CSPI comments re: Respirable coal mine dust rule

CSPI today filed comments with the Department of Labor’s Mining Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) urging the agency to protect coal miners by adopting and enforcing a standard for respirable silica. The comments are in response to a request for information MSHA issued following the publication of a final rule, Lowering Miners’ Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors (CPDMs). That 2014 final rule revised a standard for coal mine dust but did not establish a silica-specific standard despite longstanding recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The agency indicated that the general rule on coal dust would likely reduce silica exposure as well.