Hillary Clinton Campaign Press Release - Hillary Clinton's Agenda to Protect America's Miners

Today, at a "Get Out the Vote" event in Prestonsburg, KY, Hillary Clinton will unveil her agenda to protect America's miners.

Hillary Clinton believes that a critical role of government is to protect workers from unsafe working conditions. As President, she will ensure the health and safety of America's miners. There are more than 370,000 miners in the United States, a third of whom are coal miners. Mining remains one of the most dangerous occupations in the country. The number of coal mine fatalities hit a 10-year high in 2006, when 47 coal miners died - including five at the Darby mine in Kentucky. In many states throughout the country, including Kentucky, mining is crucial to the state's identity and economy; in 2006, Kentucky's coal industry brought more than $3.5 billion into the state by exporting coal to other states and countries. Kentucky, which has more than 17,000 coal miners, leads the nation in the number of coal mines and is the country's third-largest producer of coal.

Hillary Clinton believes the federal government can and should do more to protect these hard-working Americans. While the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response (MINER) Act of 2006, which she helped to guide through the Senate and then was signed into law, was an important first step toward improving mine safety, Hillary believes that more must be done. That is why she is announcing today a plan that would aim to prevent mining disasters and improve emergency responses in the event of a disaster. She would also work to improve health outcomes for miners and to ensure that families of disaster victims are cared for. Her plan includes:

Enhancing the Mine Safety and Health Administration's (MSHA) enforcement authority and further strengthening penalties. Today, some mine operators ignore penalties that are overdue because MSHA does not aggressively recover fines. Often, the fines are so low that some mine operators will pay the fines instead of making their miners safer. Between 2004 and 2006, MSHA did not hand over any delinquent cases to the Treasury Department for further collection efforts, as it is supposed to do after 180 days. As President, Hillary will almost double the maximum penalty for each mine safety violation, and she will create a new fine for a pattern of violations, with the minimum at $50,000 and the maximum at $250,000. Hillary will also strengthen MSHA's authority to investigate violators. She would prevent mine operators from interfering with MSHA inspectors and would allow inspectors to shut down a mine in the event of an accident. She would also allow MSHA to stop production at a mine that does not pay in full any outstanding fines and to shut down a mine that does not abate its violations in a timely manner.

Protecting miners who report safety hazards. Today, some safety and health hazards that are reported to MSHA are ignored by the federal agency. And some miners do not report hazards at all because they do not trust MSHA to protect their identities, while others do not because they fear retaliation or blacklisting. Hillary would create a new Office of Miner Ombudsman within the office of the Inspector General of the Department of Labor to protect the rights of miners and to oversee the complaint process. The ombudsman would receive all complaints of operator violations, help whistleblowers with their cases, and ensure the confidentiality of these complaints.

Improving industry emergency response plans. In 2007, there were 64 mining fatalities and more than 11,000 mining injuries. Under the MINER Act, all underground mine operators are required to have a comprehensive emergency response plan that outlines a strategy for the evacuation of miners in the event of an accident and for the maintenance of miners who are unable to evacuate, including how to communicate with and track those who are trapped underground. Hillary would require that those plans include provisions to update rescue and communication technology and install newer, more reliable systems as they are developed; require that all underground coal mines start installing underground refuge chambers that can be stocked with breathable air, food, and water in order to keep trapped miners alive while they await rescue; upgrade the conveyer belts used in underground mines consistent with National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommendations; and require the installation of underground gas and smoke monitoring systems, and require that miners be provided with handheld multi-gas detectors.

Continuing support for MSHA to keep our miners safe. Unlike President Bush, who waited until after major mining accidents took place to invest in MSHA, Hillary will take a different approach - she will ensure that MSHA has the funding it needs to carry out its mission of protecting miners before a disaster occurs. She opposes President Bush's decision to reduce MSHA's funding for FY2009 that would cut the coal enforcement program by $10 million and the standards development office by $350,000. In the wake of so many lives lost in our coal mines - and when coal mine accidents continue to take place - we should not be decreasing funding for MSHA. As President, Hillary will ensure that MSHA has the staffing and financial resources it needs to keep our mines safe for workers.

Taking action after an accident to help miners and their families, as well as to prevent future incidents. When a mining disaster occurs, it is important that family members of the miners involved are given accurate, updated information. It is also important that the incident is thoroughly investigated to prevent another disaster at the same location and similar accidents at other sites. As President, Hillary will take action to ensure that family members are given accurate information in a timely manner and to standardize accident investigation procedures to ensure a prompt and thorough investigation. In addition, we must also ensure that miners have access quality health care they can afford. Under Hillary's universal health care plan, all miners, both current and retired, will be guaranteed quality, affordable health care. Hillary is also aware that there has been an alarming rise in the prevalence of black lung disease, a devastating but preventable disease that is triggered by exposure to coal dust. Hillary is committed to addressing this issue, including cutting in half the amount of coal dust to which a miner can be exposed during a shift, as recommended by NIOSH.