WASHINGTON -- The chairman of the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over mine worker safety yesterday said he isn't sure that federal legislation is the proper course for addressing problems exposed by the fatal accidents at West Virginia's Sago and Alma mines.

After a hearing on mine legislation yesterday, Rep. Charlie Norwood, R-Ga., who heads the House workforce protection subcommittee, refused to say how long it would take for his panel to act on proposed mine safety legislation.

"I don't know [that legislation] is the answer yet," said Mr. Norwood, who said his panel may draft its own bill. "We're going to keep having hearings ... [and] ask questions and know what the hell we're doing."

Those sentiments may be an early sign of trouble for those who had hoped to move federal mining legislation quickly. It could cause a confrontation with the West Virginia delegation, which has authored a bill instructing the labor secretary to create more stringent rules for mine operators. Those rules would require operators to install miner tracking devices and provide more oxygen underground -- actions that the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration, or MSHA, has authority to make on its own.

A number of West Virginia representatives, who believe that Congress must prompt MSHA to take additional steps, yesterday testified before Mr. Norwood's committee that they were already concerned that the issue is losing potency in Congress as the Sago and Alma incidents recede.

"I fear that, as we move further away from the tragedies at Sago and Alma, that complacency could again take hold when it comes to new safety technologies," said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., whose district encompasses the Sago Mine in Tallmansville. An explosion there Jan. 2 killed 12 of the 13 trapped miners; a fire at the Alma Mine in Melville on Jan. 19 killed two miners.

The West Virginians' bill gives latitude to agency rule makers. It doesn't say, for example, how much more oxygen must be supplied underground.

MSHA addressed some concerns covered in the bill when it issued recent emergency standards requiring mine operators to notify the agency within 15 minutes of an accident and give workers two hours of oxygen underground instead of one.

But Rep. Nick J. Rahall II, D-W.Va., the House bill's original sponsor, told Mr. Norwood's panel yesterday that he believes that the agency's emergency rules are inadequate, bolstering his view that Congress must step in. "By MSHA's own admission, at 76 of the nation's underground coal mines, miners would need more than two hours of air to escape," he said. "What does that rule making say to those coal miners?"

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., wrote a more expansive bill, substantially increasing fines for mine violations and requiring operators to create stations underground that offer a four-day oxygen supply and provide wireless communications and tracking devices. While drawing Sens. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., as co-sponsors, it has spurred no similar House version.

The Bush administration has proposed increasing funding for MSHA next year by $10 million, from $277 million in 2006 to $288 million in 2007. But last night, when senators approved the 2007 budget resolution, they significantly upped the amount sought for MSHA, agreeing to an amendment by Mr. Byrd and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., that would add $184 million over five years for mine safety inspectors and emergency rescue technologies. But that increase still must win House assent.

The staunchest mining-industry defense yesterday came from Pennsylvania's Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair. He said it had made "remarkable strides" and warned against moving too quickly on legislation. "Though safety must be the priority of any congressional action, it should be pointed out that safety measures over the years have significantly improved mining safety," he said.

Mr. Murphy said Congress should study the best practices of coal firms with good safety records, such as Consol Energy, which is in his district.