House, Senate Introduce Miner Safety, Health Legislation  

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Rep. Lynn C. Woolsey (D-Calif.) on Tuesday announced a new package of legislation to help improve health and safety in U.S. mines.

This bill is especially relevant to NACA members, as cement, stone, sand, and gravel (CSSG) producers are all subject to federal mining laws protective of individual employees’ health and safety. 

Included in H. R. 2768 legislation are a number of key points with which CSSG producers must comply or be subject to penalties.  They include:

• Reviewing hazardous workplace conditions with employees before each work shift;
• Supplementing agency enforcement activities by rehiring retired mining inspectors in a contracting arrangement;
• Creating a “Master Inspector” program for inspecting mining operations;
• Establishing an “Office of Ombudsman” for miners’ interests;
• Noting for the first time the criteria for a pattern of violations order, and setting the minimum and maximum penalties for such orders at $50,000 and $250,000, respectively;
• Requiring operators to escrow the full amount of an assessed penalty when an operator contests payment;
• Establishing the minimum and maximum penalties--$500 and $100,000, respectively—for a non-significant and substantial citation;
• Establishing the minimum and maximum penalties—$1,000 and $150,000, respectively—for a significant and substantial citation;
• Giving the Secretary of Labor subpoena power in Mine Safety and Health (MSHA) investigations; and
• Allowing the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board to conduct independent investigations of incidents at mining operations.  The coal sector must comply with additional provisions.

H. R. 2769, or the Miner Health Enhancement Act of 2007, requires the MSHA to adopt the OSHA asbestos standard, and directs the Secretary of Labor to adopt the more detailed hazard communication standard promulgated in 2000.  The current administration changed the standard in 2002, which is viewed as less burdensome than the 2000 version.

The companion senate bill, S. 1655, contains the same provisions as the house bills in one piece of legislation.   

Contact Tom Harman and Tom Carter.

The Agency has proposed tightening the current primary standard of 0.08 ppm to somewhere in the range of 0.070 to 0.075 ppm.  The proposal also requests comments on the maintaining the current standard. 

If the final standard were tightened to 0.070 ppm, the number of cement plants in the non-attainment counties would likely increase from 44 to 73. 

NACA member PCA has been an active advocate during this rulemaking both directly and through an industry coalition.  This advocacy will be further enhanced as we develop comments on the proposal.

Contact Tom Carter.

President Bush has threatened to veto energy legislation currently being debated in the U.S. Senate, in part because of concerns with provisions dealing with mileage standards for large trucks. 

The energy bill reported by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee contains a provision that would require the Department of Transportation to study medium-duty and heavy-duty truck-mileage rates and to establish a baseline before requiring an annual 4% improvement.  However, in a letter sent to the Senate last week, the White House said it “strongly opposes mandatory standards for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks.” 

The White House called the Senate proposal “overly prescriptive,” and said “such a requirement adds regulatory uncertainty and would likely subject DOT rulemakings to increased litigation.” 

A bipartisan group of Senators including Kit Bond (R-Mo.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio), developed an alternative.  

Known as the Pryor-Bond-Levin-Voinovich CAFE Compromise, it included an alternative directing the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to conduct a rulemaking on setting fuel economy standards for medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks.  The compromise measure was, however, withdrawn late yesterday.  

Contact Robert Sullivan.

The Transportation Energy Security and Climate Change Mitigation Act of 2007 (H.R. 2701) was approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on Wednesday.

Of interest to the industry is a proposed capital grant program for short-line and regional railroads to improve railroad track to handle 286,000-pound railroad cars.

The program would authorize $250 million annually from FY 2008 through FY 2011.  The grants could be used for rehabilitating, preserving, or improving track used primarily for freight transportation to a standard ensuring that the track can be operated safely and efficiently.

The maximum Federal share for carrying out a project under this section would be 80 percent of the project cost. The non-Federal share may be provided by any non-Federal source in cash, equipment, or supplies.

Contact John Sullivan.

Following a two-week debate, the U.S. Senate late last night approved legislation (H.R. 6) by a vote of 65 to 27.

The legislation aims at addressing the nation’s energy needs.  Passage of the controversial bill was uncertain until last evening, when a compromise was reached to increase the average fuel economy standards for cars and light trucks.  The deal retains the original language, which increases the fuel standard from 25 miles per gallon (mpg) to 35 mpg by 2020, but eliminates language requiring a four percent annual increase of the standard from 2020 to 2030.

Earlier yesterday, the Senate failed to limit debate on an accompanying $32 billion tax incentives package that would have been folded into the underlying energy bill.  The Senate-passed bill will move forward without the tax title. 

Throughout the week, Senators considered a series of amendments.  Of note, the Senate rejected an amendment offered by Senator James P.D. Bunning (R-Ky.) providing incentives for coal-to-liquids production.  An amendment offered by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) that would establish a mandatory national greenhouse gas registry never came to a vote.  The registry issue will likely be addressed in climate change legislation later this year.

The legislation now awaits House action, which will likely take place next week when the Energy Subcommittee considers various draft energy bills.

Contact David Hubbard or Jessica Hogel.

Democratic members of the Senate Appropriations Committee this week attached a provision to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) fiscal year 2008 appropriations bill that would require the agency to prepare a greenhouse gas emissions registry rule. 

EPA would be required to develop a proposal by April 2008 and include all large sources of greenhouse gas emissions. The fate of the $2 million measure will not be known for some time. 

A similar registry objective was outlined in an amendment to energy legislation debated by the Senate this week.  The amendment was proposed by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), but was ruled non-germane and was therefore not formally debated on the Senate floor. 

Proponents of registry legislation have been touting it as the first step towards the creation of a national cap and trade program for greenhouse gas emissions.  It is anticipated that these proposals will continue to be put forth as stand alone measures or as part of broader climate change or energy legislation for the remainder of this session of Congress. 

Contact Andy O'Hare or David Hubbard.

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