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Title II — Enhanced enforcement authority

H.R. 1373 · 113th Congress · Mar 21, 2013 · Lineage

II Enhanced enforcement authority

Sec. 201 Technical amendment

Section 104(d)(1) (30 U.S.C. 814(d)(1)) is amended—
(1)
in the first sentence—
(A)
by striking “any mandatory health or safety standard” and inserting “any provision of this Act, including any mandatory health or safety standard or regulation promulgated under this Act”; and
(B)
by striking “such mandatory health or safety standards” and inserting “such provisions, regulations, or mandatory health or safety standards”; and
(2)
in the second sentence, by striking “any mandatory health or safety standard” and inserting “any provision of this Act, including any mandatory health or safety standard or regulation promulgated under this Act,”.

Sec. 202 Procedures and criteria for determining a pattern of violations

Part 104 of chapter I of title 30, Code of Federal Regulations, as revised by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration and published at 78 Federal Register 5073 (January 23, 2013) shall have the force and effect of law and shall remain in effect subject to an Act of Congress.

Sec. 203 Injunctive authority

Section 108(a)(2) (30 U.S.C. 818(a)(2)) is amended by striking “a pattern of violation of” and all that follows and inserting “a course of conduct that in the judgment of the Secretary constitutes a continuing hazard to the health or safety of miners, including violations of this Act or of mandatory health and safety standards or regulations under this Act.”.

Sec. 204 Revocation of approval of plans

Section 105 (30 U.S.C. 815) is amended—
(1)
by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
(2)
by inserting after subsection (c) the following:

“(d) Revocation of approval of plans

“(1) Revocation—If the Secretary finds that any program or plan of an operator, or part thereof, that was approved by the Secretary under this Act is based on inaccurate information or that circumstances that existed when such plan was approved have materially changed and that continued operation of such mine under such plan constitutes a hazard to the safety or health of miners, the Secretary shall revoke the approval of such program or plan.

“(2) Withdrawal orders—Upon revocation of the approval of a program or plan under subsection (a), the Secretary may immediately issue an order requiring the operator to cause all persons, except those persons referred to in section 104(c), to be withdrawn from such mine or an area of such mine, and to be prohibited from entering such mine or such area, until the operator has submitted and the Secretary has approved a new plan.”

Sec. 205 Challenging a decision to approve, modify, or revoke a coal or other mine plan

Section 105(e) (as redesignated by section 204(1)) (30 U.S.C. 815(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following: “In any proceeding in which a party challenges the Secretary’s decision whether to approve, modify, or revoke a coal or other mine plan under this Act, the Commission shall affirm the Secretary’s decision unless the challenging party establishes that such decision was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.”.

Sec. 206 GAO Study on MSHA Mine Plan Approval

Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall provide a report to Congress on the timeliness of the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s approval of underground coal mines’ required plans and plan amendments, including—
(1)
factors that contribute to any delays in the approval of these plans; and
(2)
as appropriate, recommendations for improving timeliness of plan review and for achieving prompt decisions.