30 USC 813(g)(1): Confidential Statements and Identities of Complainants

          
Sec. 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 au
thorized 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 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 of this chapter, 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 the physical inspection of any coal or other mine 
made pursuant to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, 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.
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    \1\ So in original. Probably should be ``representative''.
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    (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 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 24-hour 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 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, Sec. 103, Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat. 749; Pub. L. 
95-164, title II, Sec. 201, Nov. 9, 1977, 91 Stat. 1297; Pub. L. 96-88, 
title V, Sec. 509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695; Pub. L. 109-236, 
Sec. 5(a), June 15, 2006, 120 Stat. 498.)
                               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 
representative 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.