P26-01: how MSHA is writing silica citations while the rule sits on hold
The agency's program information bulletin tells inspectors to enforce the older standards. That sentence has consequences for every metal and nonmetal operation with a crusher.
WASHINGTON — Program Information Bulletin P26-01, 'Silica Enforcement for Metal and Nonmetal and Coal Mines,' tells the field how to enforce respirable crystalline silica now that the 2024 rule's compliance deadlines are stayed by the Eighth Circuit.
The mechanics matter. The 2024 rule created a standalone Part 60 and lowered the permissible exposure limit. Part 60 took effect in June 2024. The conforming amendments — the ones that make the older coal and metal/nonmetal parts line up — were stayed before their dates, and MSHA delayed them again in April 2026.
So operators are back on the pre-2024 standards in parts 56 and 57 while the new part 60 remains in the books. Inspectors have been told how to cite exposure under the older framework. Nothing about the dust changed.
The practical advice from trainers this fall has been consistent: keep sampling. Keep the results. Keep the engineering controls you can afford — water, enclosure, ventilation, housekeeping — because they are the only controls that do not depend on a respirator being worn correctly.
A mine that abandons its silica program because the deadline moved is a mine that will be re-training the same crew under a consent decree in three years.
Primary source
MSHA Program Information Bulletin P26-01Filed October 24, 2026 from WASHINGTON. Stories run on the front page for two weeks, then move to the archive, where they stay available.