Background

Since the early 2000s, black lung cases have been on the rise. Now, a new federal study shows that black lung has reached its highest rates in nearly 50 years, with nearly one in three long-tenured underground miners in Central Appalachia having symptoms of black lung.¹

The increase in rates of black lung disease are due to more silica in the mining dust.² Silica is 20 times more toxic than coal dust ³, and today’s miners experience more exposure because they have to cut deeper into rock in order to access remaining coal seams. ⁴

In April 2024, after decades of federal research and advocacy from coal miners, their doctors and their loved ones, the government finalized a rule to protect coal and other miners from silica dust. It was supposed to go into effect in April 2025.⁵ 

The mining industry immediately sued to challenge the new silica exposure rule.⁶ The Biden administration began defending the protections for miners in court,⁷ but when the Trump-Vance administration took office in 2025, it voluntarily paused enforcement of the rule and indicated they would stop defending it in court.⁸ The Trump-Vance administration is bowing to the industry demands and working on a new rule, which they have yet to release.

All because the Trump-Vance administration favors industry profits over the lives of our miners.

To make matters worse, under its current leadership, federal inspectors have failed to conduct any inspections at 8 underground mines in recent months. Of the mines that have been inspected, 17% are exceeding the dust protection standards that would have been in place if the administration had implemented the 2024 protections.⁹

The Result

• More than 17 months of delay 

• Thousands more miners being diagnosed with incurable, debilitating black lung disease

• 10s of thousands more coal miners being exposed to toxic levels of silica dust

• 100s of thousands more non-coal miners being exposed to toxic levels of silica dust