health and safety standards; review

health and safety standards; review Sec. 101. (a) The Secretary shall, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this section, develop, promulgate, and revise, as may be appropriate, improved mandatory safety standards for the protection of life and the prevention of injuries m a coal mine, and shall, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this section, promulgate the mandatory health standards transmitted to him by the Secretary of Health Education, and Welfare. (b) No improved mandatory health or safety standard promulgated under this title shall reduce the protection afforded miners below that provided by any mandatory health or safety standard. (c) In the development and revision of mandatory safety standards, the Secretary shall consult with the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Secretary of Labor, and with other interested Federal 83 Stat. 746agencies, appropriate representatives of State agencies, appropriate representatives of the coal mine operators and miners, oilier interested persons and organizations, and such advisory committees as he may appoint. Such development and revision of mandatory safety standards shall be based upon research, demonstrations, experiments, and such other information as may be appropriate. In addition to the attainment of the highest degree of safety protection for miners, other considerations shall the latest available scientific data in the field, the technical feasibility of the standards, and experience gained under this and other safety statutes. (d) The Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall, in accordance with the procedures set forth in this section, develop and revise, as may be appropriate, improved mandatory health standards for the protection of life and the prevention of occupational diseases of miners. In the development and revision of mandatory health standards, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare shall consult with the Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, and with other interested Federal agencies, appropriate representatives of State agencies, appropriate representatives of the coal mine operators and miners, other interested persons and organizations, such advisory committees as he may appoint, and, where appropriate, foreign countries. Such development and revision of mandatory standards shall be based upon research, demonstrations, experiments, and such other information as may be appropriate. In addition to the attainment of the highest degree of health protection for the miner, other considerations shall be the latest available scientific data in the field, the technical feasibility of the standards, and experience gained under this and other health statutes. Mandatory health standards which the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare develops or revises shall be transmitted to the Secretary, and shall thereupon be published in the Federal Register by the Secretary, as proposed mandatory health standards. (e) The Secretary shall publish proposed mandatory health and safety standards in the Federal Register and shall afford interested persons a period of not less than thirty days after publication to submit written data or comments. In the case of mandatory safety standards, except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, the Secretary may, upon the expiration of such period and after consideration of all relevant matter presented, promulgate such standards with such modifications as he may deem appropriate. In the case of mandatory health standards, except as provided in subsection (f) of this section, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare may, upon the expiration of such period and after consideration of all relevant matter presented to the Secretary and transmitted to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, direct the Secretary to promulgate such standards with such modifications as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare may deem appropriate and the Secretary shall thereupon promulgate such standards. (f) On or before the last day of any period fixed for the submission of written data or comments under subsection (e) of this section, any interested person may file with the Secretary written objections to a proposed mandatory health or safety standard, stating the grounds therefor and requesting a public hearing on such objections. As soon as practicable after the period for filing such objections has expired, the Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register a notice specifying the proposed mandatory health or safety standards to which objections have been filed and a hearing requested. 83 Stat. 747 (g) Promptly after any such notice is published in the Federal Register by the Secretary under subsection (f) of this section, the Secretary, in the ease of mandatory safety standards, or the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, in the case of mandatory health standards, shall issue notice of, and hold, a public hearing for the purpose of receiving relevant evidence. Within sixty days after completion of the hearings, the Secretary who held the hearing shall make findings of fact which shall be public. In the case of mandatory safety standards, the Secretary may promulgate such standards with such modifications as he deems appropriate. In the case of mandatory health standards, the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare may direct the Secretary to promulgate the mandatory health standards with such modifications as the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare deems appropriate and the Secretary shall thereupon promulgate the mandatory health standards. In the event the Secretary or the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, as the case may be, determines that a proposed mandatory health or safety standard should not be promulgated or should be modified, he shall within a reasonable time publish his reasons for his determination. (h) Any mandatory health or safety standard promulgated under this section shall be effective upon publication in the Federal Register unless the Secretary or the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, as appropriate, specifies a later date. (i) Proposed mandatory health and safety standards for surface coal mines shall be published by the Secretary, in accordance with the provisions of this section, not later than twelve months after the date of enactment of this Act. Proposed mandatory health and safety standards for surface work areas of underground coal mines, in addition to those established for such areas under this Act, shall be published by the Secretary, in accordance with the provisions of this section, not later than twelve months after the date of enactment of this Act. (j) All interpretations, regulations, and instructions of the Secretary or the Director of the Bureau of Mines, in effect on the date of enactment of this Act and not inconsistent with any provision of this Act, shall be published in the Federal Register and shall continue in effect until modified or superseded in accordance with the provisions of this Act. (k) The Secretary shall send a copy of every proposed standard or regulation at the time of publication in the Federal Register to the operator of each coal mine and the representative of the miners at such muse and such copy shall be immediately posted on the bulletin board of the mine by the operator or his agent, but failure to receive such notice shall not relieve anyone of the obligation to comply with such standard or regulation.