§ 877. — General safety provisions.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC877]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 22--MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
SUBCHAPTER III--INTERIM MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS FOR UNDERGROUND COAL
MINES
Sec. 877. General safety provisions
(a) Location of oil and gas wells; establishment and maintenance of
barriers; minimum requisites; exceptions
Each operator of a coal mine shall take reasonable measures to
locate oil and gas wells penetrating coalbeds or any underground area of
a coal mine. When located, such operator shall establish and maintain
barriers around such oil and gas wells in accordance with State laws and
regulations, except that such barriers shall not be less than three
hundred feet in diameter, unless the Secretary or his authorized
representative permits a lesser barrier consistent with the applicable
State laws and regulations where such lesser barrier will be adequate to
protect against hazards from such wells to the miners in such mine, or
unless the Secretary or his authorized representative requires a greater
barrier where the depth of the mine, other geologic conditions, or other
factors warrant such a greater barrier.
(b) Boreholes in advance of work face; distance in advance of work face;
distance between boreholes
Whenever any working place approaches within fifty feet of abandoned
areas in the mine as shown by surveys made and certified by a registered
engineer or surveyor, or within two hundred feet of any other abandoned
areas of the mine which cannot be inspected and which may contain
dangerous accumulations of water or gas, or within two hundred feet of
any workings of an adjacent mine, a borehole or boreholes shall be
drilled to a distance of at least twenty feet in advance of the working
face of such working place and shall be continually maintained to a
distance of at least ten feet in advance of the advancing working face.
When there is more than one borehole, they shall be drilled sufficiently
close to each other to insure that the advancing working face will not
accidentally hole through into abandoned areas or adjacent mines.
Boreholes shall also be drilled not more than eight feet apart in the
rib of such working place to a distance of at least twenty feet and at
an angle of forty-five degrees. Such rib holes shall be drilled in one
or both ribs of such working place as may be necessary for adequate
protection of miners in such place.
(c) Prohibition against smoking; implementation programs
No person shall smoke, carry smoking materials, matches, or lighters
underground, or smoke in or around oil houses, explosives magazines, or
other surface areas where such practice may cause a fire or explosion.
The operator shall institute a program, approved by the Secretary, to
insure that any person entering the underground area of the mine does
not carry smoking materials, matches, or lighters.
(d) Portable electric lamps; exceptions
Persons underground shall use only permissible electric lamps
approved by the Secretary for portable illumination. No open flame shall
be permitted in the underground area of any coal mine, except as
permitted under section 871(d) of this title.
(e) Promulgation of lighting standards
Within nine months after the operative date of this subchapter, the
Secretary shall propose the standards under which all working places in
a mine shall be illuminated by permissible lighting, within eighteen
months after the promulgation of such standards, while persons are
working in such places.
(f) Escapeways; ventilation; maintenance; tests of passageways;
protection of entrance; connection between mine openings
(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection,
at least two separate and distinct travelable passageways which are
maintained to insure passage at all times of any person, including
disabled persons, and which are to be designated as escapeways, at least
one of which is ventilated with intake air, shall be provided from each
working section continuous to the surface escape drift opening, or
continuous to the escape shaft or slope facilities to the surface, as
appropriate, and shall be maintained in safe condition and properly
marked. Mine openings shall be adequately protected to prevent the
entrance into the underground area of the mine of surface fires, fumes,
smoke, and flood water. Escape facilities approved by the Secretary or
his authorized representative, properly maintained and frequently
tested, shall be present at or in each escape shaft or slope to allow
all persons, including disabled persons, to escape quickly to the
surface in the event of an emergency.
(2) When new coal mines are opened, not more than twenty miners
shall be allowed at any one time in any mine until a connection has been
made between the two mine openings, and such connections shall be made
as soon as possible.
(3) When only one mine opening is available, owing to final mining
of pillars, not more than twenty miners shall be allowed in such mine at
any one time, and the distance between the mine opening and working face
shall not exceed five hundred feet.
(4) In the case of all coal mines opened on or after the operative
date of this subchapter, and in the case of all new working sections
opened on or after such date in mines opened prior to such date, the
escapeway required by this section to be ventilated with intake air
shall be separated from the belt and trolley haulage entries of the mine
for the entire length of such entries to the beginning of each working
section, except that the Secretary or his authorized representative may
permit such separation to be extended for a greater or lesser distance
so long as such extension does not pose a hazard to the miners.
(g) Erection of fireproof structures; prior existing structures; fire
doors; monthly tests; records; availability
After the operative date of this subchapter, all structures erected
on the surface within one hundred feet of any mine opening shall be of
fireproof construction. Unless structures existing on or prior to such
date which are located within one hundred feet of any mine opening are
of such construction, fire doors shall be erected at effective points in
mine openings to prevent smoke or fire from outside sources endangering
miners underground. These doors shall be tested at least monthly to
insure effective operation. A record of such tests shall be kept in an
area on the surface of the mine chosen by the operator to minimize the
danger of destruction by fire or other hazard and shall be available for
inspection by interested persons.
(h) Prevention of accumulations of coal dust and methane gas; surface
coal-handling facilities; air-intake openings
Adequate measures shall be taken to prevent methane and coal dust
from accumulating in excessive concentrations in or on surface coal-
handling facilities, but in no event shall methane be permitted to
accumulate in concentrations in or on surface coal-handling facilities
in excess of limits established for methane by the Secretary within one
year after the operative date of this subchapter. Where coal is dumped
at or near air-intake openings, provisions shall be made to avoid dust
from entering the mine.
(i) Training programs
Every operator of a coal mine shall provide a program, approved by
the Secretary, of training and retraining of both qualified and
certified persons needed to carry out functions prescribed in this
chapter.
(j) Electric face equipment; installation of canopies
An authorized representative of the Secretary may require in any
coal mine where the height of the coalbed permits that electric face
equipment, including shuttle cars, be provided with substantially
constructed canopies or cabs to protect the miners operating such
equipment from roof falls and from rib and face rolls.
(k) Mine entrances; sealing; prevention of entry by unauthorized
personnel
On and after the operative date of this subchapter, the opening of
any coal mine that is declared inactive by its operator or is
permanently closed or abandoned for more than ninety days, shall be
sealed by the operator in a manner prescribed by the Secretary. Openings
of all other mines shall be adequately protected in a manner prescribed
by the Secretary to prevent entrance by unauthorized persons.
(l) Facilities for changing and storing clothes; toilet and bathing
facilities
The Secretary may require any operator to provide adequate
facilities for the miners to change from the clothes worn underground,
to provide for the storing of such clothes from shift to shift, and to
provide sanitary and bathing facilities. Sanitary toilet facilities
shall be provided in the active workings of the mine when such surface
facilities are not readily accessible to the active workings.
(m) Emergency medical assistance preparations; locations for medical
equipment; filing of implementation plans
Each operator shall make arrangements in advance for obtaining
emergency medical assistance and transportation for injured persons.
Emergency communications shall be provided to the nearest point of
assistance. Selected agents of the operator shall be trained in first
aid and first aid training shall be made available to all miners. Each
coal mine shall have an adequate supply of first aid equipment located
on the surface, at the bottom of shafts and slopes, and at other
strategic locations near the working faces. In fulfilling each of the
requirements of this subsection, the operator shall meet at least
minimum requirements prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human
Services. Within two months after the operative date of this subchapter,
each operator shall file with the Secretary a plan setting forth in such
detail as the Secretary may require the manner in which such operator
has fulfilled the requirements in this subsection.
(n) Self-rescue device; training of personnel
A self-rescue device approved by the Secretary shall be made
available to each miner by the operator which shall be adequate to
protect such miner for one hour or longer. Each operator shall train
each miner in the use of such device.
(o) Methods of eliminating oxygen deficiencies
The Secretary shall prescribe improved methods of assuring that
miners are not exposed to atmospheres that are deficient in oxygen.
(p) Identification check system; records
Each operator of a coal mine shall establish a check-in and check-
out system which will provide positive identification of every person
underground, and will provide an accurate record of the persons in the
mine kept on the surface in a place chosen to minimize the danger of
destruction by fire or other hazard. Such record shall bear a number
identical to an identification check that is securely fastened to the
lamp belt worn by the person underground. The identification check shall
be made of a rust resistant metal of not less than sixteen gauge.
(q) Installation of devices to prevent and suppress ignition on electric
cutting face equipment
The Secretary shall require, when technologically feasible, that
devices to prevent and suppress ignitions be installed on electric face
cutting equipment.
(r) Tunnelling under water; permits; contents; necessity; safety zones;
restrictions
Whenever an operator mines coal from a coal mine opened after the
operative date of this subchapter, or from any new working section of a
mine opened prior to such date, in a manner that requires the
construction, operation, and maintenance of tunnels under any river,
stream, lake, or other body of water, that is, in the judgment of the
Secretary, sufficiently large to constitute a hazard to miners, such
operator shall obtain a permit from the Secretary which shall include
such terms and conditions as he deems appropriate to protect the safety
of miners working or passing through such tunnels from cave-ins and
other hazards. Such permits shall require, in accordance with a plan to
be approved by the Secretary, that a safety zone be established beneath
and adjacent to such body of water. No plan shall be approved unless
there is a minimum of cover to be determined by the Secretary, based on
test holes drilled by the operator in a manner to be prescribed by the
Secretary. No such permit shall be required in the case of any new
working section of a mine which is located under any water resource
reservoir being constructed by a Federal agency on December 30, 1969,
the operator of which is required by such agency to operate in a manner
that adequately protects the safety of miners working in such section
from cave-ins and other hazards.
(s) Drinking water
An adequate supply of potable water shall be provided for drinking
purposes in the active workings of the mine, and such water shall be
carried, stored, and otherwise protected in sanitary containers.
(t) Standards for prevention of explosions from nonmethane gases and for
testing for accumulations
Within one year after the operative date of this subchapter, the
Secretary shall propose standards for preventing explosions from
explosive gases other than methane and for testing for accumulations of
such gases.
(Pub. L. 91-173, title III, Sec. 317, Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat. 787; Pub.
L. 96-88, title V, Sec. 509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695.)
References in Text
For the operative date of this subchapter, referred to in subsecs.
(e), (f)(4), (g), (h), (k), (m), (r), and (t), see section 509 of Pub.
L. 91-173, set out as an Effective Date note under section 801 of this
title.
Change of Name
``Secretary of Health and Human Services'' substituted for
``Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare'' in subsec. (m) pursuant
to section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96-88 which is classified to section
3508(b) of Title 20, Education.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in section 861 of this title.
