[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 99 (Tuesday, June 19, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7896-S7897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. Byrd):
  S. 1655. A bill to establish improved mandatory standards to protect 
miners during emergencies, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, last year, the Nation was stunned by the 
terrible tragedies at the Sago, Alma, and Darby mines. Those disasters 
exposed the many failures in our laws on mine safety and mine health, 
and made clear that it is essential to bring these protections into the 
modern world.
  Last year, Congress came together to take a vital step toward 
protecting the Nation's miners with the passage of the MINER Act, which 
addressed critical lapses in mine safety and accident response, but 
advances in scientific research and technological development show us 
that there is much more to be done. In part through the new scrutiny 
that is taking place under the MINER Act, we have learned a great deal 
more about what puts miners in danger and how to prevent it.
  We need to begin to address these other pressing safety and health 
needs. That is why today I am introducing the Miner Health and Safety 
Enhancement Act of 2007.
  There is much we can do in the area of mine safety emergencies to 
increase miners' chances of survival, and this legislation encourages 
the development of technologies to do so. It requires stronger seal 
barriers to protect miners from explosions in hazardous mining areas. 
It also requires mine companies to adopt more sophisticated 
communications technology to stay in touch with miners underground, and 
to install rescue chambers to protect miners in the event of an 
explosion or fire.
  The bill does more to eliminate dangerous conditions in mines before 
they harm miners, by banning the unsafe practice of ventilating mines 
in the same passageway as coal-dust laden conveyor belts. This 
practice, unfortunately, has been approved by the Bush administration, 
and it contributed to the tragic fire at Alma mine last year.
  Other reforms are essential as well. Establishing a national call 
center can quickly coordinate emergency information and enhance mine 
rescue and recovery operations. To see that accident investigations are 
objective and thorough, the legislation requires an independent 
investigation to be conducted if miners or their families ask for one.
  Successful prevention depends also on the willingness of miners to 
tell the truth about their working conditions. Safeguards are needed to 
allow them to speak out about on-the-job hazards without fearing for 
their jobs. The bill establishes an independent ombudsman, so miners' 
safety complaints can be heard and fully addressed, without 
jeopardizing miners who blow the whistle on job hazards.
  Tragically, we continue to see miners developing symptoms of black 
lung disease and other deadly respiratory illnesses of the past. To 
protect them, the bill requires operators to provide miners with 
personal dust monitors developed and certified by the National 
Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. To make underground air 
safer, the bill adopts the Institute's levels for exposure to coal 
dust, silica dust, and other air contaminants. It also adopts the 
higher OSHA standard for asbestos. We cannot continue to allow miners 
to work without the protection of these important health standards.
  Mining is an essential industry, and the nation's miners deserve the 
safest possible working conditions. We have a responsibility to see 
that our mine safety laws make our mines the safest and healthiest in 
the world. America's miners deserve no less. I urge my colleagues to 
support the Mine Health and Safety Enhancement Act of 2007.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I am pleased to cosponsor the Miner Health 
and Safety Enhancement Act of 2007.
  It is critical that the Congress continue to review the statutory 
safeguards for our Nation's coal miners. I want to do everything I can 
to encourage that effort.
  Given reports recently about alarmingly aggressive cases of black 
lung around southern West Virginia, the Congress ought to seriously 
consider new standards for dust monitoring and control. I also support 
the bill's language requiring the installation of atmospheric 
monitoring systems in underground coal mines and requiring the Mine 
Safety and Health Administration, MSHA, to randomly test emergency 
breathing devices every 6 months.
  I also very much support provisions in the bill that would clarify 
the intentions of the MINER Act and require the Department of Labor to 
issue regulations mandating the installation of refuge chambers and 
restricting the use of belt-air ventilation.
  These are all good initiatives and something that the Congress should 
be advocating to ensure safer working conditions for miners. 
Nevertheless, I do have reservations about some of the provisions in 
the Miner Health and Safety Enhancement Act, which I hope can be 
addressed before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, 
HELP, Committee takes any action on this legislation.
  The MINER Act that the Congress passed last year set a deadline 
requiring coal operators to install wireless emergency communications 
and tracking equipment by June 2009. In order to meet this deadline, 
the Congress appropriated $23 million through the fiscal year 2008 for 
NIOSH to expedite its research of emergency communications and 
tracking.
  It is important that the Congress adhere closely to that schedule. To 
suddenly rewrite it, mandating the installation of technologies before 
NIOSH has completed its research, could undermine the intentions of the 
MINER Act and complicate the efforts of MSHA and the Congress to ensure 
timely compliance. Let us not revisit timelines that have already been 
resolved and where implementation has already begun. It is better for 
the Congress to hold operators to the schedule outlined in the MINER 
Act and to allow NIOSH to perform the critical research that has 
already been mandated and funded.
  The Congress should continue to exercise its oversight function to 
ensure rapid implementation of the MINER

[[Page S7897]]

Act and also to review non-MINER Act priorities to ensure statutory 
safeguards are adequate. I proudly join the sponsors of this bill in 
that endeavor.
                                 ______