Underground Coal Mine Ventilation-Safety Standards for the Use of a Belt Entry as an Intake Air Course To Ventilate Working Sections and Areas Where Mechanized Mining Equipment Is Being Installed or Removed

On April 2, 2004, the Mine Safety and Health Administration published a final rule revising underground coal mine ventilation standards to allow the use of air traveling in the belt entry to ventilate working sections or areas where mechanized mining equipment is being installed or removed. The International Union, United Mine Workers of America and Jim Walter Resources, Inc. challenged the rule. On May 24, 2005, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued an opinion denying the Union's petition for review and granting the petition of Jim Walter Resources, Inc. Jim Walter Resources, Inc.'s petition challenged the Secretary of Labor's promulgation of 30 Code of Federal Regulations section 75.350(a)(2), which, under certain circumstances, set a velocity cap of 500 feet per minute in the belt entry of underground coal mines. This document provides notice of, and effectuates, the Court's opinion to vacate paragraph (a)(2) of section 75.350 and remand the matter to the Secretary of Labor.