[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2769 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2769

 To establish improved mandatory standards to protect and enhance the 
                           health of miners.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 19, 2007

Mr. George Miller of California (for himself, Mr. Rahall, Ms. Woolsey, 
  Mr. Murtha, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Chandler, Mr. Hare, Mr. Bishop of New 
York, Mr. Mollohan, Mr. Payne, Mr. Holt, Mr. Sarbanes, and Mr. Yarmuth) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To establish improved mandatory standards to protect and enhance the 
                           health of miners.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Miner Health Enhancement Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) essential standards to protect miner health established 
        by the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 are out of 
        date after 40 years, posing a significant threat to miner 
        safety and health; and
            (2) whereas the Secretary of Labor has failed in recent 
        years to adequately fulfill the Secretary's obligations under 
        the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 801 
        et seq.) to update these standards, additional Congressional 
        intervention is needed.

SEC. 3. AIR CONTAMINANTS.

    Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 811) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Notwithstanding the other requirements of this section, not 
later than 30 days of the enactment of the Miner Health Enhancement Act 
of 2007, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health 
(NIOSH) shall forward to the Secretary its Recommended Exposure Limits 
(RELs) for chemical and other hazards to miners, along with the 
research data and other necessary information. Within 30 days of 
receipt of this information, the Secretary shall require the Mine 
Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) to adopt such recommended 
exposure limits as the Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) for 
application in the mining industry. NIOSH shall annually submit to the 
Secretary any additional or revised recommended exposure limits for all 
hazardous substances utilized in the mining industry, and the Secretary 
shall be obligated to adopt such exposure limits as PELs for 
application in the mining industry within 30 days of receipt of such 
information. Nothing in this subsection shall limit the ability of 
NIOSH to make such recommendations more frequently than 1 time per 
year, nor limit MSHA from establishing requirements for chemical and 
other substances in the mining industry that are more comprehensive and 
protective than those established pursuant to this subsection and in 
accordance with the other requirements of this section.''.

SEC. 4. ASBESTOS.

    Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 811) is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) The health standard for asbestos established by the 
Occupational Safety and Health Administration that is set forth in 
section 1910.1001 of title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, or any 
subsequent revision of that regulation, shall be adopted by the Mine 
Safety and Health Administration for application in the mining industry 
not later than 30 days of the enactment of the Miner Health Enhancement 
Act of 2007.''.

SEC. 5. HAZARD COMMUNICATION.

    Section 101 of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (30 
U.S.C. 811) is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(h) Unless and until there is additional rulemaking pursuant to 
the requirements of this section, the Secretary shall apply the 
provisions of the interim final rule of October 3, 2000, concerning 
hazard communication, in lieu of the final rule of June 21, 2002, 
concerning hazard communication.''.
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