House OKs mine-communication measure

WASHINGTON — A bill passed by the House on Monday calls for the government to study better technology for mine communication and tracking systems for miners trapped underground.

In a voice vote, the House passed the bill by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish the research program and make grants available to entities that may be able to speed development of the mine technology.

The House Science and Technology Committee passed the bill last week. Matheson introduced the bill in the wake of the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse in August that trapped six miners more than 1,800 feet underground. Their bodies were not recovered, and three rescuers died days later trying to reach them.

"Mine safety is our top priority," Matheson said in a statement. "Working at these depths poses significant challenges to existing communications systems. As we learned in the Crandall Canyon mine tragedy, families, mine rescuers and the entire community suffer when tracking and communications systems fail."

On Wednesday, the House Education and Labor Committee is scheduled to take up the Supplementary Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act. The bill, introduced in July by Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., has 22 co-sponsors and is designed to build on the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act passed last year.

Miller and the bill's supporters want to improve emergency-response plans for mines and strengthen the Mine Safety and Health Administration's health and safety regulations. The lawmakers also want to strengthen rescue, recovery and accident investigation practices and update a 35-year-old standard that the committee says is not effectively preventing miners from developing black lung disease.

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