HARRISBURG -- Mine workers will have to wait a while longer for new mine-safety regulations that have been in the works for more than three years.

A House committee voted on near party lines to amend a bill previously passed by the Senate, strengthening safety requirements.

"The Legislation passed by the Senate is good, but many believe we can make it better," said Rep. Camille George, D-Clearfield, chairman of the Environmental Resources and Energy Committee.

The House amendment adds more stringent requirements for mine inspections and for the number of, and distance between, mine exits.

A vote of the full House could occur next month. Approval would send the bill back to the Senate for concurr ence, where Republicans, who control the chamber, say it has little chance of passing.

"I think the Senate will reject it. We already sent over a bill that was agreed to" by lawmakers, mine workers and coal company operators, said Sen. Mary Jo White, R-Venango, chairwoman of the Senate committee on Environmental Resources and Energy. "The items we couldn't resolve we agreed to leave out of the bill."

Meanwhile, the bill's sponsor, Sen. Richard Kasunic, D-Dunbar, was pleased with the House amendments, saying safety should not be subject to negotiation with mine operators.

"The bottom line is that this is about safety. It is about protecting the men and women in coal mines," said Mr. Kasunic, whose grandfather lost his leg in a mining accident nearly a century ago.

The bill also would create a Board of Coal Mine Safety to regularly update safety standards and to recommend technologies to improve mine conditions. The legislation also would require more stringent verification of mine maps, mandate barriers between active and abandoned mine sites and impose fines of up to $200,000 on mine owners who fall out of compliance.