[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 76 (Wednesday, June 14, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1149-E1150]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        MINE IMPROVEMENT AND NEW EMERGENCY RESPONSE ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. ROSCOE G. BARTLETT

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 17, 2006

  Mr. BARTLETT of Maryland. Mr. Speaker, we must encourage the 
development of new mine safety technologies and not hinder advances. 
Remember that when an accident occurs underground all power is shut off 
and our miners are working in the dark, perhaps unaware of what has 
taken place, and under stressful conditions.
  Recent discussions about advancing mine safety technology have 
focused on a few distinct areas including self-contained self-rescuers, 
emergency shelters, two-way communications equipment, tracking devices, 
and lifelines.
  Specifically, Mr. Speaker, I would like to address the references to 
self-contained self-rescuers in section 2 and section 6 of S. 2803. It 
is important to clarify that in no way should the requirements under 
section 2 discourage improving the design of self-contained self-
rescuers.
  A self-contained self-rescuer, SCSR, is a respiratory device used by 
miners for the purpose of escape during mine fires and explosions; it 
provides the wearer a closed-circuit supply of breathable air for a 
period of time that varies from model to model.
  While the current MSHA regulations require that miners be provided 
with SCSRs that protect for a least 1 hour, some SCSRs on the market 
provide longer protection, approaching 2 hours, and research is under 
way to develop longer lasting SCSRs.
  Mr. Speaker, in a 2001 study, the National Institute for Occupational 
Safety and Health, NIOSH, reported that out of 214 miners surveyed 38 
percent had been notified to evacuate a mine because of fire or 
explosion during their career. Data provided by the U.S.

[[Page E1150]]

Mine Rescue Association indicates that the depletion of oxygen and the 
production of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide cause more fatalities 
than all other causes combined.
  Access to and proper operation of SCSRs is a matter of life and death 
to
  miners.
  The Office of Mine Safety and Health is established by section 6 of 
S. 2803, the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act of 2006. 
The purpose of this office is to enhance the development of new mine 
safety technology and to expedite its commercial availability and 
implementations.

  Mr. Speaker, section 2 of S. 2803 describes the components of an 
emergency response plan every coal mine must follow should an accident 
occur. Section 2(E)(iii)(II), refers to the hour of breathable air 
required by MSHA's new emergency temporary standard in addition to the 
hour already required by the mandatory SCSR standard. Beyond that, Mr. 
Speaker, the provision requires additional ``caches of self-rescuers 
providing in the aggregate not less than 2 hours per miner to be kept 
in escapeways from the deepest work area to the surface at a distance 
of no further than an average miner could walk in 30 minutes.''
  Mr. Speaker, my concern is that in placing the SCSRs the average 
distance that a miner can walk in 30 minutes may unintentionally 
discourage technical advances. I am also worried that the provision in 
this act may unintentionally result in less safety should it result in 
encouraging miners in emergency situations to remove SCSRs before they 
are depleted and struggle to don new SCSRs in smoke-filled or other 
toxic atmospheres. It is not our intention to lock, either, the 
Secretary of Labor, miners, or their employers into a misguided one-
size-fits-all solution. It is my intent that the Secretary would 
accommodate performance-based determinations of self-contained self-
rescuer locations, and not discourage development and deployment of 
advanced self-contained self-rescuer technologies that provide greater 
amounts of breathable air than currently available devices, which would 
protect miners for longer and would require fewer changes from a 
depleted unit to a fresh unit in hazardous atmospheres.
  Mr. Speaker, I would also encourage the Secretary to allow the use of 
appropriately constructed self-rescue transfer stations to be built in 
common locations between two parallel and adjacent escapeways. 
Providing a safe place to abandon old SCSRs and don new equipment 
during an evacuation will also improve the survivability of the miner.

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