House lawmakers are looking to strengthen a prohibition that keeps the Mine Safety and Health Administration from moving forward with rulemaking to protect miners from black lung disease.

At issue is an MSHA proposal that would mandate additional monitoring equipment and lower coal dust concentrations at mining projects. The agency and its backers consider the proposal a top priority.

The House Appropriations Committee's spending bill for MSHA released today would bar the agency from moving forward with the rulemaking. The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee is scheduled to vote on the bill tomorrow.

A rider in the fiscal 2012 omnibus spending bill approved in December also blocked the rule's implementation pending a report by the Government Accountability Office. The mining agency said earlier this year that it would continue developing its proposal even if it could not enforce it (Greenwire, Jan. 24).

But the new House bill includes a prohibition on MSHA even developing its planned regulations and says nothing about a GAO investigation into MSHA's rulemaking.

The National Mining Association, which supports the rider, questions some of the government's research and whether the proposal will truly help miners (E&E Daily, Feb. 16, 2011).

The House Labor Department spending bill includes $372 million for MSHA, roughly the same amount as current spending levels. The Democratic-controlled Senate Appropriations Committee approves more than $376 million and urges MSHA to finalize the black lung rule.

Schedule: The subcommittee markup is Wednesday, July 18, at 10 a.m. in 2358-C Rayburn.