House shoots down mine-safety bill

The House on Wednesday killed legislation designed to protect miners from the very companies for which they work.

Although the tally was 214 to 193 in favor of the measure, it failed to win the two-thirds majority required under suspension of the rules governing the vote. Rep. Walter Jones (N.C.) was the only Republican to favor the measure; 27 Democrats opposed it.

The vote marked a last-chance effort among Democrats to bolster the nation's mine-safety rules in the wake of a deadly explosion at the Upper Big Branch (UBB) coal mine in southern West Virginia in April. That disaster killed 29 miners, maimed a 30th, and spurred Democrats in both chambers to pen legislation aimed at preventing the next catastrophe.

Although the House measure passed through the Education and Labor panel in July, Republicans were united in opposition to the bill. The Senate proposal didn't get even that far.

Critics — including most Republicans and the mining lobby — have argued reforms are too tough on the coal industry, threatening vital jobs in parts of the country already struggling disproportionately amid an employment crisis. Opponents also said that Congress shouldn't attempt to install new miner protections before the cause of the UBB blast is uncovered.

Mine-safety experts suspect the explosion was caused by high concentrations of methane combined with highly combustible coal dust — two conditions the Democrats' bills addressed — but an official report on the blast has yet to emerge. Several investigations are ongoing.

Sponsored by Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House labor panel, the proposal would hike the penalties for safety hazards; expand whistleblower protections to miners; empower federal investigators to close unsafe mines more easily; and grant regulators subpoena power when investigating mining accidents.

One of the most contentious provisions of the original bill — language expanding safety protections at all work sites, not just mines — was removed this week in hopes the slimmed down proposal would attract more GOP support. It didn't.

Speaking on the House floor prior to the vote, Miller said his reforms are needed to tackle "the systemic weaknesses in mine-safety laws" uncovered by subsequent scrutiny of the UBB disaster.

"After every major tragedy, promises are made to miners and their families that timely action will be taken to make sure this kind of thing never happens again," Miller said in prepared remarks.

The legislation — named after the late West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd (D) — "is our chance finally to make a down payment on that promise," Miller added.

Most Republicans thought otherwise. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) said the Miller bill "focuses more on punishment than prevention."

The proposal, she said before the vote, "imposes severe penalties on businesses, introduces dramatic regulatory changes, and promotes unnecessary litigation which will hurt those mines and miners operating in good faith on behalf of worker safety."

The Congressional Budget Office estimated this week that the bill will save taxpayers $115 million over the next decade.