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Trump administration considers changes to black lung protection rule

The Trump administration is examining a rule created to protect coal miners from black lung to determine whether it is achieving its goal.

According to a notice posted by the U.S. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, an arm of the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA, is requesting public comment on the "existing standards and regulations that could be improved or made more effective or less burdensome by accommodating advances in technology, innovative techniques, or less costly methods, including the requirements that could be streamlined or replaced in frequency" and a retrospective review of the final rule "Lowering Miners' Exposure to the Respirable Coal Mine Dust."

The notice said the stakeholder comments will help MSHA evaluate whether modifications to standards and regulations can improve regulatory objectives. It will also help the agency to evaluate whether the rule is achieving respirable dust levels that protect the health of miners.

MSHA announced the implementation of the final phase of the respirable coal dust rule, designed to reduce the occurrence of black lung, in August 2016 despite opposition from the coal industry.

Gary Broadbent, spokesperson for Murray Energy Corp., one of the parties that oppose the rule's implementation last year, said it would file comments to the rule in due course.

"Murray Energy Corporation is pleased that the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration is reexamining the Obama Administration's Respirable Dust Rule, which fails to protect coal miners in any way," the statement said.

The National Mining Association also offered its support for the federal action.

"While we’ve not had any discussions with the agency regarding the retrospective study we think it might shed valuable information on operation of the rule since its promulgation and ways it might be improved to provide further protection for miners while eliminating unnecessary implementation requirements for operators," said association spokesman Luke Popovich.

However, a spokesperson for the office of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said that the lawmaker is "very concerned about the consequences of rolling back these regulations" in a statement to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

"The Mine Safety and Health Administration's job is to protect coal miners, and that includes enforcing standards put in place to reduce mine dust exposure and protect them from getting black lung disease," the statement said.

Phil Smith, spokesperson for the United Mine Workers of America, said the union was looking into the matter.