Press Releases

Today, Education and Workforce Committee Chairman Tim Walberg (R-MI), along with Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Rick Allen (R-GA), Burgess Owens (R-UT), Bob Onder (R-MO), and Mark Messmer (R-IN) sent a letter to James McHugh, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), expressing support for the Department of Labor’s (DOL) efforts to reduce bureaucratic red tape imposed by the Biden-Harris administration. Specifically, the Members encourage DOL to amend Biden-Harris’ MSHA final rule that failed to protect workers but imposed massive costs on miners.

In the letter, the Members write: “President Trump has issued deregulatory executive orders (EOs) that require agencies to rescind or revise regulations that impose significant costs. … As DOL continues to pursue these goals, we recommend DOL consider amending the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) 2024 final rule titled ‘Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Crystalline Silica and Improving Respiratory Protection.’”

The Members continue: “The rule’s new respiratory protection standard places undue and excessive burdens on the mining industry. While the MSHA rule better aligns with some aspects of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) respirable crystalline silica standard and reduces confusion somewhat, the MSHA rule ignores controls already in place to protect miners’ health.”

The Members conclude: “The rule imposes unwarranted and costly obligations on MSHA-regulated companies compared to those regulated by OSHA, despite the two agencies requiring compliance with the same permissible exposure limit. … Simply put, the Biden-Harris administration’s actions failed to enhance worker safety when it limited protections for miners and imposed hundreds of millions of dollars in costs. DOL should consider initiating a new rulemaking to prevent serious economic hardship.”

Read the full letter here.