Accidents at the Southmountain Coal Company, Inc., Mine #3 in Wise County and the W. S. Frey Company limestone quarry in Frederick County, which combined to cause the deaths of ten miners, illustrate the continuing necessity for an effective mine safety law. The Joint Subcommittee's efforts focused on ways that the Commonwealth may improve mine safety in order to prevent similar tragedies.

The Joint Subcommittee found that the 1966 Law is in need of a comprehensive redrafting. The recommendations of the Joint Subcommittee are incorporated in proposed legislation attached as Appendix 19. Major policy recommendations of the Joint Subcommittee include the following:

1. The frequency of mandated complete mine inspections should be reduced for underground mines from four times annually to twice annually. For surface mines, the frequency of inspections should be reduced from twice a year to once a year. However, surface mineral mines that are inspected by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration should not be subject to state inspection. The resources saved by reducing the minimum number of inspections should be reallocated to increasing the number of spot inspections at mines which, based on an assessment of the risks at a mine, pose the greatest danger of an accident.

2. Mine licenses should be subject to revocation if the operator exhibits a pattern of willful violations of the mine safety laws that result in imminent danger.

3. Mine inspectors should be authorized to issue notice of violation upon finding a failure to comply with the mine safety laws. The notice should specify a period of time in which corrective action is to be taken; if it is not completed, an inspector may issue a closure order. Recipients of such a notice should have the right to administrative review of the issuance of a notice of violation.

4. Inspectors should also be authorized to issue closure orders upon finding a violation which constitutes an imminent danger, to preserve an accident scene, and to stop the operation of a mine without a license. Mine operators should be entitled to prompt judicial review of the issuance of a closure order.

5. The mine safety laws should be enforceable by injunctions. Courts should be able to issue injunctions prohibiting the continued operation of a mine if the operator's history of noncompliance with the law or history of being issued closure orders establishes that he will not comply with the mine safety laws.

6. The certification of miners to conduct certain specialized tasks should be conducted by separate boards for coal miners and mineral miners. Persons commencing work in mines after January 1, 1996, should be required to obtain a general miner certificate. This new certification will require a demonstration of knowledge of mine safety laws and first-aid procedures.

7. Miners with certificates for coal mining tasks should be required to meet continuing education requirements. Certificates for mineral mining tasks should be subject to renewal every five years.

8. The law should establish separate sets of technical standards for underground coal mines, surface coal mines, underground mineral mines, and surface mineral mines. These technical standards should be set forth in prescriptive statutes for the two types of coal mines, and should largely be established by regulation for the two types of mineral mines.

9. The state's role in safety training should be increased. The program should rely on federal training requirements, and should seek to assist operators and miners achieve compliance. The Commonwealth should increase the resources for safety training.

10. The identity of persons making complaints of violations of the mine safety laws to the Department should be kept confidential. However, the Department should provide a copy of the complaint form (without the name of the complainant) to the mine operator.

11. The existing criminal sanctions for violations of the mine safety laws should continue. The laws should not provide for civil penalties. The state should be authorized to request the Attorney General to prosecute criminal violations if the local Commonwealth's Attorney declines to act.