Miners’ union calls provision in House bill ‘a direct attack’ on coal miners

Triangle, VA — A legislative attempt to block federal enforcement of a rule intended to protect miners from exposure to silica is “morally reprehensible,” United Mine Workers of America President Cecil Roberts says.

The provision is included in the House Appropriation Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill – released June 26. The bill was approved with a 31-25 vote during a July 10 markup and advanced to the House floor.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration final rule, published April 18 and in effect since June 17, lowers the permissible exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air over an 8-hour-time weighted average. That’s half the previous limit and matches the PEL OSHA established in 2016.

MSHA estimates the rule will save nearly 1,100 lives and prevent more than 3,700 cases of silica-related illness.

The appropriations bill, however, states that “none of the funds made available by this act may be used to administer, implement or enforce the proposed rule entitled ‘Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection.’”

In a press release, Roberts calls the “dangerous provision” a “direct attack on the health and safety of coal miners.”

He adds: “MSHA’s silica standard aims to reduce the amount of deadly silica dust in mine atmospheres, which is crucial for combating the worsening epidemic of black lung disease. It is difficult for me to understand how certain members of Congress could possibly be supportive of more miners dying a suffocating death as a result of being forced to breathe this dust.”

During the markup, Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), chair of the Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, aimed to “confront the criticisms of this bill” outright.

“We’re going to be told, as we move throughout the process today, that the cuts in this bill are draconian; that they’re excessive; that they’re harmful to workers, to students, to children, to the nation’s public health,” Aderholt said. “And I believe these statements couldn’t be further from the truth.

“The federal spending in this country is out of control. And while most of the growth in spending is mandatory and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the appropriations committee, as members of Congress, it remains our responsibility, first and foremost, to do what we can with the most powerful tools that are in our arsenal, and that would be appropriations.”

Vonda Robinson, vice president of the National Black Lung Association, joined Roberts in voicing her opposition of the legislation.

“Miners with black lung and their families have been fighting for protections from deadly silica dust for years,” Robinson said in a press release. “We know that those in the mines are getting sicker faster than ever because of silica dust, and we’re grateful MSHA finally took action to help.

“It’s very disheartening to see a handful of Washington politicians try and undo all this hard work on a whim. If this policy becomes law, it will put the lives of countless miners at risk. Mining families deserve better, and we urge Congress to throw out this dangerous policy and get to work helping miners, not making their lives much harder.”