Washington — The Mine Safety and Health Administration has extended to Sept. 2 the deadline to comment on five proposed rules unveiled July 1.
Citing a “request for additional time to develop and submit comments,” MSHA pushed back its initial comment deadline of July 31 for separate proposals that aim to eliminate MSHA district managers’ roles in making changes or requiring additions to:
- Training and retraining programs for miners
- Approval criteria for roof control plans
- Approval criteria for ventilation plans
MSHA contends in each proposal that current standards “may violate statutory authority; the appointments clause (of the U.S. Constitution), by vesting significant regulatory authority in district managers; and the Administrative Procedure Act (of 1946), by skipping notice and comment.”
Additionally, the agency is extending the deadline for proposals to allow the use of electronic surveying equipment in high-hazard areas of underground coal mines and nonpermissible powered air-purifying respirators in specific areas of underground mines.
The equipment in both cases would need to meet “certain technical specifications” and be “operated under specific conditions,” MSHA says.
