MSHA's Regulation Development Process Needs Improvement

Highlights

GAO reviewed the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) procedures for developing safety and health regulations. The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act combined all federal mine safety and health programs under a single statute, which provides for the promulgation of new or revised mandatory safety and health regulations to protect all miners. It also provides specific steps and timeframes for the formal rulemaking process.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of Labor	1. The Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health to develop and implement procedures to establish priorities for the development of safety and health regulations for all types of mining operations.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Labor	2. The Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health to develop and implement procedures to establish a monitoring and reporting system to identify all regulations being developed and measure the progress of development.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Labor	3. The Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary to require concurrent development of regulations regarding hazards that are common to more than one type of mining.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.
Department of Labor	4. The Secretary of Labor should direct the Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health to develop and implement procedures to establish central responsibility for MSHA's regulation development projects.	Closed Please call 202/512-6100 for additional information.

Full Report

Full Report (6 pages)