Morrisey signs into law state mine oversight bills that have fueled safety concerns

UMWA spokesperson Erin Bates said Monday that recent changes to the legislation addressed issues the union had raised. But former Sen. Joe Manchin, I-W.Va., weighed in against the measures Monday.

Manchin, West Virginia’s governor from 2005 to 2010, said in a X post that SB 883 “put[s] politics above miner safety� by handing mine inspector appointments to a political appointee, the director of the state Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training. SB 942, Manchin noted, weakens protections on diesel-powered equipment and keeps the state from setting standards stronger than the federal minimum.

“I caution our legislators to ask themselves whether these bills — or any bills in the future — put workers’ safety first,� Manchin said. “Rolling back the progress we’ve made to protect our workers disregards their safety and increases the likelihood of preventable workplace accidents.�

SB 942 limits state authority

SB 942 repeals state law allowing the director of the West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training to assess and adopt “state of the art technology� and equipment that can reduce exhaust emissions when applied to diesel-powered underground mining machinery.

SB 942 removes the office director’s authority to require site-specific requests for experimental and testing use of diesel-powered equipment in underground coal mines before issuing rules governing that use.

Instead, SB 942 prohibits the director from imposing any requirements on diesel-powered equipment that exceed federal standards and void any directives requiring site-specific testing beyond that approved by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. No rules for diesel-powered equipment issued by the director may be “more burdensome� than federal MSHA regulations as they exist on July 1 under SB 942.

Bates said prior to SB 942’s advancement in the House that the bill disregarded concerns about exposure to harmful pollutants like carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide can exacerbate conditions such as black lung disease, which is afflicting increasingly younger central Appalachian miners breathing in more toxic silica dust generated from mining thinning coal seams.

SB 942’s passage comes amid the Trump administration implementing sweeping cuts across MSHA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which has provided key mine safety research for MSHA.

The House Energy and Public Works Committee amended SB 942 to allow diesel-powered equipment to be moved from one mine either in or out of the state to another in-state mine and operated immediately, so long as the equipment is state code-compliant and the Office of Mine Health, Safety and Training director is notified before the equipment is put in service.

West Virginia Coal Association president Chris Hamilton spoke in support of SB 942 before that committee, saying there are conflicts in areas where state and federal laws are “written a little differently.�

SB 942 is effective from passage.

SB 883 gives state mine office director ‘full discretion’

SB 883 gives the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training director “full discretion and authority� in appointing all mine inspectors, including any testing and qualifications needed for an applicant to be considered. The director reports to the state Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety.

Sponsored solely by Sen. Rupie Phillips, R-Logan, a coal mine industry veteran, SB 883 allows the board access to inspector applications and let board members be present at applicant testing. SB 883 requires the director to report appointments and information regarding all applications and testing to the board.

Bates previously said the UMWA is “not pleased� that SB 883 grants the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training broad discretion over mine inspector appointments but added the union fought to ensure the legislation’s requirement that the director report appointments and application and testing information to the Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety.

Bates also welcomed SB 883’s allowance of the board to be present during applicant testing and its access to applications.

SB 883 is effective on July 10, 90 days from passage.

SB 942 and SB 883 passed through both houses of the Legislature by overwhelming majorities, picking up bipartisan support.

Justice tapped ex-Massey safety head for mine office

In 2022, then-Gov. Jim Justice, a coal magnate, appointed Frank Foster as Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training director.

Foster previously was administrator for the West Virginia Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety. Before taking on that role, Foster was deputy director of the Office of Miners’ Health, Safety and Training.

Foster is a former safety director at Massey Energy Co., which owned and operated the Upper Big Branch mine in Raleigh County where an explosion killed 29 men on April 5, 2010. Foster was one of more than 100 people who wrote letters defending former Massey CEO Don Blankenship in 2016 after a federal jury convicted Blankenship of conspiring to willfully violate mine safety standards, a misdemeanor. Blankenship later served a year in federal prison and a halfway house.

Board of Coal Mine Health and Safety members have sometimes clashed with Foster over office oversight, questioning why the office didn’t take more aggressive action against mine operator Appalachian Resource West Virginia LLC in a 2023 mine death investigation.

Manchin sounds a note of alarm

In his statement Monday, Manchin, who was governor during the 2010 Upper Big Branch Mine disaster in Raleigh County that left 29 miners dead and the 2006 Sago Mine disaster in Upshur County that left 12 miners dead, took a long view.

“Workers have paid a tremendous price for laws protecting their safety. It’s usually because of the loss of life that rules and laws are enacted in the first place,� Manchin said. “That’s why it alarms me to see the West Virginia Legislature may be forgetting the horrible history of workplace incidents in our state and dooming us to repeat them.�