Safety checks would be reduced on the hoisting devices used to transport workers and supplies in some underground coal mines, under a bill that is moving through the West Virginia Legislature with support from the coal industry and the United Mine Workers union.
The legislation (SB4726) is being touted as a compromise measure that would help to revive the state's depressed mining industry.
Among other things, the legislation rewrites a section of state law governing "hoists," which are used to raise and lower cages that carry workers and supplies in verticle mine shafts.
A violation of that section of the law was cited by the state Office of Miners' Health, Safety and Training three years ago when a miner was killed in a hoisting accident at a mine in Raleigh County.
Earlier this year, 17 workers at a salt mine in Lansing, New York, waited for 10 hours to be rescued when a hoist at their operation failed for the second time in a week.
The bill would eliminate a requirement that when a hoist has been idle for one hour or more, a hoisting engineer must operate the empty cage up and down the shaft for at least one full round trip before allowing workers to again use the equipment. It would retain a requirement for a similar safety check at the start of each working shift.
A note included on the legislation says that the "purpose of this bill is to enhance the state's mine safety and environmental statutes."
The legislation also relaxes the requirements for mine operators to provide private mine rescue teams, allowing them to instead relay on a state-funded team as a backup, and also reduces the fines for not immediately reporting major mining incidents like fires and explosions to sate officials. The bill gives the industry increased ability to appeal safety violations to court and sends such appeals to local judges in communities where the mines are located, rather than to Kanawha Circuit Court, where most challenges of state agency actions are filed.
UMW officials have said they agreed to the bill - and state mine safety officials said they have not opposed it - largely because they feared that without a compromise, the West Virginia Coal Association would push through the industry's other bill, which union and state officials viewed as more drastic.
The industry's other legislation (SB417) -- dubbed the 2016 Coal Jobs and Safety Act -- would have, among other things, stripped state mine inspectors of their job security protections, making them "will and please" employees. Last year, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed a coal industry safety bill over the objections of UMW leaders, including House Minority Whip Mike Caputo, D-Marion, who is a union official and is co-sponsoring this year's compromise bill.
The "agreed-to" bill easily passed the House, on a 92-4 vote, on March 1. Members of the Senate Energy, Industry and Mining Committee approved it on Thursday on a unanimous voice vote, sending it to the Senate floor. The bill was originated in the House Energy Committee on Feb. 26 after what were apparently lengthy closed-door discussions between representatives from the UMW and the West Virginia Coal Association.
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.