S. 5391 — Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2026

This section requires the Secretary of Labor to determine the cause of any mine accident, identify violations of law or mandatory health or safety standards, refer potential Federal criminal violations to the Attorney General, and issue recommendations to prevent recurrence. It also mandates independent investigation panels of five members appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, including a NIOSH chair, one mine operator representative, and one labor representative, for any accident causing three or more deaths or of sufficient severity, and directs the panels to assess causal factors, review the Secretary’s findings, publish reports, and hold public meetings.

This section expands subpoena authority during mine health and safety inspections and investigations to cover attendance and testimony of witnesses plus production of all relevant data, papers, books, documents, and physical evidence. It authorizes the Secretary’s designee to question any individual privately without the operator or the operator’s agents or attorneys present or aware, requires the Secretary to keep the individual’s identity confidential to the extent permitted by law, and authorizes such sums as may be necessary.

This section authorizes a miner's closest relative to designate a representative if the miner is entrapped, disabled, killed, or otherwise prevented from doing so by an accident. It also permits miners not currently working in the mine because of an accident to designate representatives and grants those representatives the right to participate in any accident investigation under subsection (b), including investigative interviews and review of relevant records, unless the Secretary excludes them after consulting the Attorney General to avoid interfering with a pending or contemplated criminal investigation.

This section requires mine inspections during all shifts and days miners are present. It directs the Secretary to review a mine’s pattern of violations status with officials during regular quarterly or biannual inspections upon operator request. It mandates that injury and illness records include man-hours worked, cover each mine separately, and be reported at least annually, with independent contractors responsible for their workers and all reports certified under section 118. It removes the condition that the Secretary be present to issue orders after an accident. It prohibits attorneys from representing both a mine operator and any other individual during inspections, investigations, or litigation without a knowing waiver of conflicts and authorizes the Secretary to petition courts for disqualification.

This section expands judicial review under section 101(d) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act to cover regulations promulgated under the Act, in addition to mandatory health or safety standards. It applies the same review procedures and timelines to both.

This section expands the violations that trigger withdrawal orders under the Mine Safety and Health Act to include any provision of the Act, including any mandatory health or safety standard or regulation promulgated under the Act (from only mandatory health or safety standards).

This section sets the criteria and requirements for determining when a pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards exists in coal or other mines, and for issuing and terminating related notices, to those in the regulations published on January 23, 2013.

This section expands the Secretary of Labor’s authority to seek injunctive relief against a coal or other mine operator from cases involving a pattern of violations of mandatory health or safety standards to any course of conduct that, in the Secretary’s judgment, constitutes a continuing hazard to miners’ health or safety, including violations of the Mine Safety and Health Act or its standards and regulations.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Labor to revoke approval of an operator's program or plan under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act if it is based on inaccurate information or if circumstances have materially changed such that continued operation poses a hazard to miners' safety or health. Upon revocation, the Secretary may issue an order withdrawing all persons from the affected mine or area until a new plan is approved.

This section requires the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission to affirm the Secretary of Labor’s decision to approve, modify, or revoke a coal or other mine plan or program under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act unless the challenging party establishes that the decision was arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law.

This section establishes civil penalties of up to $220,000 for unauthorized changes to required mine ventilation systems that reduce protection below approved levels, violations of rock dusting standards in coal mines, advance notice of inspections, and failures to conduct required work area examinations in underground coal mines. It doubles all civil penalties for any operator in pattern of violations status. It also sets penalties of $10,000 to $100,000 for a first violation of section 105(c) and $20,000 to $200,000 for any subsequent violation within a 3-year period.

This section expands civil and criminal liability for directors, officers, and agents of mine operators under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. It subjects them to the same penalties as operators when they knowingly authorize, order, or carry out conduct violating mandatory health or safety standards, or when they authorize policies or practices that result in such conduct—with “reason to believe” it would occur for civil penalties and actual knowledge for criminal penalties.

This section establishes criminal penalties for mine operators who knowingly violate mandatory health or safety standards or orders issued under the Mine Act, with fines up to $250,000 and imprisonment up to 1 year, or both. It imposes enhanced penalties of up to $1 million and 5 years imprisonment for repeat offenders exposing miners to serious injury, illness, or death, and up to $2 million and 10 years for reckless exposure through tampering with safety devices or similar acts. It also sets fines and up to 5 years imprisonment for operators who interfere with the employment or livelihood of whistleblowers, and for any person who provides advance notice of inspections to impede them, with reduced penalties of up to 1 year for miners acting at a superior's direction (rising to 5 years for subsequent offenses). It requires operators to post notices of the advance-notice penalties at mine entrances.

This section requires the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission, when reviewing any contested citation and proposed penalty under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act, to assess at least the penalty amount produced by the same regulatory methodology or point system used by the Secretary, except upon a finding of extraordinary circumstances. If no such methodology applies or extraordinary circumstances exist, the Commission must instead consider the statutory factors.

This section requires operators to pay pre-final order interest on contested mine safety civil penalties, accruing from the contest date at the Treasury underpayment rate under section 6621 of the Internal Revenue Code and compounded daily, with post-final order interest at 8 percent per annum beginning 30 days after issuance. It directs the Secretary to send a delinquency letter after 45 days of nonpayment of a final penalty and to issue a withdrawal order (except for persons under section 104(c)) after 180 days or upon noncompliance with a payment plan. The requirements apply to all unpaid assessments, with time periods for pre-enactment final orders beginning on the date of enactment.

This section expands anti-retaliation protections for miners, employees, representatives of miners, and job applicants (including their spouses, siblings, children, or parents) at mines. It prohibits discharge or discrimination for filing complaints, participating in proceedings, reporting injuries or illnesses, refusing to violate safety standards, or refusing duties based on a good-faith belief of a safety or health hazard. It extends the complaint filing deadline to 180 days, requires the Secretary to begin an investigation within 15 days, and mandates immediate reinstatement upon a non-frivolous finding pending final resolution.

This section expands compensation for miners idled by withdrawal orders. It provides full pay for up to 60 days during extended closures, authorizes compensation for closures made in anticipation of orders (except when the operator promptly withdraws miners and notifies the Secretary), and increases next-shift pay to the greater of 4 hours or half the shift (from 4 hours). It also requires the operator to pay reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs when a miner’s complaint is sustained and directs the Secretary to re-close a mine if compensation remains unpaid after the next payroll period.

This section establishes employment protections for hourly underground coal miners who have completed a probationary period of up to 6 months at mines that received notice of a pattern of violations under section 104(e). For 3 years after such notice, operators may not discharge or constructively discharge these miners without reasonable grounds based on unsatisfactory performance, noncompliance with the Act or standards, or other legitimate business reasons. It creates a private right of action in U.S. district court within 1 year, with remedies including reinstatement, back pay, compensatory damages, injunctive relief, and attorneys' fees, and bars pre-dispute waivers.

This section requires each operator of an underground coal mine to implement a communication program that orally briefs miners, before they travel to or begin work in their assigned area, on any hazardous conditions or violations of mandatory health or safety standards and on the general conditions of that section. It directs the Secretary to issue interim final rules within 180 days after enactment of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2026 and a final rule within 2 years.

This section raises the minimum incombustible content of combined coal dust, rock dust, and other dust in underground bituminous coal mines to 80 percent (from 65 percent) and sets the methane adjustment at 0.4 percent for each 0.1 percent of methane. It requires operators to measure total incombustible content with direct-reading monitors approved by the Secretary, directs the Secretary to issue an interim final rule on sampling locations, methods, and intervals within 180 days of enactment of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2026, and mandates continuous recordkeeping of rock dust purchases at each mine. It bars use of monitor data for enforcement until the Secretary issues a final rule after a report to Congress within 2 years on monitor reliability.

This section directs the Secretary to promulgate regulations within one year requiring each underground coal mine operator to install atmospheric monitoring systems that protect miners at work and travel locations, assist emergency response and accident investigations, provide real-time data on methane, oxygen, and carbon monoxide levels plus airflow direction with sensing and recording capabilities, and withstand explosions and fires to the maximum extent practicable. It further requires evaluation and, as appropriate, installation of such systems on mining equipment and redundant monitoring technologies for continuous use after fires, explosions, or entrapments.

This section increases annual refresher training for all miners to 9 hours (from 8 hours) and requires that one hour cover statutory rights and responsibilities under this Act and other federal and state law, delivered by an Administration employee or an independent approved trainer. It further requires every training program to distribute miners’ rights information and the Secretary’s toll-free hotline number for reporting hazards, discrimination, or violations, in a portable format such as a wallet card. It directs operators to provide the one-hour rights training to all miners employed on the date of enactment within 180 days.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Labor to order a coal or other mine operator to provide additional health and safety training beyond existing requirements if a serious or fatal accident has occurred at the mine, the mine’s accident, injury, citation, or withdrawal rates exceed averages for similar mines, or the operator has a history of inadequate training, and the Secretary finds that the additional training would benefit miner health and safety. Noncompliance triggers a withdrawal order barring all affected persons from the mine until the training is completed.

This section expands the special emphasis criteria for awarding Brookwood-Sago Mine Safety Grants to include underground mine rescue training activities that simulate mine accident conditions. The grants fund education and training programs to identify, avoid, and prevent unsafe conditions in and around mines.

This section requires any person designated to perform duties or training mandated by the Mine Safety and Health Act to hold a current federal or state certification meeting standards established by the Secretary of Labor. It directs the Secretary to issue mandatory standards within one year of enactment of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2026 covering experience, examinations, time limits, renewals, and revocation procedures; permits state certifications if no less stringent than federal standards; assesses and collects operator fees to fund the program; and classifies violations as unwarrantable failures subject to withdrawal orders.

This section directs the Secretary of Labor to promulgate regulations within 180 days of enactment of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2026 requiring mine operators to retain electronic records and data on miner safety and health, tracking and communications, atmospheric monitoring of methane, carbon monoxide, oxygen, and coal dust, equipment usage and maintenance, and other compliance information. It further requires regulations within 2 years on minimum equipment capabilities for retaining, storing, and recovering such data.

This section revises the definition of operator under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act to include any owner, lessee, or other person who controls a coal or other mine through management or operational decisions that affect health or safety, in addition to those who operate or supervise the mine or independent contractors performing services there. It changes the definition of agent to cover supervision of any miner. It expands the definition of imminent danger to include multiple conditions or practices that, in aggregate, could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious physical harm before abatement. It broadens the definition of miner to include individuals who would be working in the mine but for an accident. It adds a definition of significant and substantial violation as one that could significantly and substantially contribute to a mine safety or health hazard.

This section authorizes grants to states for developing and implementing any certification program for coal or other mines required for compliance with section 118. It eliminates the requirement that the Secretary coordinate with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of the Interior when making grants under this section. It increases annual funding for the grants to $20 million (from $10 million).

This section authorizes the NIOSH Office of Mine Safety and Health to enter into cooperative agreements or contracts with international institutions and private entities to improve mine safety and health through the development and evaluation of new interventions.

This section authorizes the Secretary of Labor to double encumber positions or conduct early replacement hiring for authorized representatives and technical specialists in the Mine Safety and Health Administration. It requires the Secretary to submit to Congress, within 90 days of enactment, a 5-year succession plan that estimates annual turnover, sets vacancy and trainee-to-representative benchmarks, implements staffing tracking systems, and identifies needed resources, with updates required every 2 years.