The Trump administration is considering changes to black lung protections that U.S. coal miners have lobbied federal agencies to keep and enforce in the face of debilitating and deadly diseases.
Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer plans to “reconsider and seek comments” on parts of the Biden-era silica rule that mining companies and trade groups are fighting in court, according to an attorney for the Labor Department.
“The Secretary will engage in limited rulemaking to reconsider and seek comments on portions of the Silica Rule impacted by this appeal,” Brad Mantel, an attorney representing the secretary and the Mine Safety and Health Administration, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit last week.
The comments provide a window into the Trump administration’s plans for a long-awaited rule completed by the Biden administration last year, which would have reduced exposure limits for miners to airborne silica — crystals that can reach deep into the lungs when inhaled — to 50 micrograms. The rule also called on companies to conduct more testing for silica in all types of mines and expand medical surveillance programs that are available to coal miners.
More than 50 miners, their supporters and medical experts rallied outside the department’s headquarters in Washington in October to call for the rule to be saved, warning that younger miners are contracting deadly diseases. The Biden administration estimated the rule would prevent more than 1,000 deaths and 3,700 cases of black lung.
Across the U.S., miners and those working in mines are contracting black lung at younger ages. The highest rates — 1 in 5 miners — are occurring in areas like coal-rich Appalachia that have seen decades of heavy extraction, according to data from the Labor Department.
Gary Hairston, a former West Virginia coal miner and president of the National Black Lung Association, during a phone interview with POLITICO’s E&E News reiterated that there appears to be a lack of urgency around getting the rule enforced and said the current standard that was voted on is strong. “They ain’t worried about stopping it,” said Hairston.
Indeed, the rule has been under attack in the courts and on Capitol Hill.
Trump officials earlier this year froze the rule, citing agency cutbacks, legal challenges and the government shutdown, despite calling for more coal mining and use. MSHA in April then delayed implementation of the rule by four months, blaming an ongoing restructuring of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
In early April, the appeals court granted the National Stone, Sand and Gravel Association’s request for an emergency stay of the rule. The association at the time argued the rule was “deeply flawed” and faulted MSHA for not allowing companies to include personal respirators toward compliance. The group also argued the pending deadline was “generating extreme costs for coal mining operators.” The Trump administration later asked the court for more time to work through arguments, citing the government shutdown.
MSHA did not respond when asked what parts of the rule would be reconsidered.
Conor Bernstein, a spokesperson for the National Mining Association, which is one of the petitioners in the case, said industry’s position remains unchanged.
“From our perspective, we have consistently said that the MSHA rule must align with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s silica rule on methods of compliance, and that position has not changed,” said Bernstein.
“Consistent with recognized industrial hygiene practices utilized by OSHA, and elsewhere, we believe effective implementation of the MSHA rule needs to allow for the use of administrative controls and personal protective equipment for compliance with the standard to supplement and enhance engineering controls,” he added.
