Comprehensive Mine Safety Bill Heads to President’s Desk

WASHINGTON, D.C. – By an overwhelming vote of 381-37, the U.S. House today backed the most comprehensive reforms to mine safety laws in a generation.  The Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act (S. 2803) – already passed by the U.S. Senate late last month – now heads to President Bush’s desk.  He is expected to sign the measure into law. 

Swift passage of the measure came as a result of an agreement struck recently by House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), 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.  The Members agreed to act quickly on the Senate-passed legislation, ensuring long-awaited reforms could become law as soon as possible.

“The MINER Act’s reforms strike a unique balance – one that has garnered substantial support in Congress and from both labor and industry,” said McKeon.  “Our nation’s miners and their families deserve quick action on these important reforms from Congress, and I’m pleased we were able to advance this bill to President Bush for his signature.”

Passage of the reform legislation comes on the heels of a thorough series of hearings and briefings held by the House 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 noted that the series 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.

“I’m proud of the way our Committee has deliberately and thoughtfully considered ways to enhance the safety of America’s miners,” McKeon concluded.  “Because of our panel’s thorough action, we had an opportunity to modernize mine safety law for the first time in a generation.  I’m pleased my colleagues joined me today in seizing that opportunity.”

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

Modernized Safety Practices

The MINER Act will:

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

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

·         Require strengthened seals for abandoned sections of mines;

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

·         Start an interagency working group to provide a formal means of sharing non-classified technology that would have applicability to mine safety.

Enhanced Communications Technology

The MINER Act will:

·         Establish 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 will:

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

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

·         Give 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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