is unchanged from the proposal. MSHA's POV Procedures Summary, posted on MSHA's Web site at http://www.msha.gov/​POV/​POVsinglesource.asp, includes provisions for MSHA to conduct a complete inspection of the entire mine within 90 days of issuing the POV notice.
The requirements for termination of a POV notice are provided in section 104(e)(3) of the Mine Act. A POV notice will be terminated if MSHA finds no S&S violations during an inspection of the entire mine. Final § 104.4 merely restates the requirements at 30 U.S.C. 814(e)(3) for terminating a pattern notice. Final paragraph (b) is revised to make nonsubstantive changes to clarify that partial inspections of the mine, within 90 days, taken together constitute an inspection of the entire mine.
With respect to seasonal operations that operate on an intermittent basis, the Mine Act requires inspections for intermittent operations. As with mines that change to inactive status after receipt of a POV notice, MSHA would temporarily postpone enforcement while the mine is inactive, but would Start Printed Page 5067resume POV enforcement once the seasonal operation restarts production.
MSHA reviewed the SPI model when the Agency was considering changes to the specific criteria used in its POV procedures summary which provides the basis for the Agency's on-line Monthly Monitoring Tool. MSHA found that the model places a high degree of emphasis on accident and injury data reported by the mine operators, more than MSHA believed was appropriate. MSHA's existing POV criteria, however, contain elements similar to some of those in the SPI model (i.e., normalized S&S citations and orders and injury severity measures). As previously stated in this preamble, under this final rule, mine operators will have the opportunity to comment on any future POV criteria that MSHA posts for comment on its Web site at http://www.msha.gov/​POV/​POVsinglesource.asp.
Commenters stated that the proposed rule failed to consider the interplay between the POV rule and other Agency rules as required by E.O. 13563, which requires agencies to regulate industry in the least burdensome manner and to take into account the costs of cumulative regulations. Commenters stated that the cumulative effect of changes to other rules, such as respirable dust, examinations, and rock dust, on the POV regulation, will likely cause an increase in the numbers of S&S citations and, consequently, could result in more mines meeting the criteria for a POV notice. In response to commenters' concerns, MSHA clarifies that this final rule will achieve the legislative intent and impact only those mines that show a disregard for miners' health and safety. This rule does not add to the number of S&S citations. Mines can avoid costs associated with POV status by complying with MSHA's health and safety standards.
Table 1—2010 Number of Mines, by Type of Mine and Employment Size GroupMine sizeEmployment size groupTotal1-1920-500501+Underground Coal16838315566Surface Coal90147541,380Underground M/NM1101326248Surface M/NM10,8371,2312112,089Total12,0162,2214614,283
The estimated value of coal produced in U.S. coal mines in 2010 was $36.2 billion: $18.8 billion from underground coal and $17.4 billion from surface coal. The estimated value of coal production was calculated from the amount of coal Start Printed Page 5068produced and the average price per ton. MSHA obtained the coal production data from mine operator reports to MSHA under 30 CFR part 50 and the price per ton for coal from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Information Administration (EIA), Annual Coal Report 2010, November 2011, Table 28.
Table 2—2010 Revenues at All Mines by Employment Size GroupSize of mineRevenues—coal mines (millions)Revenues—MNM mines (millions)Total revenues (millions)1-19 Employees$224$14,800$15,00020-500 Employees15,10043,30058,400501+ Employees20,9005,90026,800Total*36,20064,000100,200* Discrepancies are due to rounding.
MSHA estimated the impact that the final mitigating circumstances provision in the final rule (including the opportunity for mine operators to submit corrective action programs) will have on the number of nonfatal injuries at mines. MSHA determined that the 62 mines, which received PPOV letters from June 2007 through September Start Printed Page 50692009, experienced 11 total nonfatal injuries during the year prior to receiving the PPOV letter and eight total nonfatal injuries during the year after receiving the PPOV letter, for an overall reduction in nonfatal injuries of 30 percent per year.
MSHA reviewed 10 years of accident data for all mines using the Agency's Open Government Initiative Accident Injuries dataset at http://www.msha.gov/​OpenGovernmentData/​DataSets/​Accidents.zip. MSHA examined data from 2002 to 2011. For the mines with accidents, MSHA found that the average number of nonfatal, non-permanently disabling injuries with lost time was 3.7 annually per mine. Using an average of 3.7 injuries per mine annually and MSHA's experience with PPOV (roughly a 30 percent reduction in non-fatal injuries), MSHA reduced its estimate for nonfatal injuries avoided at mines that successfully implement an effective, MSHA-approved, corrective action program, from three to one per year. MSHA has included a more conservative value in the final rule. It is likely that operators who include measurable benchmarks for abating specific violations to address hazardous conditions in the MSHA-approved corrective action programs will achieve more effective systemic results than those achieved under the existing rule. As mentioned previously in the preamble, MSHA believes that the POV will be a more effective deterrent to operators by encouraging them to continually evaluate their compliance performance and respond appropriately.
The final rule mirrors the statutory provision in section 104(e) of the Mine Act for issuing a POV notice. Final § 104.3(c) provides that MSHA will issue an order withdrawing all persons from the affected area of the mine if any S&S violation is found within 90 days after the issuance of a POV notice. No Start Printed Page 5070one will be allowed to enter the area affected by the violation until the condition has been abated, except for those persons who must enter the affected area to correct the violation. Under final rule § 104.3(d), any subsequent S&S violation will also result in a withdrawal order.
As noted above, MSHA expects that the final rule will affect underground coal mining more than any other mining sector. MSHA, therefore, used underground coal mine revenue to estimate potential production losses. In 2010, 566 underground coal mines Start Printed Page 5071generated an estimated $18.8 billion in revenue resulting in an average of approximately $33.2 million per mine. Average underground coal mine revenue per day is estimated at $151,000 ($33.2 million/220 work days).
MSHA initially evaluates the impacts on small entities by comparing the estimated compliance costs of a rule for small entities in the sector affected by the rule to the estimated revenues for the affected sector. When estimated compliance costs are less than one percent of the estimated revenues, the Agency believes it is generally appropriate to conclude that there is no significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. When estimated compliance costs exceed one percent of revenues, MSHA investigates whether a further analysis Start Printed Page 5072is required. Since it was not possible to accurately project the distribution of mines that will incur the estimated $6.5 million to comply with the final rule by commodity and size, MSHA examined the impact using several alternative assumptions as a sensitivity or threshold analysis.
Small mine groupNumber of minesRevenue (millions)Cost as percent of revenueMSHA Definition (1-19 employees)12,016$15,0000.04SBA Definition (≤ 500 employees)14,23773,4000.01
MSHA estimates that under the final rule approximately 275 mines will develop and implement MSHA-approved corrective action programs in the first year. MSHA believes this number will decrease by 10 percent in each subsequent year. The average number of mines that will develop and implement MSHA-approved corrective action programs per year over 3 years is 249 ((275 + 248 + 223)/3). The development and MSHA approval of a corrective action program will impose information collection requirements related to mitigating circumstances under final § 104.2(a)(8).
Total Burden Cost: $2,797,685.
One commenter stated that if mines are put out of business because they cannot pay MSHA fines, then lack of jobs would put families and children into poverty. As explained above, MSHA has concluded that compliance with the provisions of the final rule will be economically feasible for the mining industry. This final rule will not impose additional compliance costs on the mining industry, thus, it will not put mines out of business.Start Printed Page 5073
Hintermann, B., A. Alberini, and A. Markandya (2010). “Estimating the Value of Safety with Labor Market Data: Are the Results Trustworthy?” Applied Economics, 42(9):1085-1100. Published electronically in July 2008.
Sunstein, C. (2004). “Valuing Life: A Plea for Disaggregation.” Duke Law Journal, 54(November 2004):385-445.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (2010). “National Income and Product Accounts Table: Table 1.1.9. Implicit Price Deflators for Gross Domestic Product” [Index numbers, 2005 = 100]. Revised May 27, 2010. http://www.bea.gov/​national/​nipaweb/​TableView.asp?​SelectedTable=​13&​Freq=​Qtr&​FirstYear=​2006&​LastYear=​2008
Viscusi, W. and J. Aldy (2003). “The Value of a Statistical Life: A Critical Review of Market Estimates Throughout the World,” Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, 27:5-76.
Joseph A. Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.
Pattern criteria.
Termination of notice.
§ 104.1 Purpose and scope.
§ 104.2 Pattern criteria.
§ 104.3 Issuance of notice.
(a) When a mine has a pattern of violations, the District Manager will issue a pattern of violations notice to the mine operator that specifies the basis for the Agency's action. The District Manager will also provide a copy of this notice to the representative of miners.Start Printed Page 5074
(b) The mine operator shall post the pattern of violations notice issued under this part on the mine bulletin board. The pattern of violations notice shall remain posted at the mine until MSHA terminates it under § 104.4 of this part.
§ 104.4 Termination of notice.