The Trump administration’s deregulatory agenda faces one of its toughest obstacles in rewriting a Biden-era requirement that mines cut respirable silica levels, a move industry observers say will spur new lawsuits.
The plan to replace key parts of the US Mine Safety and Health Administration’s silica rule would encounter legal challenges under the Administrative Procedure Act as well as the Mine Act’s no-less protection clause, according to former MSHA officials.
The Biden-era silica rule is currently under a legal challenge by mine trade organizations in the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Mine unions say they’ll challenge any ...