On June 30, 2023, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) made publicly available a proposed rule that would amend existing federal standards with respect to occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica, or silica dust. The stated purpose of the proposed rule is to better protect miners against occupational exposure to silica dust and improve respiratory protection for all…
In an effort to reduce accidents and fatalities within the mining industry, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) recently implemented an “Enhanced Enforcement Program” aimed at truck drivers and supervisors.[1] The program will be part of regular surface and underground mine inspections, with the added potential for special assessments for cited violations listed within the program.…
On June 8, 2022, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) launched the “Silica Enforcement Initiative” to better protect miners from health hazards related to repeated over-exposure to respirable crystalline silica (silica dust).[1] The new program focuses on four areas for improvement: mine inspections, silica sampling, compliance assistance for mines, and the reinforcement of on-site…
On May 11, 2022, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a decision by the Federal Mine Safety Health & Review Commission (“Commission”) that a mine operator provided advanced notice of an MSHA inspection during events that occurred in April 2012. KenAmerica Resources, Inc. v. Sec’y of Labor, 2022 WL 1483988 (May 11, 2022).
Factually, the case involved a situation where MSHA received an…
On September 9, 2021, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) published a new proposed rule requiring mine operators to develop and implement written safety programs for their powered haulage equipment used at surface mines and surface areas of underground mines (“surface mobile equipment”).
Who is impacted by the proposed rule?
The newly proposed rule applies to both operators…
On May 27, 2020, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) unceremoniously canceled the Program Policy Letter (“PPL”) published on July 29, 2019, intended to clarify requirements in 30 C.F.R. § 57.11050. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-05-27/pdf/2020-11300.pdf. The stated intent of the PPL was to provided metal/nonmetal underground mine operators with guidance on placement of…
On May 14, 2020, Senator Joseph Manchin, III (D-WV), along with co-sponsors, Richard Durbin (D-IL), Timothy Kaine (D-VA), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Douglas Jones (D-AL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Robert Casey (D-PA), introduced a Bill to require the Secretary of Labor to promulgate Emergency Temporary Standards (“ETS”) within 7 days of passage to protect miners in coal or…
On April 16, 2020, MSHA held its (rescheduled) quarterly stakeholder call to address regulatory and enforcement updates across the industry. As with most other recent updates from government agencies, the MSHA call was dominated by conversations surrounding the agency’s response to and regulatory actions regarding the novel coronavirus or COVID-19. However, there were substantive updates on…
On Tuesday, April 7, 2020, the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training (the “WVOMHST”) issued a letter to the Secretary of State of West Virginia, Mac Warner, informing him that the WVOMHST will be suspending the requirements related to preemployment and random breath tests for alcohol as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Governor Jim Justice declared a statewide State of…
On July 29, 2019, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (“MSHA”) published a Program Policy Letter (“PPL”) and request for comments in the Federal Register. (84 Fed. Reg. 36623). It is important to note that this letter was intended as interpretive guidance to existing policy and not a…
After years of back and forth, public hearings, stakeholder meetings, and anxiety over the requirements of 30 C.F.R. §§ 56/57.18002, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down MSHA’s currently enforced 2018 Workplace Examination Rule on June 11, 2019, in a challenge brought by…