House Rejects New Mine Safety Bill that Omits OSH Act Provisions

On Wednesday, the House of Representatives blocked passage of the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2010 (H.R. 6495), a streamlined version of a more comprehensive occupational safety measure introduced earlier this year. Although the vote in favor of the bill was 214 to 193, a two-thirds majority approval was needed to suspend the rules and pass the bill. Given yesterday’s vote and the approach of a new Congress, any further action on this bill seems unlikely.

Implicitly acknowledging that the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act overhaul provisions contained in the earlier legislation – the Robert C. Byrd Mine and Workplace Safety and Health Act of 2010 (H.R. 5663, S. 3671) – had little to no chance of advancing, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced the pared-down version of the bill voted on yesterday that addressed mine safety only. Like the more comprehensive bill, the scaled back version would have, among other things, increased Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) oversight, accountability, investigation and enforcement authority; imposed new mine safety standards; provided for enhanced worker protections from retaliation; and imposed increased civil and criminal penalties against employers and their officers, directors and agents for violations of the bill. For example, a mine operator that knowingly violates a mandatory health or safety standard, or knowingly violates or fails or refuses to comply with any safety order, could have faced up to $250,000 in fines or one year of imprisonment. A repeat violation could have resulted in fines of up to $1 million or 5 years’ imprisonment.

The prior bill, on the other hand, would have also strengthened whistleblower protections for employees in all industries, increased employer civil and criminal penalties for repeat and/or willful violations of the OSH Act, required the abatement of hazards during the citation contest period, and provided greater rights for victims of accidents and their family members to participate in OSH Act proceedings. Although the more comprehensive bill cleared the House Committee on Education and Labor in July, it stalled thereafter. The results of the midterm election all but guaranteed the measure’s failure if brought to a vote. It was likely believed that the smaller bill faced its brightest prospects during the current lame-duck congressional session.