Page 36 - Advances In Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

22 Advances in Productive, Safe, and Responsible Coal Mining

Embracing surface coal mines as well as underground coal mines.
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Requiring two complete inspections of surface coal mines each year.
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Requiring four complete inspections of underground coal mines each year.
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Increasing enforcement powers.
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Authorizing monetary penalties for all violations.
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l Authorizing criminal penalties for knowing and/or willful violations.
l Establishing comprehensive safety standards for all coal mines.
l Adopting new health standards for all coal mines.
l Authorizing compensation for miners with total disability due to lung disease caused by
respiratory dust.
Following another major disaster at the Scotia Mine in Kentucky in 1976 (26 fatalities
in two explosions over 3 days), coupled with a parity of total fatalities per year
between coal mines and noncoal mines, the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977
was passed with the following major changes:

l Transferred the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA) from the Depart-
ment of Interior to the Department of Labor and renamed it the Mine Safety and Health
Administration (MSHA).
l Promulgated comprehensive safety and health regulations for noncoal mines.
l Expanded the rights of miners.
l Provided better protection from retaliation for miners exercising their safety rights.
l Established the Mine Safety and Health Review Commission to allow independent review of
MSHA enforcement actions, as necessary or on appeal.
As mentioned previously, the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act
was passed in 2006 following major fatality events in 2005, one of which resulted in
12 miners perishing while housed in a barricaded area in the Sago Mine in West Vir-
ginia. Aimed at providing regulations and new technology to enhance escapeability or
safe housing of miners who cannot escape an underground coal mine following an
explosion or fire, significant changes include the following:
l Required current emergency response plans, to be reviewed every 6 months by MSHA.
l Promoted use of equipment and technology commercially available in mines to enhance
escape and/or survival.
l Required implementation of wireless 2-way communications and electronic tracking sys-
tems within 3 years.
l Required each mine to have two experienced rescue teams capable of responding within 1 h.
l Required operators to notify MSHA within 15min of any accident that had reasonable risk of
death.
l Raised the criminal penalty cap to $250,000 for a first offense and $500,000 for second
offense, and established a maximum civil penalty of $220,000 for a flagrant violation.
l Gave MSHA authority to request an injunction to shut down a mine when the mine has
refused to pay a final order penalty.
l Established other grant programs, a scholarship program, and an interagency work group to
enhance mine safety.
In addition to enforcing new legislation and the resulting regulations, MSHA also pur-
sues regulatory reform and uses special initiatives to enhance mine safety and health in