The Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration (MESA) under the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

was the predecessor of the

Mine Safety and Health Administration The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) () is a large agency of the United States Department of Labor which administers the provisions of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (Mine Act) to enforce compliance with mandatory safet ...

, prior to March 9, 1978.

History

Through an administrative action in 1973, the

United States Secretary of the Interior The United States secretary of the interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land along with natural ...

created the MESA as an agency within the Department of the Interior. Because of concern about the apparent

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates to situations i ...

between the health and safety enforcement functions of the

United States Bureau of Mines For most of the 20th century, the United States Bureau of Mines (USBM) was the primary United States government agency conducting scientific research and disseminating information on the extraction, processing, use, and conservation of mineral ...

(BOM) and its production-focused oversight of mineral resources, BOM's safety operations and health enforcement responsibilities were split off to MESA's charge until MSHA's establishment in 1978.History of Mine Safety and Health Legislation
", United States Department of Labor.

References

United States Department of the Interior agencies Defunct agencies of the United States government Mine safety Mining law and governance Government agencies established in 1973 1978 disestablishments in the United States 1973 establishments in the United States Government agencies disestablished in 1978 {{US-gov-stub

History

See also

References