From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will hold a hearing on a proposal that would require coal-mine operators to have two certified mine-rescue teams.

Team members would have to live within an hour of their meeting point to respond to an emergency and would be required to have practical experience underground and knowledge of their mine's operations and ventilation systems.

Mandatory training for rescue-team members also would increase from 40 to 64 hours annually. Teams also would be required to participate in two mine-rescue contests each year.

A second hearing will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. on MSHA's proposed rule that requires underground coal, metal and nonmetal mines to upgrade the equipment available to mine-rescue teams.

The rule would require that mine-rescue team members get two additional hours of oxygen from their self-contained breathing apparatuses and receive better detectors to measure potentially dangerous gases that could be encountered during rescue operations. MSHA developed the proposed rules in response to the MINER Act of 2006, passed by Congress in response to three coal-mine disasters early that year. Other hearings on the proposed rules are scheduled in the next 10 days in Lexington, Ky., Charleston, W.Va., and Birmingham, Ala.

- Mike Gorrell