St. Louis — The Mine Safety and Health Administration’s final rule on miner exposure to respirable crystalline silica has been put on hold, after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay on April 4.
Coal mine operators had been given a compliance date of April 14 for the rule, which had gone into effect in June. On April 2, the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association filed a petition seeking an expedited emergency stay.
The long-anticipated rule lowers the permissible exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air – half the current limit – over an 8-hour time-weighted average. The rule also increases silica sampling and enforcement at metal and nonmetal mines, as well as requires mine operators to provide periodic health exams at no cost to miners.
NSSGA claims in the petition that “MSHA lacks evidence that operators can feasibly comply” with the new PEL and “mandates extensive, expensive medical monitoring far beyond what MSHA has authority to compel.”
The petition adds that the rule is “deeply arbitrary” while its “harm to mining operators is severe, irreparable and imminent.”
The appeals court will rule whether to permit enforcement of the silica rule or halt it permanently.
The compliance date for metal and nonmetal operators is April 8, 2026.
The rulemaking first appeared on the Department of Labor’s regulatory agenda in 1998. OSHA estimates that about 2.3 million workers are exposed to silica dust each year.
