Governor Edward G. Rendell hailed the Pennsylvania state Senate’s unanimous vote to pass an update to the state’s 130-year-old Bituminous Coal Mine Safety Act, according to a report in the Clearfield Gant Daily.

Efforts to revamp the legislation — not updated since 1961 — began in 2002 after nine miners breached an abandoned, flooded mine and were trapped underground at the Quecreek Mine in Somerset County. All nine miners were later rescued.

According to the report, changes incorporated under Senate Bill 949, include:

• Creating a seven-member Board of Coal Mine Safety with the authority to write new mine safety regulations, chaired by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) secretary and equally represented by mine owners and workers.
• Making the mine owner or operator primarily responsible for safety compliance at the mine and allowing DEP to assess fines and penalties for noncompliance.
• Increasing the distance (from 200 to 500 feet) at which a bituminous underground operator must conduct advanced drilling when approaching an adjacent mine that may contain water or gas.
• Authorizing the department to use emergency contracting provisions to pay for mine rescue and other mine safety activities.

Gov. Rendell, according to the Gant Daily article, offered the following words of appreciation to those who worked on the bill: “I thank all who participated in the process, including the mining companies, the miners, and the legislature for working through these serious and complicated issues to forge this groundbreaking agreement. I also want to recognize Gov. Mark Schweiker for his brilliant leadership during and after the Quecreek crisis.”

The bill next heads to the House and, once approved there, would move on to the governor.