[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 210 (Friday, October 30, 1998)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 58612-58613]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-29089]
[[Page 58611]]
_______________________________________________________________________
Part VI
Department of Labor
_______________________________________________________________________
Mine Safety and Health Administration
_______________________________________________________________________
30 CFR Part 77
Safety Standards for Reporting Daily Inspections of Surface Coal Mines;
Technical Amendment; Final Rule
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 210 / Friday, October 30, 1998 /
Rules and Regulations
[[Page 58612]]
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Mine Safety and Health Administration
30 CFR Part 77
RIN 1219-AB15
Safety Standards for Reporting Daily Inspections of Surface Coal
Mines; Technical Amendment
AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), Labor.
ACTION: Final rule; technical amendment.
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SUMMARY: MSHA is making a nonsubstantive technical amendment to its
safety standard which requires reports of daily inspection for surface
coal mines. This technical amendment updates the standard to allow a
mine official with authority and responsibility equivalent to the mine
officials specified in the existing standard to sign or countersign the
daily inspection reports. MSHA is amending the language of the standard
to reflect changes in the management structure of the mining industry
because traditional management structures, including job titles, have
changed at many mines.
EFFECTIVE DATE: December 29, 1998.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Carol J. Jones, Acting Director,
Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, MSHA, phone 703-235-
1910.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
Paragraph (d) of existing 30 CFR 77.1713 provides that all recorded
examination reports of daily inspections for hazardous conditions at
surface coal mines shall include the action taken to abate hazardous
conditions and shall be signed or countersigned each day by at least
one of the following persons: (1) the surface mine foreman; (2) the
assistant superintendent of the mine; (3) the superintendent of the
mine; or, (4) the person designated by the operator as responsible for
health and safety at the mine.
The requirement that the report ``be signed or countersigned''
helps assure that examination results are maintained and made
available, and that the appropriate level of mine management is made
aware of hazardous conditions or problems requiring attention. In
addition, the signing and countersigning requirement helps assure the
integrity of records and enables mine management to review the quality
of the examinations.
The persons specified in paragraph (d) are responsible for health
and safety in the mine and have the authority and are in a position to
suspend operations and allocate resources to correct health and safety
problems as they develop. However, the terms ``mine foreman,''
``superintendent,'' and ``assistant superintendent'' may no longer
describe the person with the authority and responsibility to correct
problems within certain mine management structures in the coal mining
industry. Not every operation employs persons with the titles
enumerated in the standard.
Given the changing terminology used to describe some mine
management titles in certain mining operations, an ``equivalent
person'' can satisfy the requirement of the standard. An ``equivalent
person'' would be a person with the same responsibility for safety and
health at the mine as a person specified in paragraphs (d)(1) through
(d)(4), and with the authority to suspend production if necessary and
allocate resources from various segments of the operation to correct
safety or health hazards as they develop.
MSHA has successfully used the term ``equivalent person'' in other
rulemaking contexts in order to allow for alternative mine management
titles. In MSHA's rulemaking for improved mandatory safety standards
for ventilation in underground coal mines promulgated in 1996, MSHA
received comments stating that some mines no longer use the terms
``mine foreman,'' ``mine manager,'' or ``superintendent.'' In order to
address those comments and to provide for alternative management
titles, the final ventilation rule incorporated the phrase ``or
equivalent mine official'' in several standards which require the
reporting and countersigning of the results of certain inspections in
underground mines. The standards using the phrase ``equivalent mine
official'' are: paragraph (d) of Sec. 75.311 Main mine fan operation;
paragraph (f) of Sec. 75.360 Preshift examination; paragraph (a) of
Sec. 75.363 Hazardous conditions; posting, correcting and recording;
and, paragraph (h) of Sec. 75.364 Weekly examination.
The final rule published today provides that an official equivalent
to an official listed in (d)(1) through (d)(4) of Sec. 77.1713 must
sign or countersign the examination report. The purpose of this change
is to allow for persons with the functional authority and
responsibility equivalent to those persons specified in the standard to
sign or countersign the reports. For purposes of this standard, a
general manager, mine manager, or business unit manager having the
requisite safety responsibility and authority may be equivalent to a
superintendent. Similarly, a production manager, maintenance manager,
or operations manager may be equivalent to an assistant superintendent;
and a production supervisor, maintenance supervisor, or pit foreman may
be equivalent to a mine foreman. This list is not meant to be an
exhaustive one, but merely illustrates the range of titles which may be
encountered in mine management organizations today. In each case, the
equivalent officials must have the authority and responsibility for
correcting hazardous conditions or problems. In some mines, officials
having these titles may not be equivalent officials and would not have
authority to countersign in all instances. Other titles, in addition to
those described above, may describe mine management officials with the
appropriate authority and responsibility to correct hazards or allocate
resources to resolve health and safety problems.
Allowing an ``equivalent person'' to sign or countersign the
examination report does not reduce the protection afforded miners by
the existing standard. In all cases, the mine official who signs or
countersigns must have the equivalent authority and responsibility for
correcting hazards and allocating resources as those persons listed in
paragraphs (d)(1) through (d)(4) or the existing rule. This minor
revision only recognizes changes in mine management structures and
allows for persons equivalent in authority and responsibility to those
already specified to sign or countersign the reports.
II. Procedural Matters
Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(B), MSHA finds good cause that the
notice and public comment procedures of the Administrative Procedure
Act are unnecessary for this technical amendment. The minor revisions
contained in this rulemaking are nonsubstantive in nature and do not
affect the safety outcome of the rule. With this rulemaking, the Agency
is reflecting changes in terminology in the industry to allow for an
official equivalent in authority and responsibility to a specified
official to sign or countersign the reports. The authority and
responsibility of the official remain the same as in the existing
standard.
III. Paperwork Reduction Act
This rule does not contain substantive changes to information
collection requirements that require approval by OMB under the
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995. The paperwork requirements for
Sec. 77.1713 are approved under 1219-0083.
[[Page 58613]]
IV. Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
Executive Order 12866 requires that regulatory agencies assess both
the costs and benefits of regulations. MSHA has determined that the
cost for this rule is the same as under the existing rule. The primary
benefit of the final rule is that it reflects changes in terminology in
the industry and allows for an official equivalent in authority and
responsibility to a specified official to sign or countersign the
reports. MSHA has determined that this final rule does not meet the
criteria of a significant regulatory action and, therefore, has not
prepared a separate analysis of costs and benefits.
The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) requires regulatory agencies
to consider a rule's impact on small entities. Under the RFA, MSHA must
use the Small Business Administration (SBA) definition for a small mine
of 500 or fewer employees or, after consultation with the SBA Office of
Advocacy, establish an alternative definition for the mining industry
by publishing that definition in the Federal Register for notice and
comment. MSHA traditionally has considered small mines to be those with
fewer than 20 employees. For the purposes of the RFA and this
certification, MSHA has analyzed the impact of the final rule on all
mines, on those with fewer than 20 employees, and on those with 500 or
fewer employees, and has concluded that there is no additional cost to
the mining industry.
Regulatory Flexibility Certification
In accordance with Sec. 605 of the RFA, MSHA certifies that this
final rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. No small governmental jurisdictions or
nonprofit organizations are affected.
Under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act
(SBREFA) amendments to the RFA, MSHA must include in the final rule a
factual basis for this certification. The Agency also must publish the
regulatory flexibility certification in the Federal Register, along
with its factual basis.
Factual Basis for Certification
MSHA has determined that this rule will not have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The final
rule merely adds language that conforms the standard to terminology
currently used in the mining industry. The Agency recognizes that some
mine operations no longer use the terms ``mine foreman'', ``mine
manager'', or ``superintendent.'' To provide for alternative management
titles, the final rule incorporates the phrase ``a mine official with
authority and responsibility equivalent to a person listed in
paragraphs (1) through (4) of this section.''
V. Unfunded Mandates Act
For purposes of the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, as well
as E.O. 12875, this rule does not include any Federal mandate that may
result in increased expenditures by State, local, and tribal
governments, or increased expenditures by the private sector of more
than $100 million.
VI. Executive Order 13045
In accordance with Executive Order 13045, MSHA has evaluated the
environmental health or safety effects of the rule on children. The
Agency has determined that the final rule will have no effect on
children.
List of Subjects in 30 CFR Part 77
Mine safety and health, Surface mining.
Dated: October 23, 1998.
J. Davitt McAteer,
Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health.
For the reasons set forth in the preamble, Subpart R of part 77,
subchapter N, title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as
follows:
PART 77--MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS, SURFACE COAL MINES AND SURFACE
WORK AREAS OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINES
1. The authority citation for Part 77 is revised to read as
follows:
Authority: 30 U.S.C. 811.
2. Section 77.1713 is amended by revising paragraphs (d)(3) and
(d)(4) and adding paragraph (d)(5) to read as follows:
Sec. 77.1713 Daily inspection of surface coal mine; certified person;
reports of inspection.
* * * * *
(d) * * *
(3) The superintendent of the mine;
(4) The person designated by the operator as responsible for health
and safety at the mine; or,
(5) An equivalent mine official.
[FR Doc. 98-29089 Filed 10-29-98; 8:45 am]
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