FEDERAL METAL AND NON-METALLIC MINE

SAFETY ACT

30 U.S.C. 721-740, 80 Stat. 772 (1966)

Summary and Description

The main objectives of the Federal Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Act are to reduce the frequency of disabling accidents and to prevent conditions that constitute hazards to the health of the workers in metal and nonmetal mines and associated plants. Such objectives are effected through inspections of mines and related plants; investigations of accidents, disasters, and unsafe health and safety conditions; publication of reports on findings; development of expanded programs for the education and training of employers and employees in recognition, avoidance, and prevention of accidents or unsafe or unhealthful working conditions in mines; and Federal enforcement of mandatory health and safety standards promulgated under the Act or enforcement under a "State Plan" agreement of State health and safety standards substantially as effective as the Federal mandatory standards. Standards promulgated under the Act appear in the Federal Register, Vol. 34, No. 145, Thursday, July 31, 1969, pp. 1250312527, inclusive and as corrected in Vol. 34, No. 152, Saturday, August 9, 1969; Vol. 35, No. 38, Wednesday, February 25, 1970, pp 36603678, inclusive and as corrected in Vol. 35, No. 50, Friday, March 13, 1970, and Vol. 35, No. 122, June 24, 1970, pp. 10299-10308 inclusive. Part 55 of the standards applies to open pit mines; Part 56 applies to sand, gravel, and crushed stone operations; and Part 57 applies to underground mines. Those standards that are designated as mandatory become effective one year after publication. At least once each calendar year a Federal inspection shall be made of each underground mine subject to the Act. Federal inspections and investigations are also required for the purpose of evaluating the manner in which a State plan approved under Section 16 of the Act is being carried out. Metal and nonmetal mine health and safety inspectors operate from strategically located field stations organized under six District Managers whose offices are situated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Birmingham, Alabama; Duluth, Minnesota; Dallas, Texas; Lakewood, Colorado; and Alameda, California.

Text of Act

(Section Nos. refer to U.S. Code)

§ 721. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter.

(a) The term "commerce" means trade, traffic, commerce, transportation, or communication between any State, the Commonwealth of

Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States, and any other place outside the respective boundaries thereof, or wholly within the District of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States, or between points in the same State, if passing through any point outside the boundaries thereof.

(b) The term "mine" means (1) an area of land from which minerals other than coal or lignite are extracted in nonliquid form or, if in liquid form, are extracted with workers underground, (2) private ways and roads appurtenant to such area, and (3) land, excavations, underground passageways, and workings, structures, facilities, equipment, machines, tools, or other property, on the surface or underground, used in the work of extracting such minerals other than coal or lignite from their natural deposits in nonliquid form, or if in liquid form, with workers underground, or used in the milling of such minerals, except that with respect to protection against radiation hazards. such term shall not include property used in the milling of source material as defined in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended.

(c) The term "operator" means the person, partnership, association, or corporation, or subsidiary of a corporation operating a mine, and owning the right to do so, and includes any agent thereof charged with responsibility for the operation of such mine.

(d) The term "Secretary" means the Secretary of the Interior or his duly authorized representative.

(e) The term "Board" means the Federal Metal and Nonmetallic Mine Safety Board of Review created by section 729 of this title. (Pub. L. 89-577, § 2, Sept. 16, 1966, 80 Stat. 772.)

§ 722. Mines subject to chapter; declination of jurisdiction.

(a) Each mine the products of which regularly enter commerce, or the operations of which affect commerce, shall be subject to this chapter.

(b) The Secretary may, by published rules adopted pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, decline to assert jurisdiction under this chapter over any class or category of mines where, in the opinion of the Secretary, the effect of the operations of such mines on commerce is not sufficiently substantial to warrant the exercise of jurisdiction under this chapter, and the record of injuries and accidents in such class or category of mines warrants such a declination of jurisdiction. (Pub. L. 89-577, § 3, Sept. 16, 1966, 80 Stat. 773.) § 723. Investigations of metal and nonmetallic mines to obtain information relating to health and safety conditions. The Secretary of the Interior is authorized at any time to cause to be made such inspections and investigations as he shall deem necessary in mines which are subject to this chapter (1) for the purpose of obtaining, utilizing, and disseminating information relating to health and safety conditions in such mines, the causes of accidents involving bodily injury or loss of life, or the causes of occupational diseases originating therein, (2) for the purpose of determining whether or not there is compliance with a health and safety standard or order issued under this chapter, or (3) for the purpose of evaluating the manner in which a State plan approved under section 735 of this title is being carried out. At least once each calendar year the

Secretary shall inspect each underground mine which is subject to this chapter. (Pub. L. 89-577, § 4, Sept. 16, 1966, 80 Stat. 773.)

§ 724. Admission of investigators to mines.

For the purpose of making any inspection or investigation authorized by this chapter, authorized representatives of the Secretary shall be entitled to admission to, and shall have the right of entry to, upon, or through, any mine which is subject to this chapter. (Pub. L. 89– 577, § 5, Sept. 16, 1966, 80 Stat. 773.)

§ 725. Health and safety standards.

(a) Development, revision, and promulgation.

The Secretary shall develop, and from time to time revise, after consultation with advisory committees appointed pursuant to section 726 of this title, and promulgate health and safety standards for the purpose of the protection of life, the promotion of health and safety, and the prevention of accidents in mines which are subject to this chapter.

(b) Publication in Federal Register; compliance with mandatory standards.

After consultation with an appropriate advisory committee established pursuant to section 726 of this title, the Secretary, by a notice published in the Federal Register, shall designate as mandatory standards those standards promulgated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section which deal with conditions or practices of a kind which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm, and the operators of mines to which such standards are applicable shall comply with such mandatory standards pursuant to the provisions of section 727 and section 728 of this title.

(c) Publication in Federal Register of proposed standards; submission of data, views, or arguments by interested persons, promulgation.

The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register, health and safety standards which he proposes to promulgate, and he shall specifically identify those standards which he proposes to designate as mandatory standards, and he shall also specifically designate those mandatory standards which have been recommended by an Advisory Committee appointed pursuant to section 726 of this title. Interested persons shall be afforded a period of not less than 30 days after the publication of the proposed standards in which to submit written data, views, or arguments. Except as provided in subsection (d) of this section, the Secretary may, upon the expiration of such period and after consideration of all relevant matter presented, promulgate such standards.

(d) Objections; requests for public hearings; publication in Federal Register; public hearings; evidence; findings; decision; review by United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia; petitions; record; conclusiveness of findings; determination; review by Supreme Court; stay of administrative decision.

(1) On or before the last day of a period fixed for the submission of written data, views, or arguments, any person who may be adversely

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affected by a health and safety standard which the Secretary proposes to promulgate and to designate as a mandatory standard may file with the Secretary written objections thereto stating the grounds therefor, and requesting a public hearing (subject to the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act) on such objections. The Secretary shall not promulgate any proposed mandatory standard respecting which such objections have been filed, until he has taken final action upon them as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection. As soon as practicable after the period for filing such objections has expired, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a notice specifying the proposed mandatory standards to which such objections have been filed.

(2) If such objections requesting a public hearing are filed, as soon after the expiration of the period for filing such objections as is practical, the Secretary, after due notice, shall hold a public hearing for the purpose of receiving evidence relevant and material to the issues raised by such objections. At the hearing, any interested person may be heard. As soon as practicable after completion of the hearing, the Secretary shall act upon such objections and make his decision public. Such decision shall be based only on substantial evidence of record at such hearing and shall set forth detailed findings of fact on which the decision is based.

(3) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Secretary under paragraph (2) of this subsection may obtain a review of such order by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia by filing in such court within 20 days following the issuance of such decision a petition praying that the decision of the Secretary be modified or set aside in whole or in part. A copy of such petition shall forthwith be served upon the Secretary, and thereupon the Secretary shall certify and file in the court the record upon which the decision complained of was issued. The findings of fact by the Secretary, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be conclusive; but the court, for good cause shown, may remand the case to the Secretary to take further evidence, and the Secretary may thereupon make new or modified findings of fact and may modify his previous action and shall certify to the court the record of the further proceedings. Such new or modified findings of fact shall likewise be conclusive if supported by substantial evidence. The court shall have jurisdiction to affirm the action of the Secretary or to set it aside, in whole or in part. The judgment of the court shall be subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon certiorari or certification as provided in section 1254 of Title 28. The commencement of a proceeding under this paragraph (3) shall not, unless specifically ordered by the court, operate as a stay of the Secretary's decision.

(e) Same; provisions inapplicable to proposed mandatory standards recommended by Advisory Committee.

The provisions of subsection (d) of this section shall not be applicable to any proposed mandatory standard which has been recommended by an Advisory Committee appointed pursuant to section 726 of this title. (Pub. L. 89-577, § 6, Sept. 16, 1966, 80 Stat. 774.)

§ 726. Advisory committees.

(a) Establishment; representation of interests.

The Secretary is authorized to establish advisory committees to assist him in the development of health and safety standards for mines which are subject to this chapter, and to advise him on other matters relating to health and safety in such mines. Each such advisory committee shall include among its members an equal number of persons qualified by experience and affiliation to present the viewpoint of operators of such mines, and of persons similarly qualified to present the viewpoint of workers in such mines, as well as one or more representatives of mine inspection or safety agencies of the States.

(b) Compensation and travel expenses.

Members appointed to such a committee from private life shall, while serving on business of the committee, be entitled to receive compensation at rates fixed by the Secretary, but not exceeding $100 per day, including travel time; and while so serving away from their homes or regular places of business, they may be paid travel expenses and per diem in lieu of subsistence at the rates authorized by section 73b-2 of Title 5. (Pub. L. 89-577, § 7, Sept. 16, 1966, 80 Stat. 775.) § 727. Findings and orders.

(a) Withdrawal and debarment from danger area; orders; persons exempt.

If, upon any inspection or investigation of a mine which is subject to this chapter, an authorized representative of the Secretary finds. that conditions or practices in such mine are such that a danger exists which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm immediately or before the imminence of such danger can be eliminated, such representative shall determine the extent of the area of such mine throughout which the danger exists, and thereupon issue an order requiring the operator of such mine to cause all persons, except the following persons whose presence in such area is necessary to eliminate the danger described in such order, to be withdrawn from, and to be debarred from, entering such area:

(1) Any persons whose presence in such area is necessary, in the judgment of the operator of the mine, to eliminate the danger described in the order; (2) any public official whose official duties require him to enter such area; or (3) any legal or technical consultant, or any representative of the employees of the mine, who is a certified person qualified to make mine examinations, or is accompanied by such a person, and whose presence in such area is necessary, in the judgment of the operator of the mine, for the proper investigation of the conditions described in the order.

(b) Abatement of violations; time limit; withdrawal and debarment from area; orders; persons exempt.

If, upon any such inspection or investigation, an authorized representative finds that there has been a failure to comply with a mandatory standard which is applicable to such mine, but that such failure