The underground coal mine tragedies early in 2006, at the Sago Mine, the Aracoma Alma Mine No. 1, and Darby Mine No. 1 raised serious concerns about coal mine safety among all constituencies of the mining industry. These events and the surrounding deliberations resulted in significant changes including sweeping federal and state legislation. They also significantly impacted the NIOSH mining research program in three ways: changes were made to the research program to provide research and prevention solutions to disaster prevention and response problems; the MINER Act of 2006 specifically tasks NIOSH with certain activities, and these have been incorporated into the research program; Congress passed an emergency supplemental appropriation for NIOSH to accelerate the diffusion of critical safety technologies into the mines, and these activities have been initiated. Each of these topics is addressed below. Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

• The MINER Act of 2006 (PDF, 82 KB)
• Emergency supplemental appropriation
• Mine Safety Technologies Contracts and Grants Program
• Focus areas
• Prevention
• Ignition mechanism
• Risk analysis and management
• Safety culture
• Seals
• Ventilation
• Escape
• Communications and tracking
• Escape training
• Escapeways
• Oxygen supply
• Refuge chambers
• Rescue and Response
• Emergency response plans
• Fire fighting
• Rescue technology
• Rescue training
• Mine Emergency Communications Partnership
• Technical Study Panel on the Utilization of Belt Air and the Composition and Fire Retardant Properties of Belt Materials in Underground Coal Mining
• Requests for proposals - contract and grant opportunities
• Contacts