Bill on the move

MSHA legislation is on the move. According to NSSGA, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (H.E.L.P.) marked up new mine-safety legislation in a "hideaway office" in the Capitol. The bill, which was not amended during the closed session, was a bipartisan compromise, which bodes well for its ultimate consideration in the full Senate. NSSGA obtained a copy of the Senate bill and says it is satisfied that it does fairly take into account the differences between coal and other non-metal mining. Provisions applying to all mining sectors would codify MSHA’s recent 15-minute emergency notification requirement when an incident or accident poses a reasonable risk of death; and penalty provisions, which propose a minimum $2000 fine for Section 104 (d) (1) violation, as well as increasing the fine for “flagrant” violations to a maximum $220,000. Your comment?