One year after an explosion killed 29 miners at the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia, the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) continues to cite the mine's owner, Massey Energy, for significant safety and health hazards at the company's other mines.

In February, MSHA reported that its inspectors had cited four Massey mines with 81 violations, 42 of which the agency considers "significant and substantial" – a designation reserved for especially dangerous violations. MSHA also found 85 violations at three other mines and one quarry not owned by Massey. MSHA chose the eight operations for "impact inspections" based on "their poor compliance history or particular compliance concerns."

The February impact inspections are the latest in MSHA's effort to more closely scrutinize high-risk mines in the wake of the April 5, 2010, explosion at the Upper Big Branch mine. The disaster once again thrust the issue of mine safety and MSHA, the federal agency responsible for protecting miners, into the spotlight.

After the blast, Massey Energy was also in the spotlight. The company had a long history of mine safety and health violations, but it often avoided additional scrutiny by contesting MSHA citations. Don Blankenship, then the CEO of Massey, was a controversial figure in the mining community. In July 2010, he said that, had Massey further resisted MSHA regulation, the explosion at Upper Big Branch may have been prevented.

Federal prosecutors have indicted Massey's head of security, Hughie Elbert Stover, for attempting to block the investigation into the disaster. Stover is accused of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and MSHA, as well as destruction of evidence. Additionally, several families of the miners and at least one miner who survived the accident have sued Massey.

MSHA's investigation into the Upper Big Branch disaster is ongoing. The agency plans to hold a public briefing on its investigation on June 29.

The disaster was the most deadly mining accident in the U.S. in 40 years. "As the anniversary of this tragedy so vividly reminds us, we in the mining community must continue to work tirelessly to ensure that miners go to work and return home safe and healthy to family and friends, every shift of every day," MSHA head Joe Main said in a statement. "That is the promise we make to miners and their families. That is the mandate of MSHA." To mark the one-year anniversary of the explosion, Massey Energy announced a one-day production stoppage and safety stand down at its underground coal production sites and a company-wide moment of silence on April 5.

Main says new legislation is necessary to protect miners. Speaking March 31 before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Main called on Congress to provide MSHA with more flexibility to issue injunctions when it believes miners are in imminent danger, to make it easier for MSHA to seek criminal prosecution against the worst violators, and to strengthen whistleblower protections for miners.

During the hearing, MSHA's Pattern of Violations (POV) program was once again criticized. MSHA can add mines to its POV list, triggering additional monitoring and enforcement actions, but MSHA has never added a mine to the POV list in the program's 32-year history, according to the Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General. The Labor Department's Assistant Inspector General, Elliot Lewis, testified about the problems with the program and pointed out that "MSHA did not implement regulations for administering its POV authority until 1990." Main also said that new legislation should strengthen the POV program.

Committee Chair Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Mike Enzi (R-WY) both expressed interest in reforming the agency to better protect miners. In 2010, mine safety legislation was introduced in both chambers but never became law. Consistent with Main's recommendations, the bill would have raised penalties, reformed the POV program, and strengthened whistleblower protections, among other things.

However, passage of mine safety legislation is unlikely, as House Republicans have consistently balked at the idea of the government imposing new requirements on business. Legislation may also encounter resistance in the Senate. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), a member of the health panel and a founder of the Senate's Tea Party caucus, has expressed skepticism over mine safety regulation. During the hearing, Paul said, "There is a point or a balancing act between when a regulation becomes burdensome enough that our energy production is stifled." In 2010, then-candidate Paul responded to a question about the Upper Big Branch disaster by saying "accidents happen."