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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Heaton

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/15/2007

3/11/2007 HB 682/aHJC/aSJC

SHORT TITLE Mine Safety Rule Enforcement

SB

ANALYST

McOlash\Baca

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SJC Amendments

Senate Judiciary amendments stipulate the board shall (instead of may), after a public hearing,

adopt rules for the protection of life and safety of employees; and that the State Mine Inspector

shall (instead of may), issue an order closing all or any portion of the mine to regular operations

deemed unsafe and provide an explanation to the owner for the action and shall (instead of may)

certify, recertify or discipline persons to act as mine foremen and mine examiners.

Synopsis of HJC Amendments

The amendments adopted by the House Judiciary Committee add that membership of the board

shall represent “and balance management and non-management employees at" mining operations

addressed by the bill, and provide that members of the board shall “receive compensation

pursuant to the Mileage and Per Diem Act."

Synopsis of Original Bill

House Bill 682 amends, repeals, and enacts sections of Chapter 69 NMSA to provide for mine

safety and the enforcement of mine safety laws.

House Bill 682/aHJCaSJC – Page

2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

NFI

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Many mine safety laws date to the 1930s and were partially repealed and rewritten in the 1980s

when the State Mine Inspector’s regulatory authority was superseded by the federal Mine Safety

and Health Administration and the Inspector’s office was transferred to New Mexico Tech.

While the role of the Inspector shifted from a regulatory entity to primarily a training

organization, many laws still included outdated duties of the Inspector. In recent years, these

outdated statutes have been the source of some confusion over the role of the Inspector.

According to EMNRD, this bill includes extensive changes to the State’s mine safety laws in an

effort to bring these laws in line with the current role of the State Mine Inspector and the Mining

Safety Board. The changes fall into the following categories:

1.

Repeal outdated statutes that have been superseded by federal mine safety laws and to

avoid conflict and duplicative regulation between the State Mine Inspector and the

federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.

2.

Rewrite the laws governing the certification of mine personnel. Certain levels of

coalmine officials (e.g., foremen) must be certified by the Inspector. These changes move

most of the qualifications to rules and create a process for disciplining officials and

appealing the Inspector's actions to the Mine Safety Board. The bill provides the mining

industry and workers with a clearer list of the Inspector’s duties.

3.

Clarify the role of the Inspector and the Mining Safety Board with more comprehensible

legislative guidance. The duties of the Inspector are rewritten to reflect the current reality.

The Mining Safety Board is given a clearer role in rulemaking and appeals of Inspector

decisions and limited oversight over the State Mine Inspector.

BM-LB/nt