82 FR 15173 - Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Mine Safety and Health Administration

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 57 (March 27, 2017)

On January 23, 2017, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) published a final rule in the Federal Register amending the Agency's standards for the examination of working places in metal and nonmetal mines. The effective date of this final rule is May 23, 2017. MSHA is proposing to delay the effective date of the final rule on Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines to assure that mine operators and miners affected by the examinations final rule have the training and compliance assistance they need prior to the rule's effective date. This proposed rule would delay the effective date of the final rule to July 24, 2017. MSHA is soliciting comments on the limited issue of whether to extend the effective date to July 24, 2017, and whether this extension offers an appropriate length of time for MSHA to provide stakeholders training and compliance assistance.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 57 (Monday, March 27, 2017)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 15173-15174]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-05979]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration

30 CFR Parts 56 and 57

[Docket No. MSHA-2014-0030]
RIN 1219-AB87


Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Proposed rule; delay of effective date.

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SUMMARY: On January 23, 2017, the Mine Safety and Health Administration 
(MSHA) published a final rule in the Federal Register amending the 
Agency's standards for the examination of working places in metal and 
nonmetal mines. The effective date of this final rule is May 23, 2017. 
MSHA is proposing to delay the effective date of the final rule on 
Examinations of Working Places in Metal and Nonmetal Mines to assure 
that mine operators and miners affected by the examinations final rule 
have the training and compliance assistance they need prior to the 
rule's effective date. This proposed rule would delay the effective 
date of the final rule to July 24, 2017. MSHA is soliciting comments on 
the limited issue of whether to extend the effective date to July 24, 
2017, and whether this extension offers an appropriate length of time 
for MSHA to provide stakeholders training and compliance assistance.

DATES: Comment Deadline: April 26, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Submit comments, identified by RIN 1219-AB87 or Docket No. 
MSHA-2014-0030, by one of the following methods:
     Federal E-Rulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the on-line instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected].
     Mail: MSHA, Office of Standards, Regulations, and 
Variances, 201 12th Street South, Suite 4E401, Arlington, Virginia 
22202-5452.
     Hand Delivery or Courier: 201 12th Street South, Suite 
4E401, Arlington, Virginia, between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday 
through Friday, except Federal holidays. Sign in at the receptionist's 
desk on the 4th Floor East, Suite 4E401.
     Fax: 202-693-9441.
    Instructions: All submissions must include RIN 1219-AB87 or Docket 
No. MSHA-2014-0030. Do not include personal information that you do not 
want publicly disclosed; MSHA will post all comments without change, 
including any personal information provided.
    Docket: For access to the docket to read comments received, go to 
http://www.regulations.gov or http://www.msha.gov/currentcomments.asp. 
To read background documents, go to http://www.regulations.gov. Review 
the docket in person at MSHA, Office of Standards, Regulations, and 
Variances, 201 12th Street South, Arlington, Virginia, between 9:00 
a.m. and 5:00 p.m. EST Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. 
Sign in at the receptionist's desk on the 4th Floor East, Suite 4E401.
    E-Mail Notification: To subscribe to receive an email notification 
when MSHA publishes rules in the Federal Register, go to http://www.msha.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sheila A. McConnell, Director, Office 
of Standards, Regulations, and Variances, MSHA, at 
[email protected] (email); 202-693-9440 (voice); or 202-693-
9441 (facsimile).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Delay of Effective Date

    On January 23, 2017, MSHA published a Final Rule in the Federal 
Register (82 FR 7680) amending the Agency's standards for the 
examination of working places in metal and nonmetal mines. The final 
rule was scheduled to become effective on May 23, 2017. On January 20, 
2017, the Chief of Staff of the White House released a memorandum 
titled ``Regulatory Freeze Pending Review'' to ``ensure that the 
President's appointees or designees have the opportunity to review any 
new or pending regulations . . . .'' 82 FR 8346, January 24, 2017. 
Among other things, the memorandum directed the heads of executive 
departments and agencies to consider temporarily postponing the 
effective dates of all regulations that had been published in the 
Federal Register but had not yet taken effect.
    In keeping with MSHA's standard implementation practices, MSHA 
would

[[Page 15174]]

develop and distribute additional compliance assistance materials to 
post on the Agency's Web site (www.msha.gov). Compliance assistance 
materials would include templates for workplace examinations for 
different mining environments that would facilitate compliance and 
minimize mine operator recordkeeping burden. MSHA would make these 
compliance assistance materials available at a number of informational 
stakeholder meetings at various locations around the country. MSHA also 
understands that mine operators may need time to adjust schedules, 
develop additional recordkeeping capacity, and in other ways modify the 
way they currently do business to comply with the rule. For these 
reasons, MSHA is proposing to extend the rule's effective date to July 
24, 2017.
    MSHA is committed to assuring that mine operators and miners 
affected by the examinations final rule have the training and 
compliance assistance they need prior to the rule's effective date. As 
part of the outreach and compliance assistance process, MSHA would 
consider issues raised by stakeholders and consider further extending 
the effective date in order to determine if these issues can be 
reasonably addressed through compliance assistance and training. MSHA 
also seeks comments regarding the appropriate length of the proposed 
extension.

Patricia W. Silvey,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health.
[FR Doc. 2017-05979 Filed 3-24-17; 8:45 am]
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