Kaine and Scott to Introduce Bill to Protect Miners’ Safety
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), and U.S. Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Education and Workforce will introduce the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2025.
This bill coincides with the 15th anniversary of the Upper Big Branch (UBB) Mine Disaster, reflecting lessons learned from the deadly explosion on April 5, 2010, that killed 29 miners. The bill improves mine safety and closes glaring loopholes in our nation’s mine safety laws that could help save miners’ lives. The bill would further prioritize the safety of miners by holding rogue mine operators accountable.
“Miners take incredible risks to power our nation. While we’ve made progress to support them—like extending the Black Lung Disability Trust excise tax at a higher rate and strengthening silica standards—the recent actions of the Trump Administration have undermined decades of work to enhance protections for coal miners,” said Kaine. “This legislation is critical to strengthening safety standards and holding mine operators accountable for unsafe working conditions.”
“The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2025 is a critical step toward protecting the health and safety of mine workers across the country. Coal miners, mine safety regulators and the UBB families have asked Congress to address long, overdue reforms to the nations’ mine safety laws. The reforms in this bill would ensure that all miners are able to return home safely to their families at the end of their shift,” said Scott. “The tragedy of the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster will be in vain if Congress does not close the loopholes that have allowed a small minority of mine operators to put profit ahead of their miners’ safety.”
The comes at a time when the Trump Administration is abandoning the nation’s commitment to protect miners. The Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has fired inspectors and appears to be closing offices across the country. That agency has yet to answer congressional queries. Meanwhile, in a secretive and apparently arbitrary process, the Trump Administration terminated thousands of Health and Human Services (HHS) employees—including many scientists and researchers at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) who focus on black lung and innovative technologies to keep mines safe.
Eliminating so much of the government’s mine safety capacity, especially as we near the fifteenth anniversary of the UBB Mine Disaster, is reckless and nonsensical. Congress permanently established NIOSH’s Office of Mine Safety and Health in the aftermath of the deadly Sago Mine Disaster.
Weakening the Labor Department’s ability to inspect mines at a time when the White House seeks to ramp up mining is a recipe for more mine disasters. The Trump Administration’s actions will waste decades of life-saving innovations and put miners’ lives at risk.
The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act protects miners’ health and safety by:
- Expanding the authority of the MSHA to strengthen safety regulations and enforce penalties against mines with repeat violations.
- Increasing penalties for mines violating health and safety standards.
- Providing the MSHA with better enforcement tools to allow proper inspection and investigation.
- Protecting whistleblowers from retaliation and loss of income.
- Updating mine safety standards to prevent explosions.
- Increasing accountability for the MSHA to ensure that inspectors are independent and qualified to provide quality oversight.
The Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act of 2025 is endorsed by Appalachian Citizens Law Center, Appalachian Voices, United Mine Workers of America, and United Steel Workers.
Read the full text of the bill here.
Read a section-by-section summary of the bill here.
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