UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS HB 196/GA
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AN ACT relating to coal mining. 1
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 2
Section 1. KRS 351.010 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: 4
(a) "Adulterated specimen" means a specimen containing a substance that is not a 5
normal constituent or containing an endogenous substance at a concentration 6
that is not a normal physiological concentration; 7
(b) "Approved" means that a device, apparatus, equipment, or machinery, or 8
practice employed in the mining of coal has been approved by the 9
commissioner of the Department for Natural Resources; 10
(c) "Assistant mine foreman" means a certified person designated to assist the 11
mine foreman in the supervision of a portion or the whole of a mine or of the 12
persons employed therein; 13
(d) "Commercial mine" means any coal mine from which coal is mined for sale, 14
commercial use, or exchange. This term shall in no instance be construed to 15
include a mine where coal is produced for own use; 16
(e) "Commission" means the Mine Safety Review Commission created by KRS 17
351.1041; 18
(f) "Commissioner" means commissioner of the Department for Natural 19
Resources; 20
(g) "Department" means the Department for Natural Resources; 21
(h) "Drift" means an opening through strata or coal seams with opening grades 22
sufficient to permit coal to be hauled therefrom or which is used for the 23
purpose of ventilation, drainage, ingress, egress, and other purposes in 24
connection with the mining of coal; 25
(i) "Excavations and workings" means the excavated portions of a mine; 26
(j) "Fire boss" (often referred to as mine examiner) means a person certified as a 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS HB 196/GA
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mine foreman or assistant mine foreman who is designated by management to 1
examine a mine or part of a mine for explosive gas or other dangers before a 2
shift crew enters; 3
(k) "Gassy mine." All mines shall be classified as gassy or gaseous; 4
(l) "Illicit substances" includes prescription drugs used illegally or in excess of 5
therapeutic levels as well as illegal drugs; 6
(m) "Intake air" means air that has not passed through the last working place of 7
the split or by the unsealed entrances to abandoned workings and by analysis 8
contains not less than nineteen and one-half percent (19.5%) oxygen, no 9
dangerous quantities of flammable gas, and no harmful amounts of poisonous 10
gas or dust; 11
(n) "Licensee" means any owner, operator, lessee, corporation, partnership, or 12
other person who procures a license from the department to operate a coal 13
mine; 14
(o) "Medical review officer" or "MRO" means a licensed physician with 15
knowledge of substance abuse disorders, laboratory testing, chain of custody, 16
collection procedures, and the ability to verify positive, confirmed test results. 17
The MRO shall possess the necessary medical training to interpret and 18
evaluate a positive test result in relation to the person's medical history or any 19
other relevant biomedical information; 20
(p) "Mine" means any open pit or any underground workings from which coal is 21
produced for sale, exchange, or commercial use, and all shafts, slopes, drifts, 22
or inclines leading thereto, and includes all buildings and equipment, above or 23
below the surface of the ground, used in connection with the workings. 24
Workings that are adjacent to each other and under the same management, but 25
which are administered as distinct units, shall be considered a separate mine; 26
(q) "Mine foreman" means a certified person whom the licensee or superintendent 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS HB 196/GA
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places in charge of the workings of the mine and of the persons employed 1
therein; 2
(r) "Mine manager" means a certified or noncertified person whom the licensee 3
places in charge of a mine or mines and whose duties include but are not 4
limited to operations at the mine or mines and supervision of personnel when 5
qualified to do so; 6
(s) "Open-pit mine" shall include open excavations and open-cut workings, 7
including but not limited to auger operations and highwall mining systems for 8
the extraction of coal. However, excavation of refuse from a coarse coal 9
refuse fill for reprocessing of the refuse, which is permitted and bonded under 10
KRS Chapter 350 and is regulated by the Mine Safety and Health 11
Administration, shall not be required to obtain a license under this chapter; 12
(t) "Operator" means the licensee, owner, lessee, or other person who operates or 13
controls a coal mine; 14
(u) "Permissible" refers to any equipment, device, or explosive that has been 15
approved by the United States Bureau of Mines, the Mining Enforcement and 16
Safety Administration, or the Mine Safety and Health Administration and that 17
meets all requirements, restrictions, exceptions, limitations, and conditions 18
attached to the classification by the approving agency; 19
(v) "Preshift examination" means the examination of a mine or any portion 20
thereof where miners are scheduled to work or travel, which shall be 21
conducted not more than three (3) hours before any oncoming shift; 22
(w) "Return air" means air that has passed through the last active working place 23
on each split, or air that has passed through abandoned, inaccessible, or 24
pillared workings; 25
(x) "Serious physical injury" means an injury which has a reasonable potential to 26
cause death; 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS HB 196/GA
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(y) "Shaft" means a vertical opening through the strata that is used in connection 1
with the mining of coal, for the purpose of ventilation or drainage, or for 2
hoisting men, coal, or materials; 3
(z) "Slope" means an inclined opening used for the same purpose as a shaft; 4
(aa) "Superintendent" means the person who, on behalf of the licensee, has 5
immediate supervision of one (1) or more mines; 6
(ab) "Supervisory personnel" means a person certified under the provisions of this 7
chapter to assist in the supervision of a portion or the whole of the mine or of 8
the persons employed therein; 9
(ac) "Division" means the Division of Mine Safety; 10
(ad) "Director" means the director of the Division of Mine Safety; 11
(ae) "Probation" means the status of a certification or license issued by the 12
Division of Mine Safety that conditions the validity of the certification or 13
license upon compliance with orders of the Mine Safety Review Commission; 14
[and] 15
(af) "Final order of the commission" means an order which has not been appealed 16
to the Franklin Circuit Court within thirty (30) days of entry, or an order 17
affirming the commission's order that has been entered by any court within 18
the Commonwealth and for which all appeals have been exhausted; 19
(ag) "Emergency medical technician" has the same meaning as in KRS 20
311A.010; and 21
(ah) "Mine emergency technician" means a person that holds a current surface 22
or underground miner's certification in the Commonwealth and that has 23
been certified as having met all the requirements prescribed by the Division 24
of Mine Safety for that certification. 25
(2) Except as the context otherwise requires, this chapter applies only to commercial 26
coal mines. 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS HB 196/GA
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(3) The definitions in KRS 352.010 apply also to this chapter, unless the context 1
requires otherwise. 2
Section 2. KRS 351.127 is amended to read as follows: 3
(1) Certified emergency medical technicians or mine emergency technicians shall be 4
employed at every licensed coal mine whose employees are actively engaged in the 5
extraction, production, or preparation of coal. Persons employed as mine 6
emergency technicians shall be trained in a manner established in an administrative 7
regulation promulgated by the department. Persons seeking certification as a mine 8
emergency medical technician or mine emergency technician shall be subject to the 9
following additional requirements: 10
(a) All persons seeking certification as a mine emergency technician shall 11
demonstrate drug- and alcohol-free status in accordance with KRS 351.182 12
and 351.183; 13
(b) The drug and alcohol testing for those seeking certification as mine 14
emergency technicians shall be administered prior to the examination for the 15
certification, in accordance with KRS 351.182 and 351.183; and 16
(c) Certification as a mine emergency technician shall not be issued until the 17
results of the drug and alcohol testing have been obtained. Notification shall 18
be given to the person in accordance with KRS 351.184. 19
(2) These emergency medical technicians or mine emergency technicians shall be 20
employed in the following manner: 21
(a) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this subsection, for every 22
shift engaged in the production of coal at a surface or underground coal 23
mining operation, there shall be: 24
1. One (1) emergency medical or mine emergency technician employed 25
on every shift with ten (10) or fewer miners employed on the shift; and 26
2. Two (2) emergency medical or mine emergency technicians employed 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS HB 196/GA
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on every shift with more than ten (10) but fewer than fifty-one (51) 1
miners employed on the shift; and[At least two (2) emergency medical 2
or mine emergency technicians shall be employed on every shift 3
engaged in the production of coal, and at least one (1) emergency 4
medical or mine emergency technician shall be employed on every 5
nonproduction shift;] 6
(b) For underground mines only, on every shift with more than fifty (50) 7
miners working on the shift, there shall be one (1) additional emergency 8
medical technician or mine emergency technician for each additional fifty 9
(50) miners, or any portion thereof, engaged in the extraction, production, 10
or preparation of coal and[For underground mines], at least one (1) [of the 11
two (2) ]emergency medical or mine emergency technician[technicians] shall 12
be underground at all times while miners are working in the mines regardless 13
of how many miners are working on the shift.[ An additional emergency 14
medical technician or mine emergency technician shall be employed for every 15
additional fifty (50), or any portion thereof, employees per shift who are 16
actively engaged in the extraction, production, or preparation of coal.] 17
(3) If these emergency medical technicians or mine emergency technicians are also 18
employed in other capacities at the coal mine, they shall be available for quick 19
response to emergencies and shall have available to them at all times the equipment 20
necessary to respond to emergencies, as prescribed by the commissioner. 21
(4) If the licensee selects existing employees to be trained as emergency medical 22
technicians or mine emergency technicians, the employees selected shall be paid 23
their regular wages during training. 24
(5) Certified emergency medical technicians and mine emergency technicians shall 25
receive annual retraining in the manner established in an administrative regulation 26
promulgated by the department, during which they shall receive their regular 27 UNOFFICIAL COPY 25 RS HB 196/GA
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wages. 1