Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 50 Part 1.djvu/101

 76 Right of producer to contest code provi- sions. Bituminous coal code. Comm issi on to p ro- mulgate provisions. Code members con- strued. C ond itio ns, pro vi- sions, and obligations. Organization. District boards of code members ; num- b e r . Board membership . -Notice of meeting, District board, com- position, etc . Elections. Proviso. Restriction. Em tative. ployee represen- Term of board mem- bers. Removals. Powers of district boards. 7 5TH CONG RESS , 1ST SESSION-CH. 127-APRIL 26, 1937 of any of them, for use in the performance of governmental functions. (f) No producer shall, by reason of his acceptance of the code provided for in section 4, or of the exemption from the tax provided in su bsection (b) in t his sect ion, be h eld to b e preclud ed or es topped from contesting the constitutionality of any provision of this Act or of the code, or the validity or application of either to him or to any part of the coal produced by him. BITUMINOUS CO AL CO DE SEC. 4. The provisions of this section shall be promulgated by the Commission as the "Bituminous Coal Code", and are herein referred to as the code. Producers accepting membership in the code as provided in s ec- tion 5 (a) shall be, and are herein referred to as, code members, and the provisions of such code shall apply only to such code members, except as otherwise provided by subsection (h) of part II of this sectio n. For the purpose of carrying out the declared policy of this Act, the code shall contain the following conditions and provisions, which are inten ded t o reg ulate inte rstat e com merce in b itumi nous coal and which shall be applicable only to matters and transaction s in or directly affecting interstate commerce in bituminous coal : PART I-O RGANIZATION (a) Twen ty-th ree d istri ct bo ards of co de me mbers shal l be organ - ized. Each district board shall consist of not less than three nor more than seventeen members. The number of members of the dis- trict board shall, subject to the approval of the Commiss ion, be determined by the majority vote of the district tonnage during the calendar year 1936 represented at a meeting of the code members of the district called for the purpose of such determination and for the election of such district board ; and all code members within the dis- trict shall be given notice of the time and place of the meeting. All but one of the members of the district board shall be code members or representatives of code members truly representative of all the mines of the district. The number of such producer members shall be an even number. One-half of such producer members shall be elected by the majority in number of the code members of the dis- trict represented at the aforesaid meeting. The other producer member s shall be electe d by vot es cast i n the pr oportion of the a nnual tonnage output of the code members in the district, for the calendar year preceding the date of the election : Provided, That not more than one officer or employee of any code member within a district shall be a member of the district board at the sa me time. The remaining member of each district board shall be selected by the organization of employees representing the preponderant number of employees in the industry of the district in question . The term of district board members shall be two years and until their successors are elected. The Commission shall have power to remove any mem- ber of any district board upon its finding, after due notice and hearin g, that said memb er is gu ilty of i nefficie ncy, will ful negl ect of duty, or malfeasance in office. The district boards shall have power to adopt bylaws and rules of procedure, subject to approval of the Commission, and to appoint officers from within or without their own membership, to fix their terms and compensation, to provide for reports, and to employ such committees, employees, arbitrators, and other persons necessary to