A House bill that would prevent the EPA or Army Corps of Engineers from finalizing, adopting, implementing, administering or enforcing the Clean Water Jurisdictional Guidance is expected to be marked up by the full U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure early next month.More>>

The Federal District Court for the D.C. Circuit has ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exceeded its authority last year when it revoked a previously issued mountaintop mine permit.More>>

The change is driven by two things: the heightened sensitivity of the public to environmental concerns and the desire of aggregate producers to be more efficient.More>>

According to MSHA data and reported by NSSGA, penalty assessments imposed on aggregate producers in 2011 declined by 18 percent, to $16.9 million from $20.6 million in the previous year, while citations and orders declined by the same amount.More>>

Federal inspectors issued 253 citations, orders and safeguards during special impact inspections conducted at 12 coal mines and four metal/nonmetal mines in January, MSHA announced.More>>

MSHA has scheduled a stakeholder meeting in April to discuss future compliance associated with fall protection, NSSGA announced. Aggregate producers have long complained that vagueness of the standards makes compliance harder to achieve. NSSGA asked for more clarity on the fall protection standards...More>>

According to a Bloomberg report, a judge in Delaware will hear a case on Feb. 28 involving a dispute between Vulcan Materials and Martin Marietta Materials. The case centers on Martin Marietta’s December hostile takeover attempt of Vulcan, in which it sought to combine the companies in an...More>>

MSHA announced a reorganization designed to centralize its oversight of certain cross-cutting, compliance-related actions. MSHA’s Office of Assessments, Accountability, Special Enforcement and Investigations will incorporate the management, support and coordination of both routine and special...More>>

National Public Radio (NPR) interviewed Mark Ellis, president of the National Industrial Sand Association (NISA), about the delayed rulemaking for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) crystalline silica standard. The rule has been under review by the White House’s Office...More>>

MSHA launched the third phase of an outreach and enforcement program designed to strengthen efforts to prevent mining fatalities. Rules to Live By III: Preventing Common Mining Deaths will focus on 14 safety standards that were chosen because violations related to each have been cited as...More>>