From: West Virginia Public Broadcasting
California Democrat George Miller introduced the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2010. It was meant to address issues learned at the Upper Big Branch explosion. It failed to pass the House along party lines. The National Mining Association and Republicans cited the need to find out the results of ongoing investigations before voting in favor of new laws.
Shortly after the federal report was released, Republican Shelley Moore Capito introduced the Mine Safety Accountability and Improved Protection Act. Capito voted against the Robert C. Byrd bill.
“I don’t think that mine safety should be a part of the issue,” Capito said. “I thought it was premature to move forward with the mine safety bill before we actually had the reports in hand saw what kind of activities were going on and saw what kind of acts there were both in the industry’s stand point and from the regulators standpoint.”
“I know that I’m chairman of the coal caucus in the congress it’s bipartisan congress we have a great concern in this area and also making sure that coal is a viable resource that we use in this country.”
She says her office has already met with officials with MSHA, the National Mining Association, the West Virginia Coal Association, but has not met with the United Mine Workers of America. She says her office plans to meet with the union later this week.
Capito says the industry asked for more transparency from regulators and that’s something her bill addresses.
“We’re going to also streamline the citation appeals process,” she said. “There’s been a lot of criticism that UBB was cited but they kept appealing and appealing and sort of postponing decisions. Let’s make that a streamline process so that the answers to the questions can be answered quickly.”
Capito’s bill would also create a mine safety board that would investigate mining accidents.
Rachel Moreland of Moreland and Moreland L.C. is representing some of the UBB victims’ families. The firm also serves as a representative of miners for current Upper Big Branch employees.
“I don’t want to say that it’s totally worthless because there are things in it that would be fodder for strengthening safety,” Moreland said, “and fodder for more debate about how we can benefit miners.”
“But it is very much reflective of an industry bias and at the end of the day I’m doubtful that her bill will be enough to prevent another Upper Big Branch.”
Although Capito’s bill provides subpoena power to MSHA, it only applies if there is an accident. The bill introduced by Miller last year provides subpoena power if there is an investigation.
Under current law, upper management is rarely charged because their offenses are usually considered misdemeanors. But that doesn’t stop families from wanting to see former Massey executives prosecuted. While Capito’s Mine Safety Accountability and Improved Protection Act does call for officers, directors and agents of the companies operating the mine to civil and criminal liability, Moreland thinks the language is weak.
“The major difference between the two drafts,” she said, “Captio’s bill states that the directors agents or officers actions must be willful, which means again that they are done deliberately and with knowledge but the democrats version uses the term knowingly which means only with knowledge that being said it would be more difficult to prosecute under the Capito version.”
Moreland points out that the families were not included in any of the process. Capito considers her bill a good starting point for correcting some of the safety problems that created the Upper Big Branch explosion.
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