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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | April 28, 2022 01:28 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Tommy Sankey |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Providing Flexibility to the Oil Change Requirements in the Bituminous Coal Mine Safety Act |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation amending Pennsylvania’s Bituminous Coal Mine Safety Act to provide the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Bureau of Mine Safety the flexibility in the schedule of maintenance for the replacement of oil and oil filter on diesel-powered equipment. At the outset, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA) regulations require the use of MSHA-approved diesel engines in underground coal mines in the United States, and DEP’s Bureau of Mine Safety requires approved diesel-powered equipment packages (DPEP) at each underground mine. A qualified mechanic must replace the oil and oil filter on all diesel-powered equipment every 100 hours. This requirement was established prior to the inception of EPA’s diesel engine Tier requirements, which were phased in over several years after the 100-hour oil change requirement. Currently, most mines use Tier 2 or Tier 3 engines, which are much more efficient than the diesel engines from two and a half decades ago. Considering this, the requirement to change the diesel oil and oil filter every 100 hours is unnecessary and is resulting in mining companies being forced to purchase excess oil and dispose of perfectly good oil. My legislation will allow a coal mine operator to submit to DEP’s Bureau of Mine Safety a request for an amendment to the operator’s approved DPEP, which would include the recommendations of the Equipment Task Force or the Technical Advisory Committee on Diesel-Powered Equipment established in the Act. I hope you will consider co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. |