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HB 503 (BR 1867) - B. Yonts, R. Nelson, R. Webb, R. Adkins, E. Ballard, J. Barrows, C. Belcher, L. Clark, H. Collins, J. Crenshaw, R. Crimm, R. Damron, C. Embry Jr, J. Gooch Jr, D. Graham, W. Hall, C. Hoffman, J. Jenkins, Ji. Lee, T. McKee, C. Meade, C. Miller, H. Moberly Jr, D. Owens, R. Palumbo, D. Pasley, J. Richards, A. Smith, J. Stacy, J. Stewart III, T. Thompson, T. Turner, M. Weaver
AN ACT relating to coal miners and declaring an emergency.
Create new sections of KRS Chapter 351 to define "accidents"; require accidents involving serious injury or loss of life be reported within 15 minutes after the accident or 15 minutes after communications become available, and provide for a $1,000 to $100,000 dollar penalty for failure to comply; provide for investigation and waiver of penalty; prohibit anyone from altering the accident scene; authorize commissioner and inspector to subpoena for investigation of unsafe working conditions and violations of closure orders; require posting of emergency hotline telephone numbers to report accidents and unsafe working conditions; create a panel to review and recommend wireless communications and tracking devices; amend KRS 351.090 to require quarterly inspections of coal mines in operation; amend 351.101 to declare intention of the General Assembly to balance increasing productivity with safety of miners; to state that injuries and death can be reduced by ensuring an adequate number of mine rescue teams, self-contained self-rescuers (SCSRs) and electronic tracking and communications devices; to impose civil penalties for violations including bad actor designations; amend 351.106 to require that miner training programs provide telephone numbers that may be used to report accidents and unsafe working conditions; amend 351.140 to require quarterly inspections; amend 351.191 to require each mine to have a plan approved by the commissioner that provides additional caches of self-contained self-rescuer devices; provide for additional luminescent directional signs towards caches; require operators to provide miners with approved wireless tracking and communications devices; provide that failure to comply with implementation of a plan for additional caches of self-contained self-rescuers shall constitute an imminent danger; amend 351.990 to provide for a $100 to $5,000 dollar penalty for violations of the chapter; provide for a bad actor designation for repeated willful violations that create imminent danger to miners that quintuple fines; provide that knowingly removing the wireless tracking device absent approval by the commissioner is a class D felony; amend KRS 352.180 to require preservation of the accident scene; amend KRS 352.133 to require additional caches of self-contained self-rescuers; amend KRS 352.145 to include underground mines and to require underground miners to wear electronic tracking devices; and declare an emergency.
HB 503 - AMENDMENTS
HFA (1, B. Yonts) - Require that a member of the Mine Equipment Review Panel be a member of United Mine Workers of America; require the executive director to promulgate administrative regulations in 30 days based on the advice and recommendations of the panel; require the hotline to report accidents and unsafe working conditions be toll-free; require the Office of Mine Safety and Licensing to investigate complaints of imminent danger in 24 hours; require self-contained self-rescuers be deployed in secondary escapeways; permit company to take action against an employee for information gained during monitoring of the employee during nonemergency situations for violations of written company policy distributed to the miners; make removal or tampering with a wireless tracking and communication device a Class D felony except if the removal is not contrary to the purposes of the Act, with the approval of the commissioner; provide that removal for maintenance and testing of a device does not constitute a violation; make technical corrections.
Feb 2-introduced in House
Feb 3-to Natural Resources and Environment (H); posted in committee
Feb 6-posting waived
Feb 7-reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar
Feb 8-2nd reading, to Rules; posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Thursday, February 9, 2006; floor amendment (1) filed
Feb 9-3rd reading, passed 96-0 with floor amendment (1)
Feb 10-received in Senate
Feb 14-to Agriculture and Natural Resources (S)
Vote History
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