Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006
Latest action · May 1, 2006 Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 1, 2006
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006 - Directs the Secretary of Labor to revise regulations prescribed pursuant to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to require coal mine operators to expeditiously provide notification of any accident where rescue and recovery work is necessary.
Requires the Secretary to revise regulations regarding mine rescue teams to: (1) address training and qualifications for team members, rescue equipment and technology, the structure and organization of teams, and the guidelines about liability and insurance issues; and (2) require that mine operators employ rescue teams to provide a rapid response and have a plan for coordination and communication between the rescue teams and local emergency response personnel.
Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations to require: (1) each coal mine to maintain at strategic locations sufficient emergency supplies of air and self-contained breathing equipment, and independent means of communication with the surface, for people awaiting rescue; and (2) each operator to implement a communication and electronic tracking system to assist in rescue and to equip each person that enters a mine with certain communication and tracking devices.
Requires the Secretary to revise regulations in order to prohibit belt haulage entries from being used to ventilate active working places in any coal mine.
Directs the Secretary to prescribe regulations to establish minimum civil penalties for violations: (1) where the operator displays negligence or reckless disregard of a mandatory health or safety standard; and (2) of rescue notification requirements.
Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish an Office of Science and Technology Transfer within the Mine Safety and Health Administration to conduct research and development to apply advancing sciences and technologies to mines and miner health and safety; (2) review and revise mine health and safety standards with regard to implementing such technologies.
Establishes the position of Miner Ombudsman within the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Labor to be responsible for ensuring the safety of mines through information collection and sharing.
Cosponsors 41
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 1, 2006 to Sep 12, 2006; 2 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-WV | Alan B. Mollohan | Original | Feb 1, 2006 |
| R-WV | Shelley Moore Capito | Original | Feb 1, 2006 |
| D-AL | Artur Davis | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-CA | George Miller | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-IL | Jerry F. Costello | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-CT | John B. Larson | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-IL | Lane Evans | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Lois Capps | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-NY | Major R. Owens | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-OH | Marcy Kaptur | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-MA | Michael E. Capuano | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-PA | Michael F. Doyle | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-OH | Ted Strickland | Feb 8, 2006 | |
| D-NY | Carolyn McCarthy | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-NY | Charles B. Rangel | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-GA | Cynthia A. McKinney | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Henry A. Waxman | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-IL | Janice D. Schakowsky | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-AZ | Raúl M. Grijalva | Feb 28, 2006 | |
| D-PA | John P. Murtha | Mar 15, 2006 | |
| D-AR | Mike Ross | Mar 15, 2006 | |
| D-NJ | Steven R. Rothman | Mar 15, 2006 | |
| D-KY | Ben Chandler | Apr 25, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Lynn C. Woolsey | Apr 25, 2006 | |
| D-NJ | Rush Holt | Apr 25, 2006 | |
| D-OH | Dennis J. Kucinich | May 2, 2006 | |
| D-IN | Peter J. Visclosky | May 2, 2006 | |
| R-NY | Sue W. Kelly | May 2, 2006 | |
| R-MI | Thaddeus G. McCotter | May 2, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Fortney Pete Stark | May 9, 2006 | |
| D-MO | Wm. Lacy Clay | May 9, 2006 | |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | May 16, 2006 | |
| D-KS | Dennis Moore | May 16, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Lucille Roybal-Allard | May 16, 2006 | |
| D-CA | Zoe Lofgren | May 16, 2006 | |
| D-MI | Carolyn C. Kilpatrick | May 23, 2006 | |
| D-MI | Dale E. Kildee | May 25, 2006 | |
| D-MA | Barney Frank | Jun 6, 2006 | |
| D-ME | Michael H. Michaud | Jun 27, 2006 | |
| D-FL | Robert Wexler | Sep 12, 2006 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred Feb 1, 2006 |
| Workforce Protections Subcommittee | Referred May 1, 2006 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 1, 2006Referred to the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
- Feb 1, 2006Introduced in House
- Feb 1, 2006Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR E46-47)
- Feb 1, 2006Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
In the Congressional Record 4
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H471 | George Miller D-CA | Mar 1, 2006 |
| House | Debate and remarks H185 | Jerry F. Costello D-IL | Feb 8, 2006 |
| House · Extensions | Debate and remarks E46, E58, H28, H127Summaries E47 | Nick J. Rahall II D-WV, Shelley Moore Capito R-WV | Feb 1, 2006 |
| Extensions | Debate and remarks E38 | Nick J. Rahall II D-WV | Jan 31, 2006 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 109-32 | MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH: A CONGRESSIONAL PERSPECTIVE45 pages | Education and Workforce Committee | Mar 16, 2006 |
| Serial No. 109-31 | EVALUATING HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS IN THE AMERICAN MINING INDUSTRY98 pages | Education and Workforce Committee | Mar 1, 2006 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 2231 | Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006 | Identical bill | Feb 1, 2006 |
Titles 3
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To direct the Secretary of Labor to prescribe additional coal mine safety standards, to require additional penalties for habitual violators, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006
- Popular Titles
- Coal Mine Safety bill
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
- Administrative procedure
- Coal
- Commerce
- Department of Labor
- Electronic government information
- Emergency communication systems
- Emergency Management
- Employee training
- Employer sanctions
- Employers' liability
- Energy
- Equipment and supplies
- Executive reorganization
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Fines (Penalties)
- Geographic information systems
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Governmental investigations
- Health
- Industrial accidents
- Insurance
- Labor and Employment
- Law
- Liability (Law)
- Mine safety
- Miners
- Negligence
- Occupational health and safety
- Ombudsman
- Oxygen
- Paramedical personnel
- Rescue work
- Research and development
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Standards
- Technological innovations
- Technology transfer
- Telephone
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 1, 2006Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.