Since the disaster at the Upper Big Branch mine, people might expect the coal industry to be severely effected. In a sense, that can be considered true, but at the same time the coal industry hasn't been impacted as much as expected. Many new laws and regulations have been placed on coal companies throughout the Appalachian region. The problem is seemingly with the judicial system at the local and the nation level. The Mine Safety and Health Administration has done their part on the war against providing safe coal mines, but the majority of time the coal companies who break MSHA's regulations are held unaccountable in the court of law. The biggest example could be the indictment of Massey Energy's CEO Don Blankenship for his involvement in the tragic Upper Big Branch explosion. Blankenship essentially ignored all safety concerns and violations at the Upper Big Branch mine prior to the disaster, but was practically held unaccountable in the court of law. The majority of his jail sentence and the fines toward Massey Energy were revoked. A recent investigation has concluded that coal companies owe a combined $70 million in fines from a combined 2,700 violations since 1977. The major set back is that MSHA lacks the tools or power without the judicial systems cooperation to truly impose these violations. Since the tragic incident at Upper Big Branch, there has only been a single piece of mining safety legislation passed. Section 1503 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform, requires smaller, publicly trading coal companies to keep updated health and safety evaluations in their yearly filings. Its quite sickening to see how such a large-scale tragedy as had little to no impact on the safety regulations imposed on the coal industry in Appalachia.