How to Read and Reference 30 CFR The Mine Health and Safety Act ©Feb 2003 Dr. Bradley C Paul Revised 2007

The Big Structure The Mine Health and Safety Act of 1977 brought together several previous mine safety laws that dealt with metal and coal separately –Still see the divided structure in the regulations today –Law moved Enforcement from the Department of Interior, US Bureau of Mines to the Department of Labor and established MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration)

The Act The law provides many health and safety details rather than setting up a mechanism and then later an agency legislate through CFR –Title I Identifies Mandatory Health and Safety Standards, provides for Inspections and Enforcement Also covers judicial review injunctions etc. The law specifically requires miner training

The Act Law specified how it was to be transitioned in –Title II Covered Interim standards –Title III Covered Interim standards for coal mines (coal and metal demarcation continued) Title 4 Established Black Lung Benefits –some budget reauthorization have had to alter a bit to provide funding

The Act Title 5 was Administration –Established research, training and qualification of inspectors –Specified how program would interact with then existing State health and safety legislation Addendum at the end deals with miscellaneous clean up CFR started with some clear legally defined mandates (SMCRA same vintage same feature)

How to Read CFR Code of Federal Regulations is divided into Titles –CFR deals with everything the government regulates so titles get you to your subject area –Titles are given numbers –Mine Safety and Health Act Regulations are in Title 30 of the Code of Federal Regulations

Reading CFR Titles are subdivided into parts –Mine Safety and Health Act regulations are in 30 CFR parts 1 to 199 –Parts are in turn divided into numerically labeled series Many parts of the regulations cover similar or related subject matter –parts are grouped together under Subchapter Headings –Subchapter Headings are labeled A, B, C etc.

Subchapters Subchapter O Covers Coal Mine Health and Safety Standards –Subchapter O contains parts 70, 71, 72, 74, 75, 77, and 90 Note that CFR Titles are frequently missing letters of the alphabet, and the parts they contain are missing numbers –This is to provide room for expansion without things jumping wildly through the code books

Subchapters and References Subchapters function as indices to help people find the subject they wish to search –One knows that all parts under Subchapter O will pertain only to coal mines Each part of CFR also has letter designations called subparts that group similar series together –30 CFR part series regs are under subpart C and cover roof control

The Structure Titles (Title 30 is MSHA) Part (1 to 199) Series Titles (Title 30 is MSHA) RelatedParts SeriesRelated

Subchapters and References Subchapters are not shown in citations to CFR –CFR citations are all numbers –The Letter Subchapters are not shown –30 CFR part 75 is health and safety standards for underground coal mines Subpart letter designations are also not shown –30 CFR part is part of the 1700 series and 1719 covers illumination standards for underground coal mines