Rep. George Miller: Final Mine Safety Rule Will Better Protect Miners' Lives, But Work Far from Completed
WASHINGTON – Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), the senior Democratic member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued the following statement after the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration finalized a proposal today to close loopholes in the agency’s “pattern of violation” sanctions regulations that have allowed some mine operations to escape tougher penalties and face potential closure orders for a sustained pattern of health and safety violations.
“I applaud the Mine Safety and Health Administration’s reforms that will hold habitual violators accountable for putting miners’ lives in unnecessary peril. The Upper Big Branch mine explosion was a tragic lesson of what happens when the most dangerous mines are allowed to operate despite a sustained pattern of health and safety violations,” said Miller. “With today’s final rule, two loopholes that some mine operators exploited to the detriment of workers’ lives and limbs have been closed.
“But our work to modernize miner safety protections is far from complete. It is Congress’s responsibility to enact further commonsense reforms that will protect miners and incentivize mines owners to implement a culture of safety. I continue to stand ready to work with Chairman Kline, the Senate and the Obama administration on reasonable approaches to address the many lessons learned from the Upper Big Branch and other tragedies inflicted on our nation’s miners.”
Then-Chairman Miller held the first hearing in February 2010 – six weeks before the Upper Big Branch mine explosion – examining the flood of mine operator appeals of health and safety violations, which were preventing the use of the pattern of violations sanctions for some of the nation’s most dangerous mines. The hearing found that mine operators were contesting two-thirds of all fines, creating an enormous backlog of cases, which delayed stronger sanctions under the previous pattern of violation regulations.
In response, the Democratic majority at the time added additional resources to reduce the backlog of cases and proposed legislation (The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act) to close this dangerous loophole, among other important safety reforms. Miller expects to reintroduce this comprehensive safety legislation this year.
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