Purpose and scope.

    (a) This subpart implements the provisions of section 115(e) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, as amended by the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006. Every operator of an underground coal mine shall assure the availability of mine rescue capability for purposes of emergency rescue and recovery.
    (b) The following Table 49.11 summarizes the new requirements for mine rescue teams contained in section 4 of the MINER Act.

Table 49.11.--Summary of New MINER Act Requirements for Underground Coal Mine Operators and Mine Rescue Teams
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                                                             Type of mine rescue team
           Requirement           -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                       Mine-site           Composite           Contract        State-sponsored *
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Team members must participate at  YES...............  YES...............  YES...............  YES.
 least annually in two local
 mine rescue contests.
Team members must participate in  Annually..........  Semi-annually.....  Quarterly at Large  Annually.
 mine rescue training at each                                              Mines; Semi-
 mine covered by the mine rescue                                           annually at Small
 team. A portion of the training                                           Mines.
 must be conducted underground.
Team must be available at the     YES...............  YES...............  YES...............  YES.
 mine within 1 hour ground
 travel time from the mine
 rescue station.
Team members must be              YES...............  YES...............  YES...............  YES.
 knowledgeable about the
 operations and ventilation of
 each covered mine.
Team must include at least two    ..................  YES...............  ..................  ..................
 active employees from each
 covered large mine and at least
 one active employee from each
 covered small mine.
 Team must be comprised of         ..................  ..................  YES...............  ..................
 persons with a minimum of 3
 years underground coal mine
 experience that shall have
 occurred within the 10-year
 period preceding their
 employment on the contract mine
 rescue team.
All mine operators must provide
 for two certified mine rescue
 teams. Large mine operators
 shall provide one team that is
 either an individual mine-site
 mine rescue team or a composite
 team.
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