120 STAT. 498
PUBLIC LAW 109–236—JUNE 15, 2006 ‘‘(aaa) trains on a quarterly basis at covered underground coal mines; ‘‘(bbb) is knowledgeable about the operations and ventilation of the covered mines; and ‘‘(ccc) is comprised of individuals with a minimum of 3 years underground coal mine experience that shall have occurred within the 10-year period preceding their employment on the contract mine rescue team. ‘‘(DD) A State-sponsored team made up of State employees. ‘‘(iv) That the operator of each underground coal mine with 36 or less employees shall— ‘‘(I) have an employee on each shift who is knowledgeable in mine emergency responses; and ‘‘(II) 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 semi-annually in mine rescue training at the underground coal mine covered by the mine rescue team; ‘‘(dd) are available at the mine within one hour ground travel time from the mine rescue station; ‘‘(ee) are knowledgeable about the operations and ventilation of the covered mines; and ‘‘(ff) are comprised of individuals with a minimum of 3 years underground coal mine experience that shall have occurred within the 10-year period preceding their employment on the contract mine rescue team.’’.
SEC. 5. PROMPT INCIDENT NOTIFICATION.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 103(j) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 813(j)) is amended by inserting after the first sentence the following: ‘‘For purposes of the preceding sentence, the notification required shall be provided by the operator within 15 minutes of the time at which the operator realizes that the death of an individual at the mine, or an injury or entrapment of an individual at the mine which has a reasonable potential to cause death, has occurred.’’. (b) PENALTY.—Section 110(a) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 820(a)) is amended— (1) by striking ‘‘The operator’’ and inserting ‘‘(1) The operator’’; and (2) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(2) The operator of a coal or other mine who fails to provide timely notification to the Secretary as required under section 103(j) (relating to the 15 minute requirement) shall be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary of not less than $5,000 and not more than $60,000.’’. SEC. 6. NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH.
(a) GRANTS.—Section 22 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (29 U.S.C. 671) is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘(h) OFFICE OF MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH.—
VerDate 14-DEC-2004
10:20 Jul 12, 2007
Jkt 059194
PO 00001
Frm 00496
Fmt 6580
Sfmt 6581
E:\PUBLAW\PUBL001.109
APPS06
PsN: PUBL001
�
