Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors

The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) will hold six public hearings on the proposed rule addressing Lowering Miners' Exposure to Respirable Coal Mine Dust, Including Continuous Personal Dust Monitors. The proposed rule was published on October 19, 2010 (75 FR 64412) and is available on MSHA's Web site at http://www.msha.gov/ REGS/FEDREG/PROPOSED/2010Prop/2010-25249.pdf. This document also corrects a few errors in the preamble of the proposed rule. The proposed rule would lower miners' exposure to respirable coal mine dust by revising the Agency's existing standards on miners' occupational exposure to respirable coal mine dust. The major provisions of the proposal would lower the existing exposure limits for respirable coal mine dust; implement full-shift sampling to address extended work shifts; redefine the term "normal production shift;" and provide for the use of a single full-shift sample to determine compliance under the mine operator and MSHA's inspector sampling programs. The proposed rule would also require the use of the Continuous Personal Dust Monitor (CPDM) for exposure monitoring, and expand requirements for medical surveillance. The proposed rule would significantly improve health protections for underground and surface coal miners by reducing their occupational exposure to respirable coal mine dust and lowering the risk that they will suffer material impairment of health or functional capacity over their working lives.