Senate Bill No. 707
(By Senators Caruth, Edgell, McCabe and Stollings)
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[Introduced March 23, 2009; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §22A-6-7 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the Board of Coal Mine Health
and Safety; the Coal Mine Safety and Technical Review
Committee; and requiring the committee to provide a forum for
resolution of technical, economic and environmental issues.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §22A-6-7 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. BOARD OF COAL MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY.
§22A-6-7. Coal Mine Safety and Technical Review Committee;
membership; method of nomination and appointment;
meetings; quorum; powers and duties of the
committee; powers and duties of the Board of Coal
Mine Health and Safety.
(a) There is hereby continued the state Coal Mine Safety and Technical Review Committee. The purposes of this committee are to:
(1) Assist the Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety in the
development of technical data relating to mine safety issues,
including related mining technology;
(2) Provide suggestions and technical data to the board and
propose rules with general mining industry application;
(3) Accept and consider petitions submitted by individual mine
operators or miners seeking site-specific rule making pertaining to
individual mines and make recommendations to the board concerning
such rule making; and
(4) Provide a forum for the resolution of technical
, economic
and environmental issues
encountered by the board.
(b) The committee shall consist of two members who shall be
residents of this state, and who shall be appointed as hereinafter
specified in this section:
(1) The Governor shall appoint one member to represent the
viewpoint of the coal operators in this state from a list
containing one or more nominees submitted by the major trade
association representing coal operators in this state within thirty
days of submission of such nominee or nominees.
(2) The Governor shall appoint one member to represent the
viewpoint of the working miners of this state from a list
containing one or more nominees submitted by the highest ranking
official within the major employee organization representing coal mines within this state within thirty days of submission of the
nominee or the nominees.
(3) The members appointed in accordance with the provisions of
subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection shall be initially
appointed to serve a term of three years. The members serving on
the effective date of this article may continue to serve until
their terms expire.
(4) The members appointed in accordance with the provisions of
subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection may be, but are not
required to be, members of the Board of Coal Mine Health and
Safety, and shall be compensated on a per diem basis in the same
amount as provided in section ten of this article, plus all
reasonable expenses.
(c) The committee shall meet at least once during each
calendar month, or more often as may be necessary.
(d) A quorum of the committee shall require both members, and
the committee may only act officially by a quorum.
(e) The committee may review any matter relative to mine
safety and mining technology, and may pursue development and
resolution of issues related thereto. The committee may make
recommendations to the board for the promulgation of rules with
general mining industry application. Upon receipt of a unanimous
recommendation for rule making from the committee and only thereon,
the board may adopt or reject such rule, without modification except as approved by the committee:
Provided, That any adopted
rule shall not reduce or compromise the level of safety or
protection below the level of safety or protection afforded by
applicable statutes and rules. When so promulgated, such rules
shall be effective, notwithstanding the provisions of applicable
statutes.
(f) (1) Upon application of a coal mine operator, or on its
own motion, the committee has the authority to accept requests for
site-specific rule making on a mine-by-mine basis, and make
unanimous recommendations to the board for site-specific rules
thereon. The committee has authority to approve a request if it
concludes that the request does not reduce or compromise the level
of safety or protection afforded miners below the level of safety
or protection afforded by any applicable statutes or rules. Upon
receipt of a request for site-specific rule making, the committee
may conduct an investigation of the conditions in the specific mine
in question, which investigation shall include consultation with
the mine operator and authorized representatives of the miners.
Such authorized representatives of the miners shall include any
person designated by the employees at the mine, persons employed by
an employee organization representing one or more miners at the
mine, or a person designated as a representative by one or more
persons at the mine.
(2) If the committee determines to recommend a request made pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection, the committee shall
provide the results of its investigation to the Board of Coal Mine
Health and Safety along with recommendations for the development of
the site-specific rules applicable to the individual mine, which
recommendations may include a written proposal containing draft
rules.
(3) Within thirty days of receipt of the committee's
recommendation, the board shall adopt or reject, without
modification, except as approved by the committee, the committee's
recommendation to promulgate site-specific rules applicable to an
individual mine adopting such site-specific rules only if it
determines that the application of the requested rule to such mine
will not reduce or compromise the level of safety or protection
afforded miners below that level of safety or protection afforded
by any applicable statutes. When so promulgated, such rules shall
be effective notwithstanding the provisions of applicable statutes.
(g) The board shall consider all rules proposed by the Coal
Mine Safety and Technical Review Committee and adopt or reject,
without modification, except as approved by the committee, such
rules, dispensing with the preliminary procedures set forth in
subdivisions (1) through (7), subsection (a), section five; and, in
addition, with respect to site-specific rules also dispensing with
the procedures set forth in subdivisions (4) through (8),
subsection (c), section four of this article.
(h) In performing its functions, the committee has access to
the services of the coal mine health and safety administrator
appointed under section six of this article. The director shall
make clerical support and assistance available in order that the
committee can carry out its duties. Upon the request of both
members of the committee, the health and safety administrator shall
draft proposed rules and reports or make investigations.
(i) The powers and duties provided
for in this section for the
committee are not intended to replace or precondition the authority
of the Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety to act in accordance
with sections one through six and eight through ten of this
article.
(j) Appropriations for the funding of the committee and to
effectuate this section shall be made to a budget account hereby
established for that purpose in the General Revenue Fund. Such
account shall be separate from any accounts or appropriations for
the Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require the Coal Mine
Safety and Technical Review Committee to provide a forum for
resolution of technical, economic and environmental issues.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.