Attorney Urges Restoration of MSHA Silica Rule

West Virginia-based attorney Sam Petsonk testified May 8 at a House Education and Workforce Committee field hearing held at Vincennes University that lawmakers should direct the Mine Safety and Health Administration to restore its final rule limiting miner exposure to respirable crystalline silica.

Testimony Details

Petsonk stated the rule represents a long-overdue matter. He noted that a breathable silica limit exists for every other major category of American workers except miners who face the most extreme exposures. Multiple studies show cases of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, also known as black lung, are on the rise.

Rule Background and Current Status

MSHA published the final rule in April 2024. It set the permissible exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica at 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air over a time-weighted 8-hour shift. This limit is half the previous limit and matches the OSHA standard established in 2016. Enforcement remains delayed because of a lawsuit filed in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

In April, MSHA announced it had delayed indefinitely the compliance deadline for metal and nonmetal miners after previously delaying it for coal miners. Five months earlier the agency stated it would engage in limited rulemaking to reconsider parts of the final rule. On May 7 the Department of Labor sent an information collection request on a revised silica proposed rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget, with comments due June 8.

According to Safety+Health Magazine, Petsonk told the committee that MSHA could have defended the rule in court while still allowing it to come into force to protect the most vulnerable workers during any revisions.

Committee Remarks

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI), who chairs the committee, referenced a July letter he and fellow House Republicans sent to MSHA. The letter called for revision of what the group described as overly burdensome rulemaking that could cause small and mid-sized operators to close. Walberg also cited MSHA’s April announcement that the all-injury rate for the mining sector in 2025 reached a record low of 1.74 per 200,000 hours worked.

Petsonk responded that he respects concerns about the industry and small operators but that the agency charged with protecting America’s miners has abandoned them in court. He added that the committee has an opportunity to send a message to MSHA that it can and must protect miners under the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.

According to Safety+Health Magazine, the hearing focused on the future of mining.