Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 30, 1995                   TAG: 9508300062
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium

MINE LAWS DEEP SUBJECT

It wasn't surprising that congressional attempts to eliminate the Bureau of Mines and merge the Mining Safety and Health Administration into the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were hot topics at the 26th annual Institute on Mining Health, Safety and Research. The session convened at Virginia Tech - which has the largest mining school in the country.

Many in the mining industry have said MSHA needs reform but have supported its continued existence as a separate agency. Richard Lawson, president of the National Mining Association, said any changes in the law must provide for an independent and professionally experienced body of mine inspectors.

Another conference speaker, Steven F. Leer, president and chief executive officer of Arch Mineral Corp. of St. Louis, acknowledged MSHA's role in improving mine safety since passage of the 1969 Mine Health and Safety Act, but said reform is needed if further improvements are to be made. He criticized, in particular, MSHA's slowness in accepting new mining technology.

Nothing in legislation proposed in the House of Representatives would eliminate existing protections for miners, and moving mine inspectors to OSHA wouldn't hurt their efforts, Leer said.

When the 1969 law was passed, underground coal mining had the highest injury rate among U.S. industries, but today it's the 10th safest industry in the nation among 41 surveyed, Leer said.

J. Davitt McAteer, an assistant secretary of labor and MSHA's chief, said the proposed legislation would reverse 25 years of safety gains. Last year, 84 miners died in coal and other types of U.S. mines and quarries, the lowest figure on record.

The House bill, which would repeal the 1969 law, would restrict his agency's enforcement efforts, cost miners who stand up for safety their rights, and lead to more litigation and "regulatory gridlock" over new safety standards, McAteer said.

Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., sponsor of the legislation as a subcommittee chairman, has supported a merger of OSHA and MSHA as a way to save money. Ballenger's district, however, has little mining.

Because Ballenger lacks a background in mining, it has been hard explaining to him the difference in the way OSHA and MSHA work, McAteer said. And, he said, a researcher from the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think tank, who testified in favor of the merger admitted he had never been in a mine.

Conservative think tanks have supported the proposal to eliminate the Bureau of Mines and other government research agencies such as the National Geographic Survey, Rhea L. Graham, director of the bureau, said. The proposal was included in the Republican "Contract with America" before the 1994 elections.

Through partnerships with industry and universities, the Bureau of Mines conducts research in mine health and safety, repair of damage to the environment, prevention of pollution and the conservation of minerals. No other organization, public or private, deals with the full range of mineral-related problems that the Bureau of Mines does, Graham said.

The House of Representatives passed a bill in July that would abolish Graham's agency. The Senate, however, has approved a $128 million budget for the agency, $4.5 million less than President Clinton requested. The agency's fate now lies in the hands of a congressional conference committee.