Congressional efforts to retool mine safety legislation — which were spurred by April’s deadly Upper Big Branch explosion in West Virginia, the nation’s worst mining disaster in 40 years — have failed for this year, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
The bill would have given the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration the power to shut down mines that exhibit a pattern of safety violations. It would have also upped criminal penalties for safety law violations, and made it easier to prosecute company officials higher on the the corporate ladder for allowing unsafe conditions in their mines.
House Democrats backing the reforms, however, were unable to get the two-thirds majority necessary to pass the Robert C. Byrd Mine Safety Protection Act. Although a 214-193 majority voted in favor Wednesday, the measure was brought to the floor under a mechanism requiring two-thirds approval for passage. In any case, the vote was largely symbolic, because it faced staunch Republican opposition in the Senate.
In the past, major mining disasters have triggered some of the U.S.’s most sweeping mine safety laws, and the West Virginia explosion that killed 29 miners in April spurred a new push for a legislative overhaul.
Democrats urged stronger safety enforcement laws, while Republicans wanted to wait until an investigation into the disaster was complete.
“Our legislation should be crafted with facts and evidence, not emotion,” Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., said. “Passing this bill before we have the report is similar to letting the doctor operate on you before he has the lab results or the X-rays.”
The GOP also opposed provisions of the bill that gave employees more whistle-blower protection, including allowing them to pursue safety complaints on their own if they were turned down by by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
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