The Honorable

Harrison A. Williams, Jr.

Page Four

September 9, 1970

This survey indicates that very few safety committeemen have been discharged because of their activities as committeemen, and in no case has it been found that any such action by the coal operator has been successful.

Mr. Yablonski asserts that the only information furnished UMWA members regarding the Federal Coal Mine Safety Act was the publication of the Act in the UMW Journal. Again, such erroneous assertion, made out of ignorance, and designed to divide the UMWA membership to further the campaign of those seeking office in the union, can only harm the safety program.

The facts are as follows:

(1) In addition to the Journal publication, the union had copies of the Act and the regulations printed and forwarded one to each local union.

(2) Many area conferences were held by the UMWA Safety Director, district safety coordinators and mine safety committeemen to discuss and acquaint all the members with the provisions of the Act.

Senator WILLIAMS. Our next witnesses are from the Department of the Interior, Mr. Fred Russell, Under Secretary of Interior; Hollis Dole, Assistant Secretary of Mineral Resources; and Mitchell Melich, the Solicitor of the Department.

I feel it is important to make a statement before I turn to our witnesses who are from the Department of the Interior.

Yesterday, and this morning, the subcommittee has heard charges against the Department of the Interior for its inadequate enforcement of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. The subcommittee had previously heard such charges in the coalfields in Pennsylvania. I have had individual miners undertake the expense of coming to Washington to see me personally to register complaints. They are in almost daily telephone contact with my office registering complaints. And I must say to you, in my 15 years in both the House and Senate, I have never heard as many complaints from as many different, responsible sources, about the administration of any law as I have heard about this one. I must say also that the nature of the complaints are the most serious I have ever heard regarding the administration of a law passed by Congress.

In all fairness to those of you who represent the Department I must warn you: This subcommittee is not neutral and impartial about the health and safety of workingmen. When it comes to a question of someone getting health and safety justice from the law written painstakingly over 9 months by this subcommittee, we are not neutral and impartial.

For the record, let me note at the outset, that the Under Secretary, Mr. Russell, is here at the specific request of the subcommittee, since we understand he is the ranking official with close day-to-day responsibility and authority for the administration of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act.

Before you begin, Mr. Russell, there are several matters I will lay before you and the subcommittee.

I have reviewed the record of our hearings both here in Washington and in the coalfields. I have reviewed the transcripts of meetings between the subcommittee staff and the Interior Department; I have read many of the documents in several pending lawsuits; I have seen complaints registered on the floor of both Houses of Congress, and I have studied most of the material prepared by your Department over the past 6 months in response to congressional inquiries.

All the information available to me reads like a serious indictment. I cannot begin, in one sitting, to enumerate all of the grievous charges of heinous conduct by the Department. However, in order for your testimony to have the proper focus, I will just enumerate some of the most serious counts:

-You established by regulation a penalty schedule, which ignores the factors required by the law.

-You meekly sat back and allowed the Federal district court in Virginia to extend for an indefinite period an order prohibiting enforcement of the safety regulations of March 28. During the court hearing, questions were raised about the safety features of the law and safety equipment and its availability. But you provided no expert witnesses on these matters.

-You determined, despite the fact that the court issued its order on behalf of 77 small mine operators only, that the large mine operators, who have never been parties to the case, should also reap the questionable benefits. Thus, the regulations by administrative fiat are unenforceable against all operators.

-You have failed, even at this late date, to comply fully with the mandate of the law concerning spot inspections at designated

hazardous mines.

-You have failed, until pressed by Congress, to even begin to formalize and streamline your program of hiring and training persons as coal mine inspectors. Only after the urging of Congress a few weeks ago, did Interior even begin to think in terms of providing for a full-time director of training.

-You have issued during the first 2 weeks of June over 1,000 warnings to operators who violate the act, and in each case have accepted the highly questionable assertion of a lack of technology, of unavailability of equipment, or personnel.

-You have required that operators install at this time methane monitors on equipment in mines, despite the fact that only 6 months ago the Bureau of Mines told House-Senate conferees such monitors were not yet reliable or available.

-You initiated last June talks with the industry and the UMW to discuss the regulations and possible changes. But only after Members of Congress objected to such closed meetings did you invite staff members. You still failed, however, to open them to all interested persons, including our witnesses this morning, or to keep a verbatim record of the proceedings.

In addition to these charges, I have provided you earlier today with a written series of questions reflecting our concern on specific issues. The committee expects that the witnesses will direct themselves to all of these issues, none of which is being raised for the first time this morning. As a matter of fact, they have all been raised on previous

occasions.

This is the strongest statement I have ever made in a committee hearing. Unfortunately, I thought it was necessary before we proceed to the introduction of our witnesses.

(The questions referred to follow :)

QUESTIONS OF SENATOR WILLIAMS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

1. Has the Interior Department conducted a detailed survey of each of the mines subject to the Virginia lawsuit to ascertain precisely what equipment and personnel are not available at each mine?

2. Also, what efforts have the operators of each such mine made to comply with the standards in Title III of the law in a timely fashion?

3. (a) What guidelines or directives has Interior issued to its inspectors to verify that equipment or personnel at every mine is not available at the time of inspection?

(b) Does the operator sign a statement to that effect?

(c) Does the inspector require the operators to demonstrate what efforts have been made to obtain the equipment and personnel?

(d) Are manufacturers checked to see if the operators are timely seeking the equipment?

4. (a) Has Interior conducted the survey required by section 305(a) of the Act as to the total availability of new or rebuilt permissible electric face equipment and replacement parts?

(b) Will the results be published next month as required?

5. (a) Will Interior abandon the penalty schedule in the March 28 regulations, as amended?

(b) Will it substitute a procedure that conforms with the law and gives the violator an opportunity to know, through the medium of a proposed decision, the factors considered by Interior in assessing a civil penalty before he decides whether or not to request a public hearing?

6. (a) Will Interior forever cease to have private tripartate meetings with representatives of the large operators, the independent operators, and the union? (b) Will it insist that all such meetings in the future be public or, at the very least, be on the record for all to review later?

7. (a) Has Interior now finally formalized an inspector training program for all to scrutinize?

(b) When will Interior have enough inspectors to conduct all the required spot inspections at hazardous mines and the four annual inspections at all mines?

8. (a) What is the current status of the Virginia law suit?

(b) Will there be a hearing next month by a three-judge court on the injunction?

(c) Has Interior entered into stipulations as the court "admonished" it to do only last month?

9. Will Interior commit itself that from now on it will have available expert witnesses at all future court hearings under the Act?

10. What funds have been committed and when to carry out the specialized research directives set forth in section 301(b) of the Act on such items as splicing and use of trailing cables, roof control, and improved methods of measuring gas?

11. What is the current availability of the mine rescuer?

STATEMENTS OF HON. FRED RUSSELL, UNDER SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR; HOLLIS M. DOLE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, MINERAL RESOURCES; HENRY WHEELER, JR., DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE BUREAU OF MINES FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY; JAMES WESTFIELD, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR COAL MINE HEALTH AND SAFETY; MITCHELL MELICH, SOLICITOR; AND WILLIAM A. GERSHUNY, ASSISTANT SOLICITOR, TRIAL BRANCH

Mr. RUSSELL. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, we are here in response to Senator Williams' telegram request, and we thank you for the invitation that we appear here.

I am Fred Russell, Under Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

With me on my left are the Honorable Hollis M. Dole, Assistant Secretary, Mineral Resources; Mr. Henry P. Wheeler, Jr., Deputy Director of the Bureau of Mines for Health and Safety. We have other people behind them. To his left, we have James Westfield, Assistant Director for Coal Mine Health and Safety.

On my right are Mr. Mitchell Melich, Solicitor, and Mr. William A. Gershuny, Assistant Solicitor, Trial Branch, Division of Mine Health and Safety, and others seated behind them.

With your permission, we should like to begin with a statement to be made by Assistant Secretary Hollis M. Dole.

Senator WILLIAMS. Mr. Dole.

Mr. DOLE. Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee on Labor, we are appreciative of this opportunity which you have afforded to us to inform you and the public generally of the significant and constructive progress that we are making to implement the provisions of the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969, and thus to

achieve the needed health and safety revolution that has been too long delayed in the coal mines of the United States.

We have not been oblivious to the criticism that has been so widely publicized in the press and elsewhere about our alleged failures in this regard. We have listened to it, and, where it has been constructive, we have responded to it in our plans and actions.

We have not, until now, attempted to respond to the criticism verbally, because we believe that it is more important to direct our efforts toward the accomplishment of our health and safety objectives-and, further, we believe that demonstrated performance is a more effective response than a debate in the news media.

Senator WILLIAMS. We would agree with that, certainly.

Mr. DOLE. The coal miners have been hearing only one side of the story and, understandably, their faith in the Bureau of Mines has been shaken. This is most unfortunate. It will take some time to restore this confidence which is essential to the success of our efforts. The needed improvements in coal mine health and safety cannot be fully accomplished without the understanding, cooperation, and support

of the miners.

The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 was enacted on December 30, 1969; and the safety standards in the act became effective on March 30, 1970. The health standards became effective on June 30.

Simply stated, the act required a safety revolution in the coal mines within 90 days, and a health revolution to follow in an additional 90 days and it required the Bureau of Mines to have an immediate fully developed capability to enforce the standards and thus assure the arrival of both revolutions on schedule at the times specified.

In establishing the very short deadlines in the act, the Congress was saying that it wanted compliance as soon as possible and that it would not tolerate any delays which could not be fully explained and justified.

With this position, the Department of Interior is in complete agreement. The health and safety of mineworkers is too important to be compromised in any way-by delays or otherwise.

Unfortunately, the publicity concerning the development-and, eventually, the enactment-of the new law centered almost entirely upon the improvements it would bring about, and very little was said about the time that would be required to achieve them.

Consequently, the mineworkers and the public generally were encouraged to expect the improvements in mine health and safety immediately, and because they have not been achieved so quickly, they are dismayed. They should not be so dismayed, because the health and safety revolution in the mines is underway; their expectations will be fulfilled; but it will take longer than 90 or 180 days.

It will take longer because there is simply not enough manpower and equipment available to get the job done immediately. Some of the equipment required by the law does not yet exist, and much of the equipment that does exist is insufficient to supply all at one time the 2,800 underground coal mines that are subject to the act.

There is also a shortage of coal mine engineers, technicians and inspectors.

The existence of these problems is a cold, hard fact-not speculation-and they must be met and overcome before our mine health and safety objectives can be fully realized.