Miners’ union urges MSHA to resume silica rule enforcement

United Mine Workers of America President Brian Sanson is pressing the Mine Safety and Health Administration to immediately resume enforcement of its rule covering miner exposure to respirable crystalline silica. Sanson cites recent NIOSH research showing that nearly 1 in 3 coal miners in Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia with at least 25 years of experience have coal workers’ pneumoconiosis.

That percentage is 10 times higher than that for the rest of the country, according to Safety+Health Magazine.

Rule status and timeline

MSHA includes a revised proposed rule on miner exposure to respirable crystalline silica in the 2026 Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions. Issued July 3, the regulatory agenda listed July as a target publication date, but the revised proposal had not been unveiled at press time.

The new proposal includes changes to provisions for exposure monitoring, medical surveillance and respiratory protection. The White House completed an interagency review of MSHA’s revised proposal on Aug. 10, according to an Aug. 12 report from Politico Pro.

2024 final rule details

MSHA published a final rule in April 2024 that reduced its permissible exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air over an 8-hour time-weighted average. The new PEL is half the previous limit and matches the one established by OSHA in 2016.

The rule increases sampling and enforcement at metal and nonmetal mines and requires mine operators to provide periodic health exams at no cost to miners, according to Safety+Health Magazine.

Lawsuit and union response

Enforcement of the rule has been delayed because of a lawsuit in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. MSHA late last year announced its intent to reconsider the rule. The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, which filed the lawsuit, claims the rule is deeply arbitrary.

UMWA finds fault with industry arguments contending that personal respirators and dust masks can be effective substitutes for engineering and ventilation controls underground. The union also calls for a boost in federal oversight, including more frequent unannounced dust sampling.

“Every day federal regulators drag their feet and sit on this rule, another working father, mother, husband, wife, sister or brother contracts an incurable, fatal disease,” Sanson said in a press release.