Committee Republicans Pen Letter to the Department of Labor Over New Mining Rules

Summary

Committee announcement dated July 20, 2023 that Chairman Roger Williams of the House Committee on Small Business, together with Reps. Stauber and Meuser, wrote to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Assistant Secretary of Labor Christopher Williamson. The letter addresses the Department's proposed rule that would change dust protection standards in mining. The announcement quotes the letter as saying the increased standards would force many small mines to implement new engineering and administrative controls, and lists air vents, wetting agents, machine mounted dust collectors and control booths. It states that the letter builds on the committee's work to ensure federal agencies adhere to the Regulatory Flexibility Act.

Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used

Full text

Committee Republicans Pen Letter to the Department of Labor Over New Mining Rules

Letter to DOL on New Mining Rules

July 20, 2023

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, along with Reps. Stauber (R-MN) and Meuser (R-PA), wrote to Acting Secretary of Labor, Julie Su, and Assistant Secretary of Labor, Christopher Williamson, to address the Department’s new proposed rule that would change dust protection standards in mining.

This letter builds on the House Committee on Small Business’ work to ensure federal agencies adhere to the Regulatory Flexibility Act and Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act to protect small businesses from burdensome regulations and rulemaking.

Read the full letter here.

Read excerpts from the letter below:

“The increased standards described in this rule would force many small mines to implement new engineering and administrative controls to achieve the air quality benchmarks. These controls include installing new air vents, using wetting agents, installing machine mounted dust collectors, and installing control booths to enclose operators. These additional requirements not only compromise the operations of existing small mines, but also increases material and compliance costs for entrepreneurs seeking to open a new mine.

“It is important for agencies to examine small businesses interests—which make up 99.9 percent of all businesses in the United States—when passing any new rule. America’s small businesses deserve to have their voices heard and considered.”

Background:

Signatories include Chairman Roger Williams (R-TX), Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), and Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA).

File and source

File

405653_2023-07-20_committee-republicans-pen-letter-to-the-department.html

Size

24,084 bytes

SHA-256

e41a822cea3c836e03a1e45b814e3e24b9fb5eccd9d05e40e3a9de7028ad4f10

Our copy

405653_2023-07-20_committee-republicans-pen-letter-to-the-department.html

Original

smallbusiness.house.gov