President Signs Landmark Mine Safety Reforms

WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Bush today signed into law the most comprehensive mine safety reforms in a generation.  The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act (S. 2803) was passed overwhelmingly by both the House and Senate over the past several weeks.

“The President’s signature adds the final layer of support needed for these critical reforms to become the law of the land,” said Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Chairman of the House Education & the Workforce Committee. 

McKeon struck an agreement several weeks ago with Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Workforce Protections Subcommittee Chairman Charlie Norwood (R-GA), Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), other Members of the West Virginia and Kentucky delegations, and House Republican leaders to ensure swift House passage of the reform bill.

“In addition to the President’s strong support, the MINER Act’s reforms enjoy remarkable backing from both houses in Congress, from both parties, from labor, and from industry,” McKeon noted.  “I’m proud of the way the Education & the Workforce Committee and the Congress have deliberately and thoughtfully considered ways to enhance the safety of America’s miners.  Because of our swift and thorough action, we’ve modernized mine safety laws for the first time in a generation.”

The President’s signing of the MINER Act comes on the heels of a thorough series of hearings and briefings held by the Education & the Workforce Committee after this year’s tragedies at the Sago Mine in West Virginia, as well as other mines in West Virginia and Kentucky.  McKeon pointed to a need for better communications technology, modernized safety practices inside U.S. mines, and strengthening the enforcement of current mine safety laws – each addressed comprehensively by the MINER Act.

Below is a summary of the reforms achieved under the MINER Act:

Modernized Safety Practices

The MINER Act:

·         Makes certain mines develop and continuously update a written emergency response plan and requires each mine’s plan to be continuously reviewed, updated, and re-certified by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) every six months;

·         Doubles the amount of oxygen available to individual miners and requires mine operators to store extra oxygen packs along escape routes and to perform periodic checks on the devices;

·         Requires strengthened seals for abandoned sections of mines;

·         Launches a competitive grant program for new mine safety technology to be administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH);

·         Starts an interagency working group to provide a formal means of sharing non-classified technology with applicability to mine safety.

Enhanced Communications Technology

The MINER Act:

·         Establishes wireless two-way communications and an electronic tracking system within three years, permitting those on the surface to locate persons trapped underground.

Strengthening Current Mine Safety Laws

The MINER Act:

·         Ensures that all mine operators notify MSHA of all incidents or accidents which pose a reasonable risk of death within 15 minutes and sets a civil penalty of $5,000 to $60,000 for mine operators who fail to do so;

·         Raises the criminal penalty cap to $250,000 for first offenses and $500,000 for second offenses, as well as increases the maximum civil penalty for flagrant violations to $220,000; and

·         Gives MSHA the power to shut down a mine in cases where the mine has refused to pay a final order MSHA penalty.

For more information on efforts to ensure the safety of American miners, visit the Education & the Workforce Committee website at http://edworkforce.house.gov/issues/109th/workforce/msha/msha.htm.

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