Senate Bid to Protect Obama-Era Coal Dust Rule Falls Flat

An Obama-era rule intended to increase protections for coal miners from black lung disease could still be weakened by the Trump administration after the Senate refused to take up a Democratic amendment shielding it.

As a result, the rule, which lowers how much coal dust is allowed to be floating in the air at mines, theoretically remains vulnerable to repeal or rollback. The amendment that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) had proposed to the Labor, Health, and Human Services spending bill (H.R. 6157) Aug. 20 would have barred the use of government funds to weaken the ...