Congress unveils new mine safety legislation, tougher penalties

Congress unveils new mine safety legislation, tougher penalties

Washington (Platts)--17May2006

While some states have passed mine safety legislation, congressional leaders
in the Senate and the House have yet to turn any proposals into action. But
members of the House and Senate introduced federal mine safety legislation on
Tuesday.

After holding several hearings on mine safety, it was "apparent that reform
legislation was needed," said Georgia Senator Charlie Norwood, chairman of the
House Workforce Protections Subcommittee.

"We have a bill that goes further then the West Virginia legislation
introduced in February," Tom Kiley, a spokesman for California Representative
George Miller, told Platts Tuesday.

West Virginia Representative Nick Rahall and Miller, urging the House Tuesday
to take immediate action on mine safety legislation, introduced a new bill.

The Protecting America's Miners Act would impose fines up to $1 million on
operators who show a pattern of violations that could lead to injury or death.
It would also raise minimum fines from $60 to $500 and maximums from $60,000
to $500,000.

The proposal calls for mine operators to use atmospheric detection and warning
systems that would alert miners to harmful and explosive gases, and require
two-way messaging systems, back-up telephone lines, and caches of
self-contained self-rescuers for escape or prolonged stays underground.

Language in the bill stipulates that mine-rescue teams must be located within
an hour of mines with fewer than 36 miners and be on site at larger mines. It
requires operators to notify the Mine Safety and Health Administration within
15 minutes of a serious accident and sets up an emergency call center.

It also requires MSHA to issue new rules addressing flammability of conveyor
belts, the effectiveness of coal mine seals and to adopt protective
requirements outlined by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health in order to eliminate respirable coal dust, the cause of black lung
disease.

The bill gives families of fatally injured miners the right to ask for an
investigation by an agency other than MSHA and establishes a user fee to be
paid by mining companies as the exclusive source of funding for government
compliance assistance.

All other MSHA funding would be used for law enforcement. This is necessary
because under the Bush administration, MSHA's focus has been on providing mine
operators with compliance assistance rather than enforcing the law,
legislators said.

Enzi introduces bill in Senate

Meanwhile, Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor
and Pensions Committee, and Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy introduced
the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act on Tuesday.

The Miner Act is similar to Rahall's bill in that it requires mine operators
to install two-way communications, electronic tracking systems, rescue teams
able to reach the mine in an hour and increases many civil and penalty fees.
Specifically, the Miner Act increases civil penalties from $5,000 to $60,000,
criminal caps rise to $250,000 for first offenses and $500,000 for the second
and the maximum civil penalty for flagrant violations would rise to $220,000.

The Miner Act would give MSHA the power to shut a mine if the company hasn't
paid the final order penalty. The bill would also require each mine's
emergency plan to be reviewed every six months.

The Senate committee plans to mark up the Miner Act on Wednesday, an Enzi
spokesman told Platts.

--Regina Johnson, regina_johnson@platts.com

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