The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, U.S. Public Law 91-173, generally referred to as the Coal Act, was passed by the 91st United States Congressional session and enacted into law by the
37th President of the United States Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
on December 30, 1969.
The S. 2917
legislation
Legislation is the process or result of enrolling, enacting, or promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law it may be known as a bill, and may be broadly referred to ...
created the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA), later renamed the
Mine Safety and Health Administration
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) () is a large agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) to enforce compliance with mandatory safe ...
(MSHA), as well as a
National Mine Map Repository, within the
Department of the Interior.
MSHAs responsibilities paralleled those of
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...
(OSHA) but addressed underground and
surface mining of
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
. The legislation was more comprehensive and stringent than previous federal laws governing the mining industry.
The Coal Act required two annual inspections of every surface coal mine and four at every underground coal mine, and dramatically increased federal enforcement powers in
coal mines
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...
. The Coal Act also required monetary penalties for all violations, and established criminal penalties for knowing and willful violations. The safety standards for all coal mines were strengthened, and health standards were adopted.
The Coal Act also included specific procedures for the development of improved mandatory health and
safety standards
Safety standards are standards designed to ensure the safety of products, activities and processes, etc. They may be advisory or compulsory and are normally laid down by an advisory or regulatory body that may be either voluntary or statutory. In ...
, and provided compensation for miners who were totally and permanently disabled by the progressive respiratory disease caused by the inhalation of fine coal dust
pneumoconiosis or "
black lung".
In regard to the mine map repository, the Coal Act required that:
"Whenever an operator permanently closes or abandons a coal mine, or temporarily closes a coal mine for a period of more than ninety days, he shall promptly notify the Secretary of such closure. Within sixty days of the permanent closure or abandonment of the mine, or, when the mine is temporarily closed, upon the expiration of a period of ninety days from the date of closure, the operator shall file with the Secretary a copy of the mine map revised and supplemented to the date of the closure."
Initial enforcement of the law was slow due to understaffed enforcement agencies, a situation which was criticized when the
Hurricane Creek mine disaster occurred a year to the day after passage of the act, killing 38 men in a mine with a long history of violations.
It was updated by the
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, Public Law 95-164.
See also
*
National Mine Map Repository
*
Coal mining in the United States
*
List of coal mines in the United States
The following table lists the coal mines in the United States that produced at least 4,000,000 short tons of coal.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), there were 853 coal mines in the U.S. in 2015, producing a total of 8 ...
*
Mining accident
A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals or metals. Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially from underground coal mining, although accidents also occur in hard rock mining. ...
*
Occupational Safety and Health Act
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is a US labor law governing the federal law of occupational health and safety in the private sector and federal government in the United States. It was enacted by Congress in 1970 and was signed by P ...
References
External links
MSHA website: History of federal mine safety legislation accessed March 8, 2006US Code
{{authority control
1969 in American law
91st United States Congress
United States federal health legislation
United States federal public land legislation
Mine safety
Coal mining law