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OPA News Release: [07/17/2002]
Contact Name: Kathy
Snyder
Phone Number: (202) 693-9422
MSHA, Mining Industry Reach Settlement on Diesel Particulate
WASHINGTON -- The Mine Safety
and Health Administration (MSHA) has reached a second interim agreement with
industry and labor concerning the agency’s standard on diesel particulate
matter (DPM) exposure of metal and nonmetal miners. Under the agreement mine
operators must develop and implement good-faith compliance strategies to meet
the interim DPM concentration limit that takes effect on July 20.
“This settlement is an important step towards protecting
miners’ health, “said Dave D. Lauriski, assistant secretary of labor
for mine safety and health. “I’m gratified that industry, labor and
MSHA were able to come together to resolve differences. For the next year we
will work intensively together to reduce exposures to diesel particulate
matter that increase the risk of lung disease in miners.”
MSHA will conduct compliance assistance to help mine operators meet the
DPM interim standard of 400
micrograms of total carbon per cubic meter of air. The agency will conduct
sampling to help mine operators assess their progress and provide information
on feasible control technology. During this time, MSHA retains discretion to take
appropriate enforcement actions in case mine operators do not work in good
faith toward compliance, and will issue citations for failure to comply with
the 400-microgram interim limit starting July 20, 2003.
MSHA also agreed to reenter rulemaking on several other disputed
provisions in the metal and nonmetal DPM standards.
Several industry organizations went to court to contest MSHA’s
final rule, “Diesel Particulate Exposure of Underground Metal and Nonmetal
Miners,” shortly after it was published in January 2001. Under a previous
partial settlement, several provisions of the rule went into effect or were
amended through rulemaking completed in February 2002. Joint sampling was
conducted by industry, labor and government at 31 underground mines to
determine existing concentration levels of diesel particulate matter and to
gather information about the feasibility of complying with the standard's
concentration limits in the underground mine environment.
A notice announcing the partial settlement on MSHA’s metal/nonmetal
DPM rule will appear in the Federal Register on Thursday, July 18, and
will also be posted on MSHA’s website at www.msha.gov.
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