Chao Misses Mine Safety Deadline. Bush Appoints Stickler—Again

by Mike Hall, Jan 7, 2008

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao missed the Dec. 15 deadline to issue new federal rules for better trained mine rescue teams at the nation’s coal mines. The Charleston Gazette reports:

The rules are still not finalized and are sitting at the White House, under review by the Office of Management and Budget.

In 2006, spurred by what would become the highest coal mine death toll since 1996—including the deaths of 19 coal miners at the Sago, Aracoma and Darby mines in West Virginia and Kentucky—Congress passed and President Bush signed the MINER Act that mandated several mine safety improvements, including rescue teams.

The June 2006 mine law gave the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) 18 months to finalize the new rescue rules. It took the safety agency 15 months to write the proposed rules and now the Bush administration says it can’t provide a timeline for issuing them.

Our friends at Hillbilly Report point out that:

Elaine Chao is quick to give American workers advice, but slow when it comes to doing her own job. I suggest we have a skills gap here.

Meanwhile, Bush once again circumvented Congress and reinstated MSHA administrator Richard Stickler to head the agency. Stickler, a former coal company executive, twice failed to win Senate confirmation, but in late 2006, with Congress out of session, Bush used a recess appointment to install Stickler in the post, officially known as the assistant labor secretary for mine safety and health.

The recess appointment expired at the end of 2007. In a somewhat bizarre chain of events, MSHA removed Stickler’s bio from the agency’s website and announced Jan. 3 that Stickler’s assistant was the acting assistant secretary. But his tenure was brief: On Jan. 4, Bush named Stickler the new acting assistant secretary, a move that does not require congressional approval and is likely to last until the end of Bush’s term. After press reports that Stickler’s bio had been removed, it’s now back online.

Mine Workers (UMWA) President Cecil Roberts says:

The appointment of Richard Stickler to be acting assistant secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health, just days after his term in that position expired because he couldn’t be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, demonstrates the deep level of contempt the Bush administration holds for the Senate and the constitutional role that body holds.

The UMWA’s position on Mr. Stickler has remained consistent from the day he was first nominated in 2005. We do not believe someone who has spent the majority of his working life as a coal company manager, supervisor and executive ought to be appointed as head of MSHA

Smintheus at Daily Kos provides a good look back at controversy surrounding the Stickler appointment.

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (4)