This office should not go so far as to conduct mine inspections, but should endeavor to strike up a close partnership with the federal Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA), possibly reviewing significant mining plans with assistance from independent technical advisors.

It would be the state's point agency in the event of a mine disaster and would serve as an ombudsman to handle whistle-blower calls about potential safety issues.

And it would help coordinate development of a mine safety and productivity research institute, enhanced training programs at the Western Energy Training Center and implementation of an upgraded seismic monitoring system in coal country.

Those were the key items among 45 recommendations by the Utah Mine Safety Commission, appointed by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. to review the state's role in coal mine safety, accident prevention and disaster response after nine miners died and six were injured in a pair of violent wall collapses in the Crandall Canyon mine.

MSHA's investigation of the disaster is ongoing, as is a U.S. Labor Department probe of MSHA's role in approving the mine's roof-control plan and overseeing the failed rescue effort.

The image problem of having MSHA investigate a tragedy in which it may have played a major role also prompted the commission to recommend that Utah join other coal states in urging Congress to consider establishing an independent mine accident investigation process, just as the National Transportation Safety Board reviews aviation accidents, not the Federal Aviation Administration.

Commission chairman Scott Matheson and member David Litvin, president of the Utah Mining Association, sparred verbally on numerous occasions while discussing 47 possible recommendations. The compromises reached did not include Matheson's preference for a state safety inspection program, but also overcame Litvin's objections to creating an Office of Coal Mine Safety and deferring taking a position on MSHA's investigation process.

"I was surprised that many went through," said Matheson, who will work through the weekend with a staff attorney to draft the formal recommendation that will go to the governor before the Legislature convenes Jan. 22.

Lawmakers would have to allocate funding - more than $1 million - for employees, to buy seismic equipment and to establish the research institute and an emergency response center near Price.