[Unified Agenda]
Department of Labor (DOL)
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)
Long-Term Actions
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1813. VERIFICATION OF UNDERGROUND COAL MINE OPERATORS' DUST CONTROL PLANS AND COMPLIANCE SAMPLING FOR RESPIRABLE DUST
Priority: Other Significant
Legal Authority: 30 USC 811; 30 USC 813; 30 USC 961; 30 USC 957
CFR Citation: 30 CFR 70; 30 CFR 75; 30 CFR 90
Legal Deadline: None
Abstract: MSHA's current standards require that all underground coal mine operators develop and follow a mine ventilation plan for each mechanized mining unit that we approve. However, we do not have a requirement that provides for verification of each plan's effectiveness under typical mining conditions. Consequently, plans may be implemented by mine operators that could be inadequate to control respirable dust. In response to comments received on the July 2000 proposed rule for MSHA to withdraw the rule, MSHA published a new proposed rule on March 6, 2003. The proposed rule would have required mine operators to verify, through sampling, the effectiveness of the dust control parameters for each mechanized mining unit specified in the approved mine ventilation plan.
The use of approved powered air-purifying respirators and/or verifiable administrative controls would have been allowed as a supplemental means of compliance when MSHA had determined that all feasible engineering or environmental controls were exhausted.
Public hearings were held in May 2003, and the comment period, originally scheduled to close on June 4, 2003, was extended until July 3, 2003. On June 24, 2003, MSHA announced that all work on the final rule would cease and the rulemaking record would remain open in order to obtain information concerning Continuous Personal Dust Monitors being tested by NIOSH. A Federal Register notice was published on July 3, 2003, extending the comment period indefinitely. NIOSH issued a report on the personal dust monitor in September 2006. MSHA will determine the next course of action after a review of all data and test results.
Timetable:
________________________________________________________________________ Action Date FR Cite ________________________________________________________________________ NPRM 07/07/00 65 FR 42122 Notice of Hearings; Close of Record 07/07/00 65 FR 42186 Close of Record 08/11/00 Extension of Comment Period; Close of Record 08/11/00 65 FR 49215 NPRM 03/06/03 68 FR 10784 Notice of Public Hearing; Close of Record 03/17/03 68 FR 12641 Extension of Comment Period 05/29/03 68 FR 32005 NPRM Comment Period End 06/04/03 Extension of Comment Period 07/03/03 68 FR 39881 NPRM To Be Determined
Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: Undetermined
Government Levels Affected: None
Additional Information: This rulemaking is related to RIN 1219-AB18
(Determination of Concentration of Respirable Coal Mine Dust) and RIN
1219-AB48 (Continuous Personal Dust Monitors).
URL For More Information:
www.msha.gov/regsinfo.htm www.regulations.gov
URL For Public Comments:
www.regulations.gov
Agency Contact: Patricia W. Silvey, Director, Office of Standards,
Regulations, and Variances, Department of Labor, Mine Safety and Health
Administration, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Room 2350, Arlington, VA 22209-3939
Phone: 202 693-9440
Fax: 202 693-9441
Email: silvey.patricia@dol.gov
Related RIN: Related to 1219-AB18, Related to 1219-AB48
RIN: 1219-AB14
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