MSHA Removes Requirements It Says Are Outdated, Not Applicable

Four final rules published by MSHA in June remove provisions and requirements from its regulations that the agency says are outdated or no longer applicable. The rules, which go into effect on July 27, have to do with conveyor belts, flame safety lamps, and diesel particulate matter emission limits in underground coal mines as well as blacksmith shops at underground metal and nonmetal mines. MSHA’s Federal Register notices announcing the rules explain that a February 2025 executive order by President Trump that called for agencies to “alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens” prompted these changes.

One of MSHA’s new rules removes outdated effective dates and flame-resistance approval requirements for conveyor belts used in underground coal mines that the agency says have not been applicable since Dec. 31, 2018. Another removes flame safety lamps—an outdated technology—from the list of permissible electric face equipment that can be operated in underground coal mines. According to MSHA, coal miners now use electric cap lamps and portable methane and multi-gas detectors and monitors to provide illumination and detect the presence of gases. The agency’s new rule on diesel particulate matter in coal mines removes requirements for emission limits for permissible diesel-powered equipment and non-permissible heavy-duty diesel-powered equipment that MSHA says are no longer applicable because they contain outdated effective dates. The rule that affects underground metal and nonmetal mines removes requirements for blacksmith shops located at surface areas of these mines. MSHA states that active blacksmith shops are not currently being used at underground metal and nonmetal mines.

According to MSHA, these rule changes will not reduce protections for miners.