Sep 25, 2026, at 12:00 pm ET via Zoom
Sep 25, 2026, at 12:00 pm ET via Zoom – Join the Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center and ReImagine Appalachia for a discussion of a new report tracking major milestones regarding mine safety and health from January 2025-September 2026.
In August 2026, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released findings that showed that 32 percent of veteran underground coal miners in central Appalachia have coal workers’ pneumoconiosis—black lung disease. These rates are up 12 percent from when NIOSH last reported on rates of the disease in 2018. Rates of black lung are, in fact, the highest they have been since 1978.
These rates should create an urgent call for action. Instead, as our new study shows, for over 500 days, the Trump administration’s approach to coal miner safety and health has been characterized by disinvestment and regulatory rollbacks, particularly initiatives aimed at curbing the black lung epidemic. These actions are in stark contrast to the energetic leadership the Trump administration has shown for bolstering the coal industry more broadly. Further, Congress continues to drag its feet on legislative reforms to improve the black lung benefits system.
While the actions to bolster the coal industry detailed above have been controversial to some and celebrated by others, the through line is that the Trump administration’s significant investments in the coal industry have not been accompanied by meaningful action to prevent the growing epidemic of black lung.