Some miner advocacy groups have criticized the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration s new rule aimed at reducing miner exposure to toxic silica dust as too weak. They say the rule relies too much on good-faith involvement from coal mine operators with a history of sampling violations.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new silica exposure limit for U.S. miners will have additional enforcement teeth, the chief of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Friday.
The National Black Lung Association not only lobbies for coal miners’ benefits, it also educates them about what’s available. And most don’t realize how hard it is to get benefits.
Explore the latest developments in legislation aimed at supporting coal miners with black lung, including the introduction of the Relief for Survivors of Miners Act and the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act, and the challenges facing new silica dust standards.
“We do need Republicans to try to help out,” National Black Lung Association President Gary Hairston, 69, of Beckley, said during a virtual news conference Wednesday to push bills aimed at easing access to federal black lung benefits for miners and their survivors. “It seems like when we try to get them to help, they do it when they’re talking on TV or something. But when it comes really down to it, they don’t.”