March 18, 2006
 
RAHALL REPORT: Congress Must Act on Mining Safety Legislation
 
From the desk of U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)
Representing West Virginia's 3rd District
 
Washington, D.C. (HNN) -- This week I testified at a Congressional mine safety hearing, urging my colleagues to act expeditiously on legislation introduced by the entire West Virginia Congressional Delegation in the wake of the State's recent mine tragedies.
 
This bill is the opportunity for this Congress to demonstrate that the lessons learned from the tragedies earlier this year at the Sago, Melville, and two other mining operations in West Virginia are not falling on deaf ears.
 
The "Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 2006", H.R. 4695, reflects what I, and many others, view as a common-sense approach to dealing with the most immediate and pressing shortcomings of the current mine safety regulatory regime, administered by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The simple fact of the matter is that current MSHA regulations and policies are woefully inadequate on several fronts, such as their neglect of advances in technologies that could be deployed to increase the survival of coal miners involved in emergency situations.
 
H.R. 4695 would enhance rescue requirements, resurrecting a proposed rule rejected by this Administration in 2001 to mandate that each operator be required to maintain emergency air supplies and self-contained breathing equipment at strategic locations within the mine for persons awaiting rescue. Operators would also be required to provide electronic tracking devices with the ability to communicate with those above the surface. Mines would house locations with independent communications systems to the surface, and mine rescue team members would be required to be familiar with the mine.
 
In preventative efforts, the legislation stipulates that MSHA reaffirm its prohibition of using entries which contain conveyer belts to ventilate work areas in underground coal mines. This long-standing prohibition was weakened by an April 2004 rulemaking. This method of ventilation was in use at the Melville mine.
 
The legislation establishes an Office of Science and Technology Transfer to conduct research and advance new technologies to protect miners. A new avenue for confidential reporting of mine safety and health violations would be created in the form of an ombudsman. And civil penalties for health and safety standard violations would increase.
 
For America, which has long led the world in promoting workplace health and safety, the recent mine tragedies have been something of a black eye. They have highlighted advances abroad and a lack of sufficient innovation here at home. With the know-how of this nation, overcoming the technology hurdle is a small challenge, nudged along by regulation called for in this bill.
 
It is my hope that my colleagues in Congress will move this legislation through quickly. The tragedies of Sago and Alma may fade from the national news, but the sense of urgency to enact change should not falter. The families of our lost miners, and all of our coal miners still toiling underground, deserve nothing less.