MSHA published a Program Information Bulletin (PIB) to “advise mine operators and contractors that they will no longer receive the multi-part 7000-2 Quarterly Mine Employment and Coal Production forms via mail, but will instead receive postcards as reminders concerning the filing dates for these reports required under 30 U.S.C. § 813 and 30 C.F.R. § 50.30.”
The PIB is attached below.
On January 25, 2011, MSHA issued an Equipment Alert regarding a catastrophic failure that occurred in an oxygen cylinder fitting in an A. L. Lee refuge alternative in an underground coal mine. The investigation revealed that the failed fitting did not meet the dimensional specifications of the applicable Compressed Gas Association (CGA) standard, CGA-701. Mine operators are working with A. L. Lee to identify and replace any other fittings that do not meet the CGA dimensional specifications. The Alert also mentioned the discovery of a second failed fitting in another refuge unit. This update provides recently obtained information related to this second failed fitting, as well as information related to recently identified cracks in brass cylinder valves and fittings in a third refuge alternative.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration will host a public hearing on the agency’s proposed rule to lower miners’ exposure to respirable coal mine dust. Excessive, longterm exposure to coal dust can lead to black lung. Members of the mining community are invited to comment publicly on the proposed rule.
Date: Feb 15, 2011
Time: 9:00 to 5:00
Location: 1100 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA
For More Information: 202-693-9440Comments are due on April 4th on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that MSHA will publish in the Federal Register which is intended to ” revise and simplify the POV criteria and MSHA’s procedures for issuing a POV notice.” According to Assistant Secretary of Labor Main, “the current POV system is broken, and this regulation is the next critical step in reforming the enforcement program under the existing statute. It would require mine operators to be much more proactive in monitoring their compliance performance and would eliminate two provisions in the existing regulation: the potential POV procedure and the requirement regarding final orders.”
