NMA Says Safety is Mining’s Highest Obligation; Suggests
Additional Actions that can be Taken Now
U.S. mining pledged its full resources and commitment to better protect the nation’s miners at an April 27 hearing before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. “That is the responsibility American mining owes all who work in our mines, and it is the debt we owe those who perished at the Upper Big Branch Mine,” said Bruce Watzman, senior vice president for regulatory affairs at the National Mining Association (NMA).
“We do not accept mine tragedies are inevitable,” Watzman continued. “Both operators and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) have a shared responsibility to ensure a safe workplace,” Watzman testified. “That shared responsibility led to dramatic improvement in mine safety, including record-breaking safety performance for the past two consecutive years. Nonetheless, the loss of life at the Upper Big Branch Mine calls our progress into question.”
Watzman emphasized the primary responsibility for mine safety rests with mine operators and noted that while all await the investigative results of the Upper Big Branch tragedy, there are steps that can be taken now to further meet the obligations of both mine operators and government regulators.
Watzman proposed four specific areas for increased attention and resources: a focus on risk-based safety performance through programs that share the best-of-the-best in safety performance with all of U.S. mining; a proper utilization of MSHA’s enforcement powers; the need to bring consistency and clarity to the inspection and citation process and the elimination of the existing backlog of contested safety violations; and the importance of a complete and impartial investigation of what happened at the Upper Big Branch mine.
A complete copy of Watzman’s testimony is available at: Bruce Watzman Testimony.
President Obama Eulogizes Fallen Miners, Lays Out Plan for
Safety Examination
President Obama on April 25 delivered a eulogy for the 29 miners who lost their lives at an explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine earlier in April.
“Day after day, they would burrow into the coal, the fruits of their labor, what so often we take for granted: the electricity that lights up a convention center; that lights up our church or our home, our school, our office; the energy that powers our country; the energy that powers the world,” President Obama said at a memorial service for the fallen miners.
Vowing to take a hard look at mine safety rules and regulations, the president asked “How can we fail them? How can a nation that relies on its miners not do everything in its power to protect them? How can we let anyone in this country put their lives at risk by simply showing up to work; by simply pursuing the American Dream?”
Earlier this month, the president said safety law, regulation and oversight must be improved “to help ensure that mining companies no longer use a strategy of endless litigation to evade their responsibilities.”
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden on April 15, the president said he had directed Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and officials at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to lead an investigation into the Upper Big Branch mine accident that claimed the lives of 29 miners on April 5. Their focus, said the president, will be to work with Congress to “strengthen enforcement of existing laws and close loopholes that permit companies to shirk their responsibilities.”
He also ordered an investigation into the procedures, capabilities and authorities of MSHA – “to take a hard look at our own practices and procedures” so the agency can manage effective mine safety oversight.
The president specifically emphasized the citation contest process and the backlog of cases pending before the MSHA Review Commission and directed the secretary to immediately streamline the regulations implementing the Pattern of Violation process under section 104(e) of the Mine Act.
A complete copy of President Obama’s April 25 memorial service remarks is available at: Remarks by the President at Memorial Service.
A complete copy of President Obama’s April 15 remarks on mine safety is available at: Remarks by the President on Mine Safety.
Senate Democrats Scrambling to Save Climate Change Bill
After Graham Bolts Over Immigration Reform Plan
Plans for a Senate vote on climate change legislation being developed by Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) have been thrown into serious doubt over a contentious fight on whether and when the Senate should attempt to pass an immigration reform package.
The loss of Graham’s support would likely be a fatal blow to the bill’s chances, as Graham is seen as a key player in efforts to win some Republican support to offset expected anti-climate votes by some centrist Democrats.
Prior to a scheduled April 26 unveiling of the climate bill, Graham announced in an April 24 letter that he was abandoning his efforts to work with Kerry and Lieberman, expressing outrage that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had decided to push an immigration bill before the climate bill.
In his April 24 letter, sent to business and conservation groups the three senators consulted with in crafting the bill, Graham charged that moving forward “on immigration – in this hurried, panicked manner – is nothing more than a cynical political ploy.”
“I deeply regret that election year politics will impede, if not derail, our efforts to make our nation energy independent,” Graham said in his letter.
Days later Reid relented and said the climate bill would move first, given that it is much more developed than the immigration bill.
Reid’s move, however, wasn’t enough to satisfy Graham who has taken a harder line, saying he opposes any plan to move an immigration bill this year and will withhold his support for a Senate climate vote unless Reid drops immigration completely.
The possible timing for action on the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman climate bill remains unclear. Both Kerry and Lieberman said this week that they are focused on getting Graham back in the fold and are not considering moving forward without him.
Rep. Boucher Objects to EPA Guidelines for Appalachian
Coal Mining; Asks for Suspension
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) recently wrote to senior Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials expressing “strong opposition” to guidelines the agency recently released affecting coal mining permits in Appalachia.
Boucher asked the agency to suspend implementation of the guidelines immediately and conduct a formal rulemaking process to properly assess impacts of the new policy on mining and to solicit public comment.
“I am concerned that the water quality standards [in the guidelines] have grave implications for the Virginia mining industry,” said the chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee.
A copy of Rep. Boucher’s letter is available at: Rep. Boucher Letter to EPA.
Sen. Reid Vows to Block Mining Law Reform Bills
The Associated Press (AP) recently reported that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) intends to block votes on separate Mining law reform bills proposed by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), chair of the House Natural Resources Committee, and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), chair of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
According to the AP, at an April 7 meeting with mining industry representatives, Reid said Rahall’s bill in particular would kill mining and wouldn’t go anywhere as long as he’s majority leader.
“We have people who want to get rid of mining,” Reid said. “I have a good feeling about this industry. Times are good and the price of gold is good, but mining is cyclical. We need to support the industry in good times.”
Reid, who faces a tough re-election fight this year, said if he’s not re-elected, the likely candidates to replace him as Senate majority leader would not be “friends of mining” as he is. “I don’t know anybody in Congress who knows as much about mining as I do,” he said. “I am happy to work for mining.”
Public opinion research from six national polling organizations from 1958 to 2010 show “trust of the government in Washington” fell in October 2008 to match the lowest level seen in fifty years.
