Section 115(a) of the Federal Mine
Safety and Health Act states that "each operator of a coal or other
mine shall have a health and safety training program which shall be
approved by the Secretary." Title 30, CFR 48.3 and 48.23 require
training plans for underground and surface mines, respectively.
Training plans are required to be submitted for approval to the
MSHA District Manager for the area in which the mine is
located.
There are no program changes.
There was an increase in the number of new paper plans for new coal
miners trained. Respondents increased (from 2,331 to 2,399) and
correspondingly responses (from 108,367 to 143,263) and burden
hours also increased (from 15,069 to 17,741). There was an
increased use of the electronic systems (10% increase) which lowers
response time for former paper plans with an 8 hr. response time to
only a 2.25 hr. response time as electronic plans, however, the
resulting decrease in response time did not offset the increase in
respondents and responses. Costs to respondents have increased
(from $269,541 to $465,207) primarily due to an increase in the
wage of contract trainers and the increased number of both Coal and
Metal/Nonmetal miners to be trained.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.