Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG - A bill revising the state's mine-safety law for the first time in 47 years cleared a Senate committee and now heads to the full chamber, which could pass it within two weeks.
Approved unanimously yesterday by the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, the measure creates a state mine-safety board that can make regulations without waiting for legislative approval; strengthens mine-safety standards; and requires mine operators, rather than employees, to take responsibility for accidents.

"We feel this will give us the best mine-safety law in the nation," said Sen. Richard Kasunic (D., Fayette), the bill's sponsor. "This bill will bring us into the 21st century with new technology."

Mine operators also support the bill, but the union representing most mine workers does not.

Kathleen McGinty, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, called the bill a "historic piece of legislation" and said its passage indicates that coal mining will continue to play an important role in the economy of Pennsylvania.

A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Chester) said the senator was making every effort to move the bill by the end of the month.

"A lot of great effort has been put into this bill, and we want to have it enacted as soon as possible," Erik Arneson said.

The measure also has the support of House Majority leader Bill DeWeese (D., Greene) and Gov. Rendell, who has said he will sign the bill in its current form.

The Bituminous Mine Safety Act has not been updated since 1961. The law, governing the nation's fourth-largest coal-producing state, still contains antiquated regulations referring to gas lamps and the care of horses.

Negotiations on the mammoth bill began almost three years ago, prompted in large part by the 2002 accident at Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, in which nine miners were trapped underground for 77 hours by unexpected flooding.

Many safety improvements have since been ordered by the Department of Environmental Protection, including test borings to detect voids to prevent another breach of a flooded, abandoned mine.

Miners have also received additional training; maps of underground mines have been updated; and rescue and survival equipment have been upgraded. All of those initiatives have been written into the 238-page bill.

Despite the protracted negotiations, the bill failed to win the support of the United Mine Workers union, which represents 3,000 Pennsylvania miners.

An official said the union opposes the bill for unspecified safety reasons.

Committee chairwoman Sen. Mary Jo White (R., Venango) said yesterday she hoped the union's issues could be worked out through collective bargaining.