About the Miner Act of 2006

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President Signs Tax Break for Mines

who install wireless network after January 1, 2007

The MINER Act, which was signed by President George W. Bush on June 15, 2006 requires in part that each underground coal mine operator shall develop and adopt a written accident response plan no later than 60 days after enactment of the Act.

Concerning 2-way wireless communications and tracking the act states as follows;

(E) PLAN CONTENT-GENERAL REQUIREMENTS- To be approved under subparagraph (C), an accident response plan shall include the following:`

(i) POST-ACCIDENT COMMUNICATIONS- The plan shall provide for a redundant means of communication with the surface for persons underground, such as secondary telephone or equivalent two-way communication.

(ii) POST-ACCIDENT TRACKING- Consistent with commercially available technology and with the physical constraints, if any, of the mine, the plan shall provide for above ground personnel to determine the current, or immediately pre-accident, location of all underground personnel. Any system so utilized shall be functional, reliable, and calculated to remain serviceable in a post-accident setting. "

See the full text at - Full Miner Act of 2006: 154KB PDF

An interpretation of the paragraph is if a mine currently has no wireless communications or tracking, they have 60 days to develop a plan to comply and/or install a compliant system. As of January 1 2007, coal mines are to implement a zone based tracking system using wired or wireless to define personnel location in any "zone".  Typically for a 2500 foot area underground.

The Commission's interim rule is published in the July 18, 2006 Federal Register. A link to the rule appears on the Commission's website at http://www.fmshrc.gov under the heading "What's New."

For further information concerning the interim rule, please contact Thomas A. Stock, General Counsel, Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, 601 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Suite 9500, Washington, D.C. 20001-2021; telephone 202-434-9935; fax 202-434-9944.

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission is an independent federal agency that adjudicates disputes arising from the enforcement of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.

Follow these links for more information on the Miner Act of 2006:
Wikipedia Sago Mine Disaster
fmshrc.gov
Full Miner Act of 2006: 154KB PDF
Read Presidential Comments: 64KB PDF
White House Brief 6-15-2006

Tunnel Radio Compliance Solutions

View our solutions to the Miner Act of 2006:
UltraComm Complete Wireless Coverage
BirdDog MineAx Tracking & Tagging

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