On January 8, 2026, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) issued a communication encouraging electronic filing of the Quarterly Mine Employment and Coal Production Report (MSHA Form 7000-2). This transition to online submissions is part of MSHA’s broader effort to improve the efficiency of the reporting process.
The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) announced in a November 26, 2025, status report to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit (where the rule is currently being litigated), its plans to “engage in limited rulemaking to reconsider and seek comments on portions of the Silica Rule.” The Eighth Circuit required MSHA to provide an update on its rulemaking efforts by February 2, 2026.
This week the Senate confirmed the new leaders of OSHA and MSHA. David Keeling is the new Assistant Secretary of OSHA and Wayne Palmer is the new Assistant Secretary for MSHA.
Per a U.S. Department of Labor memo entitled “Plan for the Continuation of Limited Activities During a Lapse in Appropriations,” many employees of OSHA and MSHA are currently furloughed.
At the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), of the agency’s 1,590 employees, only 879 will not be furloughed. Of those 879 employees, 674
On September 19, 2025, the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission issued a decision, Secretary of Labor v. Consol Pennsylvania Coal Company, that re-defined the interpretation of the “significant and substantial” (S&S) standard of Section 104(d) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act. The standard has undergone shifting interpretations over the decades. The Secretary did not request a review of the S&S test on appeal. However, the Commission’s decision revised the test to require only (1) a hazard to which the violation could contribute, and (2) that the violation significantly and substantially contributes to that hazard – making it substantially easier for the Secretary of Labor (and MSHA inspectors) to support and uphold S&S allegations.
The average mining operator now spends over $20,000 per year on citations and penalties. In this must-attend cost-savings workshop, learn how to reduce or eliminate fines—with the added benefit of improved safety conditions. In an era of increasing citations, this workshop will prepare you to handle Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) inspectors and challenge citations.
Register here to meet September 3–5, 2025, from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time at Husch Blackwell’s Denver office at 1801 Wewatta Street, Suite 1000.
Over the last week, the Trump administration has put forward its nominees for Assistant Secretary for both the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Health and Safety Administration (MSHA).
On January 10, 2025, the Department of Labor’s annual penalty adjustments were published in the Federal Register. The 2025 increases are approximately 2.6%. The chart below applies to any penalties assessed after January 15, 2025, including penalties whose associated violations occurred before that date.
Please contact a Husch Blackwell Safety and health attorney with
MSHA announced it will hold a series of stakeholder meetings across the country to share information about the final silica rule issued on April 18, 2024. The first two meetings are scheduled for Arlington, VA on July 10, 2024, and Beckley, WV on July 17, 2024, and will be both an in-person and an online
The Acting Secretary of Labor appeared with the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health, Chris Williamson and union leaders on April 16th at an event in Uniontown, PA to announce the release of MSHA’s final respirable crystalline silica rule to the public. Although President Biden was campaigning in Scranton, PA, he did not make an appearance at the event.