Lapas attēli
PDF
ePub

During full committee deliberations, there was considerable discussion and consideration of the Cooper amendment (designated as amendment No. 36 to S. 1300), as proposed to the committee in Senator Cooper's behalf. The amendment was designed to permit the use of nonpremissible equipment in the nongassy mines by continuing the nongassy classification with certain modifications. The committee rejected the proposed amendment by a 14-3 record vote.

In taking this action, the committee did not, however, reject the proposition that small-mine operators may encounter difficulties by reason of the changeover from nonpermissible equipment to explosion proof equipment. Indeed, the committee recognizes that economic difficulties may well arise and that some already marginal small-mine operators may choose to close their mines. To assist the small-mine operator, the committee has included two important financial assistance. programs which it believes will ease the economics involved in making the small mine a safe place to work. These two provisions authorize granting and guaranteeing of long-term loans under both the Small Business Act and the Public Works and Economic Development Act. Other safety standards

In addition to the foregoing, the bill contains numerous other inportant safety standards. Included in these standards are provisions which

Require a roof control plan approved by the Secretary for the face and other active working places as well as the travelways and roadways;

Require examinations for methane at least every 20 minutes during a coal-producing shift in face workings of mines where electrically driven equipment is operated;

Require at least two separate and distinct travelable passageways clearly marked as escapeways which shall be maintained in safe condition. In one case in the last 8 years, 18 men lost their lives because of inadequate escapeways;

Require that all accidents be investigated by the operator or his agent to determine the cause and to prevent future accidents. Records of the accidents and the investigation must be kept and made available to the Secretary or his inspector;

Require that operators establish training and retraining programs for miners or foremen assigned to perform certain safety functions;

Require that abandoned areas be effectively sealed or effective bleeder systems installed;

Authorize the Secretary to require emergency rescue chambers adequately supplied with air and equipped with an independent. communication system. The Secretary would establish guidelines for these shelters, including their locations in the mines;

Direct the Secretary to require adequate illumination in active underground working places within 18 months;

Require the installation of line brattice or other approved devices to assure a positive flow of air to the face workings, unless the inspector permits an exception;

Require preshift examinations at all mines within 3 hours before the shift begins;

Require the use of permissible explosives and devices and that their use be in a manner consonant with safety;

Require accurate and up-to-date maps showing all active workings, all worked out and abandoned areas, elevations, escapeways, adjacent mine workings, mines above and below, water pools above, and oil and gas wells in such mine;

Require a weekly examination of the volume of air entering main intakes, leaving main returns, and passing through the last open crosscut in each active entry;

Require a plan for immediate action when any mine fan stops to cut off the power and to withdraw all persons from the face workings;

Require adequate measures to prevent methane and coal dust accumulations on surface coal-handling facilities; and

Require the Secretary to assign full-time inspectors to extremely hazardous mines.

Promulgation of improved safety standards

As far back as 1938, with passage of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, Congress recognized the necessity of flexibility of response. That act gave the agency responsible for its administration the freedom to develop and promulgate health and safety standards and to revise old ones as the need became apparent in accordance with prescribed procedures established by Congress. Other measures enacted during the past decade such as the Aviation Act of 1958, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Act of 1966, the Natural Gas Pipeline Act. of 1968, and the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968, provide this flexibility also.

The bill authorizes the Secretary to develop and promulgate improved mandatory standards applicable to coal mines subject to the act. The standards would be developed in consultation with other Federal agencies, representatives of the States, representatives of the coal mine operators and coal mine workers, and other interested persons and organizations and such advisory committees as the Secretary may appoint.

The procedures provided by the bill, however, insure the right of any interested person to object to any proposed standard and to obtain a public hearing on his objections.

TITLE III-ENFORCEMENT

The bill contains comprehensive provisions for inspection, enforcement orders, administrative and judicial review and penalties. Enforcement

Authorized representatives of the Secretary of the Interior would be required to make inspections and investigations in coal mines for the purposes of obtaining information relating to safety conditions, developing health and safety standards, determining whether an imminent danger exists in a mine, or determining whether a mine is complying with the mandatory health and safety standards. No representative (for example, inspector) of the Secretary or the Surgeon General could be refused entrance to any mine. There must be at least four inspections of underground coal mines each calendar year, in addition to spot inspections and other investigations and, most importantly, the inspector must not provide any advance notice of these inspections to the operators of mines.

The Secretary is given the authority to hold hearings and issue subpenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses and for the production of relevant documents. In the event of a coal mine disaster, mine operators would be required to preserve any evidence which might be useful in investigating the cause of the incident; and an inspector, when present, may issue appropriate orders to insure persons' safety in the mine, and the operator of the mine must obtain the inspector's approval of any plan to recover persons or the mine or to return affected areas of the mine to normal.

If an inspector finds that an imminent danger exists in a mine, he would be required to issue an order requiring the mine operator to withdraw all workers from the section of the mine where the danger exists until it is determined by an inspector that the condition no longer exists.

If, upon any inspection, an inspector finds that there has been a violation of a mandatory health or safety standard, but the violation. has not created an imminent danger, he would allow the violator a reasonable time to abate the violation. If the violation is not abated by the end of that period and if the inspector does not find that the period should be extended, he would be required to order a withdrawal of all workers from the area affected by the violation.

If an inspector finds a violation of a standard that does not cause an imminent danger, but is of such a nature as could significantly and substantially contribute to any mine hazard, and if he finds that the violation is due to an unwarrantable failure to comply with the standards, he includes the finding in the notice. During any inspection within 90 days after issuance of the notice, if an inspector finds another violation which is also due to an unwarrantable failure of the operator to comply, he must order the miners withdrawn from the mine.

Once a withdrawal order has been issued in the case of an unwarrantable failure, the inspector must issue such an order on subsequent inspections when he finds the existence anywhere in the mine of a similar violation until such inspections disclose no similar violations. In respect to wage payments for time lost due to closure under a withdrawal order, the committee consensus was that it would not be proper to require the operator to make such payments unless the withdrawal order was based on "repeated failures" to comply with any health or safety standard. The bill accordingly makes payment provisions operative only where there have occurred at least two failures to comply with a health or safety standard. The failures do not have to relate to the same or a similar health or safety standard.

Notices and orders issued pursuant to an inspector's authority would contain detailed descriptions of the conditions or practices which caused the imminent danger or violation and would have to be promptly delivered to the mine operator involved.

Notices and orders may be modified or terminated by the inspector, subject to an appeal by the miners.

Orders of the inspectors are subject to review by the Secretary and the Secretary's decisions are subject to review in the U.S. Courts of Appeals.

In order to improve on the enforcement provisions of the 1952 Coal Mine Safety Act, and to insure speedy procedures and due process, the committee bill provides for standard, traditional ad

ministrative and judicial procedures by which operators and miners can obtain speedy review by the Secretary of orders by an inspector with immediate review of the Secretary's decision in the courts of appeals. The procedures are similar to those in other statutes granting regulatory authority to an administrative agency. The committee bill does not provide for an extra step of appellate review in a board of review prior to judicial review, as did the 1952 act.

Under the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act of 1952, there is a Coal Mine Safety Board of Review composed of two representatives of coal mine operators, two representatives of coal mine employees, and one public chairman (the most recent chairman having been a former vice president of a large coal company).

Both the outgoing and incoming administration bills, S. 355 and S. 1300, proposed that this Board continue in existence with veto power over the Secretary in enforcement actions.

In testifying on such a Board, which on its face appears to be an industry-oriented Board, or a special interest Board, The Director of the Bureau of Mines said that the Board was "an escape valve" for the industry. In the Board's own presentation before the subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, it referred to itself "essentially as a buffer between the U.S. Bureau of Mines, and the coal industry."

To put an "escape valve," "buffer" Board of this character over the Secretary would weaken any possibility for effective enforcement of a health and safety statute. As noted by one of the most eminent professors of administrative practice and procedure, Prof. Louis L. Jaffe, Harvard Law School:

The process precisely inverts what should be the proper sequence. There might be some warrant for an initial industry judgment prior to a final decision by the public officer, but it is difficult to see what legitimate interest is served by subjecting the Secretary's judgment to the final decision of an industry board.

The most effective enforcement can be expected if the cabinet level official charged with responsibility for the health and safety of coal miners is given the authority and responsibility for enforcing this law. Speedy due process will best be protected by immediate appeals of his decisions to the Federal courts of appeals.

[ocr errors]

In addition, by abolishing the Board, the minimum annual expense of $150,000 can be avoided.

The bill authorizes both the Secretary and the courts to enjoin temporarily an inspector's withdrawal order. However, the committee believes it is necessary, in order to protect the health and safety of the miners to carefully circumscribe that authority. Therefore, the bill provides that in no event may a withdrawal order be temporarily enjoined if it is based on an imminent danger finding. Other withdrawal orders may be temporarily enjoined, but only if the operator can demonstrate that there is a substantial likelihood that he will succeed on the merits, and if he can demonstrate further that temporarily enjoining the order will not have an adverse effect on the health and safety of the miners.

During its deliberations, the committee was mindful of one instance in which a court temporarily enjoined a withdrawal order. The following morning, the mine exploded, killing five miners.

Furthermore, the committee adopted a provision which prohibits courts from temporarily enjoining the statutory standards. This will insure that the statutory standards will continue to protect the health and safety of miners, during any proceeding in which their validity is challenged, until the issue of validity is determined on the merits. Penalties

Since the basic business judgments which dictate the method of operation of a coal mine are made directly or indirectly by persons at various levels of corporate structure, the committee believed it necessary to place the responsibility for compliance with the act and the regulations, as well as the liability for violations on those who control or supervise the operation of coal mines as well as on those who operate them.

Both civil and criminal penalties are provided with criminal penalties attaching to willful violations. Fines up to $50,000 and imprisonment for between 1 and 5 years are prescribed for any individual corporate director, officer or employee who is responsible for the criminal conduct. Fines up to $50,000 are also prescribed for the corporate entity.

In addition, the committee adopted an amendment which authorizes a civil penalty of up to $1,000 on any miner guilty of endangering the lives of his fellow miners by smoking in the mine.

TITLES IV AND V-RESEARCH

The Department of the Interior estimates that within 3 years the administrative cost for coal mine safety, including health and safety research, will attain a level of at least $30 million annually, and remain there for the foreseeable years. Interior expects this $30 million plateau to be reached even if no new legislation is enacted.

These prospective costs are about three times greater than the current level of expenditures. In fiscal year 1969, for example, only $11 million was appropriated for the Bureau of Mines health and safety program for all mineral industries; less than $2 million of these funds was for health and safety research. Therefore, in absolute arithmetical terms, for health and safety for coal mines alone, the Department contemplates an additional need of at least $19 million a year.

There is no doubt that comprehensive and costly health and safety research is necessary. Nonetheless, the cost problem presented here squarely raises the question of who should pay; the already overburdened taxpayer or the industry whose inattention and failure to address itself adequately to health and safety is primarily responsible for the serious health and safety problems confronting the Nation's

coal miners.

To assure that the industry itself bears in some measure the increased costs caused by the health and safety problems, title V of the committee bill establishes a coal mine health and safety research trust fund in the Treasury. Under this title, there would be a research assessment on each ton of coal sold or used, beginning with 1 cent in the first year, and increasing a penny a year until it reaches a level of 4 cents per ton in the fourth year. This research assessment is expected to yield, by the fourth year, a minimum of $20 million annually for health and safety research.

« iepriekšējāTurpināt »