How Byrd Changed the Rules
- By Jerry Laws
- Apr 01, 2008
In March 2007, we told you why the “belt
air” controversy still raged, 30 years after
passage of the Mine Act. Six months later
came a MINER Act technical study panel’s
recommendation to continue use of belt
air—the practice of ventilating work areas
in an underground coal mine via the shaft
through which a conveyor belt moves coal
to the surface—but only as long as MSHA
district managers take special care to evaluate
whether it can be used safely for all
miners involved.
It took U.S. Sen. Robert Byrd, the West
Virginia Democrat who chairs the powerful
Appropriations Committee, to put teeth into
that recommendation. Dean of the Senate
and master of its rules, Byrd made sure an
extra $45 million went to mine safety when
President Bush signed the Fiscal Year 2008
omnibus appropriations bill into law on Dec.
26, 2007. Byrd added language that gives
MSHA until June 20 to rewrite its belt air
rule as the panel suggested; the practice will
be barred except in limited cases approved by
the head of MSHA. Byrd’s language also
requires MSHA to get refuge chambers into
the mines quickly. Both new rules must be
finalized by Dec. 31, 2008.
“Changes need to be made at MSHA that
will result in safer mines,” said Byrd, who
convened an Appropriations Committee
hearing into MSHA’s performance last fall
and knew MSHA’s coal mine inspection rate
had declined in his state. Adding $34 million
to the agency’s 2008 budget lets it hire more
inspectors and achieve its goal of 100 percent
in mine inspections this year. The other $11
million went to NIOSH for its ongoing work
on new emergency breathing devices, communications,
and tracking equipment.
“I have heard from the federal inspectors
in my state about the need for additional
resources and staff, and I am doing my best
to help. They have my gratitude and deserve
our continued support, as well as commendation
for their dedication to saving lives,”
Byrd said. “I am hopeful that we will look
back on this period and see that mine safety
took a major leap forward.”
His maneuver wasn’t an earmark,
although it would fall under Bush’s Jan. 29
executive order to corral earmarks. What
Byrd did also wasn’t “bridge to nowhere”
appropriation pork. Our longest-serving
senator did the right thing to resolve the belt
air controversy and push miners’ safety onto
a better track.
This article originally appeared in the April 2008 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.
About the Author
Jerry Laws is Editor of Occupational Health & Safety magazine, which is owned by 1105 Media Inc.