This Christmas, a lump of coal takes on a whole new meaning.

First off, it might be seen as a good present, as coal prices are going up in the wake of stories out of the United States about environmental regulations putting massive restrictions of coal mines and coal-fired power plants – so much so that coal mines are closing, coal-based businesses are closing their doors, and energy companies are actually starting to find alternative sources of electricity generation looking more affordable than before.

A lump of coal could be a bar of gold – unless you are one of the anti-coal people, of course.

[Image courtesy of International Accountability Project from Flickr via a Creative Commons license]

[Image courtesy of International Accountability Project from Flickr via a Creative Commons license]

And the people who seem to have a vendetta against coal – there is talk that the coal industry is the most regulated U.S. energy-producing industry – have been pouring on all kinds of regulations, not the least of which is a health-and-safety concern. But while the coal industry itself will say these kinds of regulations are pernicious and insidious, the bottom line is that there was a lot of unfounded fear about how restrictive coal-dust regulations would be on these mines and the companies that own them.

The current coal-dust regulation that is being phased in from MSHA has been in effect for one year so far (as of August), and it turns out that those mines that have claimed onerous regulations have actually done a very good job coming into compliance, according to the latest sampling data.

Based on the results of more than 60,000 samples of air in coal mines that were testing for coal dust concentrations, only about 650 were found to be not in compliance with the standard, which was a coal-dust concentration of 2.0 milligrams per cubic meter of air (2.0 mg/m³). The nearly 99-percent compliance result seems to contradict the general impression that mines would find it very difficult to comply with the standard without major investment that compromises profits or operations.

I only mention a year-old regulation now because it is still going through phases of implementation. As Phase Two of the regulation goes into effect in February, MSHA is going through a series of informational meetings with various stakeholders to educate about the second phase, which includes the use of real-time personal coal-dust monitors for all underground workers and those who seem to be at risk for what is called “black lung.”

Also, as Phase Two is implemented, there will be more frequent air-sampling tests conducted.

The final phase of the rule goes into effect in August of 2016 and will decrease the coal-dust concentration limit by an additional 25 percent, down to 1.5 mg/m³.

By the way, there is no word of the more than 60,000 samples that were in compliance with the current rule, how many of them are compliant with the future standard. For more information about the rule and its progress through the various phases, visit www.msha.gov.