30 U.S.C. § 804 — Interim Compliance Panel

(a) Establishment; composition. The Interim Compliance Panel is established with five members: (1) the Assistant Secretary of Labor for Labor Standards of the Department of Labor, or that official’s delegate; (2) the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology of the Department of Commerce, or that official’s delegate; (3) the Administrator of the Consumer Protection and Environmental Health Service of the Department of Health and Human Services, or that official’s delegate; (4) the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines of the Department of the Interior, or that official’s delegate; and (5) the Director of the National Science Foundation, or that official’s delegate.\n\n(b) Compensation; travel and subsistence expenses. Panel members serve without compensation in addition to their regular pay. They may be reimbursed for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses they incur while performing the Panel’s duties.\n\n(c) Cooperation of Federal agencies. Despite any other law, the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Commerce, and the Interior, and the Secretary referred to in this chapter, must, when the Panel requests it, provide the personnel and other help that the Panel decides is necessary for carrying out its functions under this chapter.\n\n(d) Quorum; voting; selection of chairman. Three Panel members make a quorum for conducting business. All Panel decisions must be made by majority vote. The members must choose the chairman from among the Panel members.\n\n(e) Appointment of administrative law judges; applicable provisions. The Panel may appoint as many administrative law judges as are necessary for proceedings that must be conducted under this chapter. The provisions that apply to administrative law judges appointed under section 3105 of title 5 also apply to judges appointed under this subsection.\n\n(f) Functions; hearings; notice and review; termination; annual report. (1) The Panel must perform the duties assigned to it under this chapter. After giving notice, it must provide a public hearing if the operator of the affected coal mine or the representative of the mine’s miners requests one. An operator or miners’ representative who is harmed by a final Panel decision may file a petition to review that decision under section 816 of this title. The provisions of this entire section terminate when the Panel completes its functions under this chapter. Any hearing under this subsection must be on the record. The Panel must make findings of fact and issue a written decision that includes those findings, in accordance with section 554 of title 5. (2) Each year, the Panel must give the Secretary a written report for the Secretary to send to Congress. The report must concern how well the Panel has achieved its purposes and may include any other relevant information, including recommendations, that the Panel considers appropriate.