30 USC Section 813

§ 813

TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

Schedule, to be considered references to rates payable
under specified sections of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees, see section 529 [title I, § 101(c)(1)]
of Pub. L. 101–509, set out in a note under section 5376
of Title 5.

§ 813. Inspections, investigations, and recordkeeping
(a) Purposes; advance notice; frequency; guidelines; right of access
Authorized representatives of the Secretary or
the Secretary of Health and Human Services
shall make frequent inspections and investigations in coal or other mines each year for the
purpose of (1) obtaining, utilizing, and disseminating information relating to health and safety
conditions, the causes of accidents, and the
causes of diseases and physical impairments
originating in such mines, (2) gathering information with respect to mandatory health or
safety standards, (3) determining whether an imminent danger exists, and (4) determining
whether there is compliance with the mandatory health or safety standards or with any citation, order, or decision issued under this subchapter or other requirements of this chapter.
In carrying out the requirements of this subsection, no advance notice of an inspection shall
be provided to any person, except that in carrying out the requirements of clauses (1) and (2) of
this subsection, the Secretary of Health and
Human Services may give advance notice of inspections. In carrying out the requirements of
clauses (3) and (4) of this subsection, the Secretary shall make inspections of each underground coal or other mine in its entirety at
least four times a year, and of each surface coal
or other mine in its entirety at least two times
a year. The Secretary shall develop guidelines
for additional inspections of mines based on criteria including, but not limited to, the hazards
found in mines subject to this chapter, and his
experience under this chapter and other health
and safety laws. For the purpose of making any
inspection or investigation under this chapter,
the Secretary, or the Secretary of Health and
Human Services, with respect to fulfilling his
responsibilities under this chapter, or any authorized representative of the Secretary or the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall
have a right of entry to, upon, or through any
coal or other mine.
(b) Notice and hearing; subpoenas; witnesses;
contempt
For the purpose of making any investigation
of any accident or other occurrence relating to
health or safety in a coal or other mine, the Secretary may, after notice, hold public hearings,
and may sign and issue subpoenas for the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the
production of relevant papers, books, and documents, and administer oaths. Witnesses summoned shall be paid the same fees and mileage
that are paid witnesses in the courts of the
United States. In case of contumacy or refusal
to obey a subpoena served upon any person
under this section, the district court of the
United States for any district in which such person is found or resides or transacts business,
upon application by the United States and after

Page 130

notice to such person, shall have jurisdiction to
issue an order requiring such person to appear
and give testimony before the Secretary or to
appear and produce documents before the Secretary, or both, and any failure to obey such
order of the court may be punished by such
court as a contempt thereof.
(c) Records of employee exposure to toxic materials or harmful physical agents; undue exposure
The Secretary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, shall
issue regulations requiring operators to maintain accurate records of employee exposures to
potentially toxic materials or harmful physical
agents which are required to be monitored or
measured under any applicable mandatory
health or safety standard promulgated under
this chapter. Such regulations shall provide
miners or their representatives with an opportunity to observe such monitoring or measuring,
and to have access to the records thereof. Such
regulations shall also make appropriate provisions for each miner or former miner to have access to such records as will indicate his own exposure to toxic materials or harmful physical
agents. Each operator shall promptly notify any
miner who has been or is being exposed to toxic
materials or harmful physical agents in concentrations or at levels which exceed those prescribed by an applicable mandatory health or
safety standard promulgated under section 811
of this title, or mandated under subchapter II,
and shall inform any miner who is being thus exposed of the corrective action being taken.
(d) Accident investigations; records
All accidents, including unintentional roof
falls (except in any abandoned panels or in areas
which are inaccessible or unsafe for inspections),
shall be investigated by the operator or his
agent to determine the cause and the means of
preventing a recurrence. Records of such accidents and investigations shall be kept and the
information shall be made available to the Secretary or his authorized representative and the
appropriate State agency. Such records shall be
open for inspection by interested persons. Such
records shall include man-hours worked and
shall be reported at a frequency determined by
the Secretary, but at least annually.
(e) Collecting information without unreasonable
burden on operators
Any information obtained by the Secretary or
by the Secretary of Health and Human Services
under this chapter shall be obtained in such a
manner as not to impose an unreasonable burden upon operators, especially those operating
small businesses, consistent with the underlying
purposes of this chapter. Unnecessary duplication of effort in obtaining information shall be
reduced to the maximum extent feasible.
(f) Participation of representatives of operators
and miners in inspections
Subject to regulations issued by the Secretary, a representative of the operator and a
representative authorized by his miners shall be
given an opportunity to accompany the Secretary or his authorized representative during

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TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

the physical inspection of any coal or other
mine made pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a), for the purpose of aiding such inspection and to participate in pre- or post-inspection conferences held at the mine. Where
there is no authorized miner representative, the
Secretary or his authorized representative shall
consult with a reasonable number of miners concerning matters of health and safety in such
mine. Such representative of miners who is also
an employee of the operator shall suffer no loss
of pay during the period of his participation in
the inspection made under this subsection. To
the extent that the Secretary or authorized representative of the Secretary determines that
more than one representative from each party
would further aid the inspection, he can permit
each party to have an equal number of such additional representatives. However, only one such
representative of miners who is an employee of
the operator shall be entitled to suffer no loss of
pay during the period of such participation
under the provisions of this subsection. Compliance with this subsection shall not be a jurisdictional prerequisite to the enforcement of any
provision of this chapter.
(g) Immediate inspection; notice of violation or
danger; determination
(1) Whenever a repersentative 1 of the miners
or a miner in the case of a coal or other mine
where there is no such representative has reasonable grounds to believe that a violation of
this chapter or a mandatory health or safety
standard exists, or an imminent danger exists,
such miner or representative shall have a right
to obtain an immediate inspection by giving notice to the Secretary or his authorized representative of such violation or danger. Any
such notice shall be reduced to writing, signed
by the representative of the miners or by the
miner, and a copy shall be provided the operator
or his agent no later than at the time of inspection, except that the operator or his agent shall
be notified forthwith if the complaint indicates
that an imminent danger exists. The name of
the person giving such notice and the names of
individual miners referred to therein shall not
appear in such copy or notification. Upon receipt of such notification, a special inspection
shall be made as soon as possible to determine if
such violation or danger exists in accordance
with the provisions of this subchapter. If the
Secretary determines that a violation or danger
does not exist, he shall notify the miner or representative of the miners in writing of such determination.
(2) Prior to or during any inspection of a coal
or other mine, any representative of miners or a
miner in the case of a coal or other mine where
there is no such representative, may notify the
Secretary or any representative of the Secretary
responsible for conducting the inspection, in
writing, of any violation of this chapter or of
any imminent danger which he has reason to believe exists in such mine. The Secretary shall,
by regulation, establish procedures for informal
review of any refusal by a representative of the
Secretary to issue a citation with respect to any
1 So

in original. Probably should be ‘‘representative’’.

§ 813

such alleged violation or order with respect to
such danger and shall furnish the representative
of miners or miner requesting such review a
written statement of the reasons for the Secretary’s final disposition of the case.
(h) Records and reports; compilation and publication; availability
In addition to such records as are specifically
required by this chapter, every operator of a
coal or other mine shall establish and maintain
such records, make such reports, and provide
such information, as the Secretary or the Secretary of Health and Human Services may reasonably require from time to time to enable him
to perform his functions under this chapter. The
Secretary or the Secretary of Health and Human
Services is authorized to compile, analyze, and
publish, either in summary or detailed form,
such reports or information so obtained. Except
to the extent otherwise specifically provided by
this chapter, all records, information, reports,
findings, citations, notices, orders, or decisions
required or issued pursuant to or under this
chapter may be published from time to time,
may be released to any interested person, and
shall be made available for public inspection.
(i) Spot inspections
Whenever the Secretary finds that a coal or
other mine liberates excessive quantities of
methane or other explosive gases during its operations, or that a methane or other gas ignition
or explosion has occurred in such mine which resulted in death or serious injury at any time
during the previous five years, or that there exists in such mine some other especially hazardous condition, he shall provide a minimum of
one spot inspection by his authorized representative of all or part of such mine during every
five working days at irregular intervals. For
purposes of this subsection, ‘‘liberation of excessive quantities of methane or other explosive
gases’’ shall mean liberation of more than one
million cubic feet of methane or other explosive
gases during a 24-hour period. When the Secretary finds that a coal or other mine liberates
more than five hundred thousand cubic feet of
methane or other explosive gases during a 24hour period, he shall provide a minimum of one
spot inspection by his authorized representative
of all or part of such mine every 10 working days
at irregular intervals. When the Secretary finds
that a coal or other mine liberates more than
two hundred thousand cubic feet of methane or
other explosive gases during a 24-hour period, he
shall provide a minimum of one spot inspection
by his authorized representative of all or part of
such mine every 15 working days at irregular intervals.
(j) Accident notification; rescue and recovery activities
In the event of any accident occurring in any
coal or other mine, the operator shall notify the
Secretary thereof and shall take appropriate
measures to prevent the destruction of any evidence which would assist in investigating the
cause or causes thereof. For purposes of the preceding sentence, the notification required shall
be provided by the operator within 15 minutes of
the time at which the operator realizes that the

§ 814

TITLE 30—MINERAL LANDS AND MINING

death of an individual at the mine, or an injury
or entrapment of an individual at the mine
which has a reasonable potential to cause death,
has occurred. In the event of any accident occurring in a coal or other mine, where rescue and
recovery work is necessary, the Secretary or an
authorized representative of the Secretary shall
take whatever action he deems appropriate to
protect the life of any person, and he may, if he
deems it appropriate, supervise and direct the
rescue and recovery activities in such mine.
(k) Safety orders; recovery plans
In the event of any accident occurring in a
coal or other mine, an authorized representative
of the Secretary, when present, may issue such
orders as he deems appropriate to insure the
safety of any person in the coal or other mine,
and the operator of such mine shall obtain the
approval of such representative, in consultation
with appropriate State representatives, when
feasible, of any plan to recover any person in
such mine or to recover the coal or other mine
or return affected areas of such mine to normal.
(Pub. L. 91–173, title I, § 103, Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat.
749; Pub. L. 95–164, title II, § 201, Nov. 9, 1977, 91
Stat. 1297; Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), Oct. 17,
1979, 93 Stat. 695; Pub. L. 109–236, § 5(a), June 15,
2006, 120 Stat. 498.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (a), (c), and (e) to
(h), was in the original ‘‘this Act’’, meaning Pub. L.
91–173, Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat. 742, known as the Federal
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, which is classified
principally to this chapter. For complete classification
of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out
under section 801 of this title and Tables.
AMENDMENTS
2006—Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 109–236 inserted second sentence.
1977—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 95–164 inserted provisions
authorizing representatives of the Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare to make inspections, expanded
the area of inspection and investigation to include
mines other than coal mines, inserted provisions requiring the inspection of surface mines at least two
times a year, inserted provisions requiring the development of guidelines for additional inspections of mines,
and inserted provisions, formerly contained in subsec.
(b), authorizing the entry to, upon, or through, any
coal or other mine for the purpose of making inspection
or investigation.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 95–164 redesignated subsec. (d) as
(b) and substituted ‘‘coal or other mine’’ for ‘‘coal
mine’’. Provisions of former subsec. (b) were incorporated into subsec. (a).
Subsecs. (c) to (e). Pub. L. 95–164 added subsecs. (c) to
(e), struck out former subsec. (c) which provided for the
utilization of facilities and personnel of other Federal
agencies, and redesignated former subsecs. (d) and (e)
as (b) and (j), respectively.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 95–164 redesignated subsec. (h) as
(f), inserted provision for a representative of the operator to accompany the Secretary or his representative
in the physical inspection of a mine, extended the provisions to cover mines other than coal mines, and inserted provisions relating to the choice of the authorized representative of the miners, the representative’s
duties, and the choice of more than one representative.
Former subsec. (f) redesignated (k).
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 95–164 designated existing provisions as par. (1), inserted provisions to par. (1) as so
designated which extended the right to an immediate
inspection to individual miners when there is no rep-

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resentative of the miners, provided for immediate notification to the mine operator or his agent if the complaint indicates that the danger is imminent, kept the
name of the person giving the notice and the names of
the individual miners off the copy or notification, and
required the Secretary to notify the miners or their
representatives if he determines that a violation or
danger does not exist, and added par. (2).
Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 95–164 added subsec. (h). The provisions of former subsec. (h), relating to the right of
the miners’ representative to accompany the authorized representative of the Secretary on the inspection,
were incorporated into subsec. (f).
Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 95–164 inserted definition of ‘‘liberation of excessive quantities of methane or other explosive gases’’ and inserted provisions for a reduced
schedule of one spot inspections in mines with liberation rates for methane or other explosive gases lower
than that required to qualify as ‘‘excessive’’.
Subsecs. (j), (k). Pub. L. 95–164 redesignated former
subsecs. (e) and (f) as (j) and (k), respectively.
CHANGE OF NAME
‘‘Secretary of Health and Human Services’’ substituted for ‘‘Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare’’ in subsecs. (a), (c), (e), and (h) pursuant to section
509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 which is classified to section
3508(b) of Title 20, Education.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1977 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 95–164 effective 120 days after
Nov. 9, 1977, except as otherwise provided, see section
307 of Pub. L. 95–164, set out as a note under section 801
of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE
Section operative 90 days after Dec. 30, 1969, except to
the extent an earlier date is specifically provided for in
Pub. L. 91–173, see section 509 of Pub. L. 91–173, set out
as a note under section 801 of this title.

§ 814. Citations and orders
(a) Issuance and form of citations; prompt issuance
If, upon inspection or investigation, the Secretary or his authorized representative believes
that an operator of a coal or other mine subject
to this chapter has violated this chapter, or any
mandatory health or safety standard, rule,
order, or regulation promulgated pursuant to
this chapter, he shall, with reasonable promptness, issue a citation to the operator. Each citation shall be in writing and shall describe with
particularity the nature of the violation, including a reference to the provision of the chapter,
standard, rule, regulation, or order alleged to
have been violated. In addition, the citation
shall fix a reasonable time for the abatement of
the violation. The requirement for the issuance
of a citation with reasonable promptness shall
not be a jurisdictional prerequisite to the enforcement of any provision of this chapter.
(b) Follow-up inspections; findings
If, upon any follow-up inspection of a coal or
other mine, an authorized representative of the
Secretary finds (1) that a violation described in
a citation issued pursuant to subsection (a) has
not been totally abated within the period of
time as originally fixed therein or as subsequently extended, and (2) that the period of time
for the abatement should not be further extended, he shall determine the extent of the area
affected by the violation and shall promptly