The proposal, formally known as House Bill 4351, was passed to Tomblin’s desk for his signature on Tuesday. Both the West Virginia House and Senate gave their unanimous approval.

“Tonight the legislature passed one of the most significant pieces of mine safety legislation in decades,” Tomblin said late Tuesday.

“Making our coal mines safer was one of my top priorities for this legislative session.

“I worked tirelessly with the legislature to pass wide-ranging mine safety reforms [and] our state legislature just unanimously passed a comprehensive mine safety bill.”

According to regional newspaper the Register-Herald Reporter, one minor adjustment was made to the bill before getting a 90:0 vote by Senate members.

According to local media, the change outlines that an underground boss no longer needs to report to a certified worker on the surface when traveling from section to section, as that individual is not always available.

Tomblin’s signing of the bill was still pending at press time.

HB 4351 raises rock dust percentages from 65 to 80 and prohibits electrical machines in by the last open crosscut if methane exceeds 1%.

Judiciary chairman Corey Palumbo told the paper mines would be required to shut off electric equipment if methane rose above 1.2% in that area and must evacuate all personnel if levels rose above 1.5%.

While in discussions at the House, the Register-Herald said, legislators settled on limiting victims’ family representation following a mine accident at hearings and interviews to five individuals.

It will also now be a felony charge in West Virginia to pre-notify mining crews of the presence of a mine inspector.

Additionally, bi-weekly reviews of fireboss records will now be ordered under the new law and an anonymous hotline for safety issue reporting will be codified.

The drug testing proposals Tomblin introduced under the bill will also remain a regulation when the bill is signed into law.

In addition to current testing protocols, inspectors would now be able to order a drug test for individuals with reasonable cause, or if impairment or abuse was believed to have contributed to an accident, the newspaper said.

Pre-employment drug screens that include temporary suspension of one’s certification for a failure will also now be mandatory.

“It is a comprehensive bill,” Senator Mike Green told the news outlet.

“It appears all interested groups involved have come to an agreement on it.

“Overall, I think it’s a good piece of legislation that will be a step forward to make sure nothing like UBB ever happens again.”