House OKs mine-communication measure
Matheson bill also seeks tracking-systems study
In a voice vote, the House passed the bill by Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, to direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish the research program and make grants available to entities that may be able to speed development of the mine technology.
The House Science and Technology Committee passed the bill last week. Matheson introduced the bill in the wake of the Crandall Canyon Mine collapse in August that trapped six miners more than 1,800 feet underground. Their bodies were not recovered, and three rescuers died days later trying to reach them.
"Mine safety is our top priority," Matheson said in a statement. "Working at these depths poses significant challenges to existing communications systems. As we learned in the Crandall Canyon mine tragedy, families, mine rescuers and the entire community suffer when tracking and communications systems fail."
On Wednesday, the House Education and Labor Committee is scheduled to take up the Supplementary Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act. The bill, introduced in July by Committee Chairman George Miller, D-Calif., has 22 co-sponsors and is designed to build on the Mine Improvement and New Emergency Response Act passed last year.
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