As the calendar turns to a new year, the Mine Safety and Health Administration appears to have found its footing – and that means mine operators need to be on their toes in 2023. After a presidential administration change, retirements throughout the inspector ranks, and an anemic regulatory agenda, MSHA now appears to be pointed in a new and more robust direction. What do we expect to see in the new year? The following forecast is our best estimation on the five most likely agency actions and changes that operators can expect in 2023 in key areas such as the regulatory agenda, enforcement, and policy.
1. Long-Anticipated Regulatory Agenda Will Finally Come to Pass
MSHA’s regulatory agenda has featured a proposed rule on silica and a final rule on powered haulage since early 2022. Will 2023 be the year operators see these rulemaking initiatives come to fruition? We think so.
Silica Rule
The agency has been working on a proposed silica rule for months. We will most likely be seeing it in the first half of 2023.
MSHA has been clear about prioritizing a proposed rule lowering the level of silica in respirable dust. Beginning in 1974, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has recommended an exposure limit for respirable crystalline silica (quartz) of .05 mg/m. In 2016, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) amended its existing respirable crystalline silica standards to establish a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of .05 mg/m.
MSHA...
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