ROCKEFELLER, MILLER, MANCHIN, RAHALL CALL ON DOL TO MAINTAIN FOCUS ON MINE SAFETY CASES
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Jay Rockefeller, Congressman George Miller, Senator Joe Manchin, and Congressman Nick Rahall today announced that they are pushing the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to maintain a strong focus on mine safety as the agency considers spending cuts.
In a letter to DOL’s Acting Secretary, the Members pushed back on DOL’s sequestration plans that would disproportionately cut the Solicitor of Labor’s efforts to reduce the backlog of appeals at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.
Click here to read the letter the four Members sent to the Acting Secretary.
The backlog of appeals of health and safety violations from mining companies has weakened the deterrent effect of mine safety citations and their penalties, and also undermined efforts to penalize mines that have repeat safety violations. To help rectify this, Congress appropriated $22 million through the Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 to reduce the backlog of appeals at the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.
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