ANNOUNCEMENT

To maintain certification in the tasks the certified person performs, every three years, a person must pass the applicable MSHA examination demonstrating competency in sampling procedures under final § 70.202(c) or competency in maintenance and calibration under final § 70.203(c).

Those who held certification(s) on the effective date of the Final Rule (August 1, 2014) are required to pass the applicable examination by August 1, 2017 to retain their certification.

To schedule certification testing please contact the appropriate District Office, National Mine Academy, or MSHA Headquarters person(s). A fixed schedule for testing is being established  and will be posted. It will include the location(s) and times.  MSHA will schedule testing at your site but please be reminded not to wait to schedule

MSHA’s Respirable Coal Dust Rule Is Better Protecting Our Nation’s Miners

On August 1, 2014, MSHA’s landmark respirable dust rule went into effect, adding a number of increased protections for coal miners and closing several loopholes that masked their exposure to unhealthy coal mine dust. Respirable coal dust sampling results for the first year of the rule—containing those new protections—show that compliance is achievable and, most importantly, that the nation’s coal miners are now, more than ever before, better protected from the debilitating and deadly black lung disease.

Phase III Now in Effect

On August 1, 2016, Phase III of MSHA’s respirable dust rule went into effect. 

• The concentration limits for respirable coal mine dust are lowered from 2.0 milligrams of dust per cubic meter of air (mg/m3) to 1.5 mg/m3 at underground and surface coal mines
• The concentration limits for respirable coal mine dust are lowered  from 1.0 mg/m3 to 0.5 mg/m3 for intake air at underground mines and for part 90 miners (coal miners who have evidence of the development of pneumoconiosis)

Lowering the concentration of respirable coal mine dust in the air that miners breathe is the most effective means of preventing diseases caused by excessive exposure to such dust.