PUBLIC LAW 109–236—JUNE 15, 2006
120 STAT. 497
SEC. 4. MINE RESCUE TEAMS.
Section 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 825(e)) is amended— (1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after the subsection designation; and (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(2)(A) The Secretary shall issue regulations with regard to mine rescue teams which shall be finalized and in effect not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. ‘‘(B) Such regulations shall provide for the following: ‘‘(i) That such regulations shall not be construed to waive operator training requirements applicable to existing mine rescue teams. ‘‘(ii) That the Mine Safety and Health Administration shall establish, and update every 5 years thereafter, criteria to certify the qualifications of mine rescue teams. ‘‘(iii)(I) That the operator of each underground coal mine with more than 36 employees— ‘‘(aa) have an employee knowledgeable in mine emergency response who is employed at the mine on each shift at each underground mine; and ‘‘(bb) make available two certified mine rescue teams whose members— ‘‘(AA) are familiar with the operations of such coal mine; ‘‘(BB) participate at least annually in two local mine rescue contests; ‘‘(CC) participate at least annually in mine rescue training at the underground coal mine covered by the mine rescue team; and ‘‘(DD) are available at the mine within one hour ground travel time from the mine rescue station. ‘‘(II)(aa) For the purpose of complying with subclause (I), an operator shall employ one team that is either an individual mine site mine rescue team or a composite team as provided for in item (bb)(BB). ‘‘(bb) The following options may be used by an operator to comply with the requirements of item (aa): ‘‘(AA) An individual mine-site mine rescue team. ‘‘(BB) A multi-employer composite team that is made up of team members who are knowledgeable about the operations and ventilation of the covered mines and who train on a semi-annual basis at the covered underground coal mine— ‘‘(aaa) which provides coverage for multiple operators that have team members which include at least two active employees from each of the covered mines; ‘‘(bbb) which provides coverage for multiple mines owned by the same operator which members include at least two active employees from each mine; or ‘‘(ccc) which is a State-sponsored mine rescue team comprised of at least two active employees from each of the covered mines. ‘‘(CC) A commercial mine rescue team provided by contract through a third-party vendor or mine rescue team provided by another coal company, if such team—
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