Nevada's mining industry supports the Bush administration's decision to delay adopting a new rule to reduce miners' exposure to diesel pollution.

The Bush administration on Friday delayed adopting the rule for four months while considering whether to delay the final phase-in of a regulation adopted under President Clinton for another five years.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the House Education and Workforce Committee, and other Democrats sent Labor Secretary Elaine Chao a letter, urging her to start enforcing the new rule.

The rules are designed to protect underground miners from diesel fumes coming from mining equipment. Research suggests exposure to diesel particulate matter or dust is 27 to 162 times the level of exposure on the streets of Los Angeles over a one-year period, and can increase miners' risk of developing cancer and heart disease, Miller said.

"Unfortunately, the Bush administration and mining industry lobbyists don't seem to mind the wait," Miller said.

The Mine Health Safety Administration, which is part of the Labor Department, had no comment Friday.

The Nevada Mining Association, however, will write the administration urging it to delay adopting the rule until 2011. Russell Fields, president of the trade group, said the technology for reducing diesel pollution does not exist yet commercially.

"There is no off-the-shelf equipment still to meet that standard," he said. "The equipment manufacturers need time to catch up."

The rules would affect 16 operational, underground gold mines in Nevada that employ about 2,000 miners, he said. In addition, the rules may affect underground work to build the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, Fields said.

Nevada underground mines can meet the current standard of limiting diesel particulate to 400 parts per million, but they cannot satisfy the proposed new rule of less than 160 parts per million, Fields said.

"We just need to know that there's technology to do that, short of shutting down," he said.

Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association, said everyone agreed that technology was not yet there to make adopting the rule practical.

Pete Galvin, a retired attorney who oversaw the writing of the new diesel-fume rule during the Clinton administration, rejected those arguments.

"(Miners are) getting cancer and other health problems associated with long exposures to this risk," he said.

Mining companies can reduce diesel pollution by using cleaner-burning engines or by using cleaner biodiesel fuels that incorporate organically grown diesel sources, Galvin said. Mining companies also can also cut diesel pollution by putting filters on mining equipment and improving mine ventilation.

"Congresswoman (Shelley) Berkley shares the concern of the committee for the health and safety of miners in Nevada and across our nation," Berkley spokesman David Cherry said. "However, the implementation schedule for this new rule fails to take into account the lack of available technology needed to achieve the desired results."

Other Nevada members of the congressional delegation also expressed concern for miner safety but stopped short of calling for immediate adoption of the new diesel emission rule.

"The Bush administration has a responsibility to protect mine workers, and I hope they won't attempt to avoid that responsibility," said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. "Mining is one of Nevada's most important industries, and the health and safety of Nevada's mine employees is a major priority for me,"

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., took a similar position.

"Mine safety is a major concern of his, certainly considering recent events and ongoing events in West Virginia," said Porter spokesman T.J. Crawford. He referred to the deaths of miners at the Sago and Alma mines. "Our office is going to be looking into this matter very closely," Crawford said.

Crawford said he couldn't reach Porter Friday for comment on whether the Bush administration was right to delay adoption of the diesel-fume rule.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., seemed noncommittal in a statement.

"In order to ensure that the utmost safety standards are practiced within the mining industry, we must continue to enforce the health and safety regulations that are currently in place," Gibbons said.

Attempts to reach union representatives for miners failed.