Hearings Planned on Black Lung Rule Change

Federal regulators say they’re planning six public hearings on proposed stricter limits on coal dust exposure in the nation’s mines.

The Mine Safety and Health Administration announced the schedule Wednesday.

The agency says the meetings start Dec. 7 in Beaver and run through Jan. 27 at its headquarters in Virginia. Meetings also are planned for Pennsylvania, Indiana, Alabama and Utah.

The meetings will be held to take testimony on a proposal to cut existing limits for breathable dust in coal mines in half, among other things. The aim is to better protect the nation’s 73,000 coal miners from black lung disease, which is caused by inhaling dust.

The disease has plagued miners for generations and is blamed for the deaths of more than 10,000 coal miners in the past decade.