§ 878. — Definitions.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 30USC878]
TITLE 30--MINERAL LANDS AND MINING
CHAPTER 22--MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH
SUBCHAPTER III--INTERIM MANDATORY SAFETY STANDARDS FOR UNDERGROUND COAL
MINES
Sec. 878. Definitions
For the purpose of this subchapter and subchapter II of this
chapter, the term--
(a) ``certified'' or ``registered'' as applied to any person
means a person certified or registered by the State in which the
coal mine is located to perform duties prescribed by such
subchapters, except that, in a State where no program of
certification or registration is provided or where the program does
not meet at least minimum Federal standards established by the
Secretary, such certification or registration shall be by the
Secretary;
(b) ``qualified person'' means, as the context requires,
(1) an individual deemed qualified by the Secretary and
designated by the operator to make tests and examinations
required by this chapter; and
(2) an individual deemed, in accordance with minimum
requirements to be established by the Secretary, qualified by
training, education, and experience, to perform electrical work,
to maintain electrical equipment, and to conduct examinations
and tests of all electrical equipment;
(c) ``permissible'' as applied to--
(1) equipment used in the operation of a coal mine, means
equipment, other than permissible electric face equipment, to
which an approval plate, label, or other device is attached as
authorized by the Secretary and which meets specifications which
are prescribed by the Secretary for the construction and
maintenance of such equipment and are designed to assure that
such equipment will not cause a mine explosion or a mine fire,
(2) explosives, shot firing units, or blasting devices used
in such mine, means explosives, shot firing units, or blasting
devices which meet specifications which are prescribed by the
Secretary, and
(3) the manner of use of equipment or explosives, shot
firing units, and blasting devices, means the manner of use
prescribed by the Secretary;
(d) ``rock dust'' means pulverized limestone, dolomite, gypsum,
anhydrite, shale, adobe, or other inert material, preferably light
colored, 100 per centum of which will pass through a sieve having
twenty meshes per linear inch and 70 per centum or more of which
will pass through a sieve having two hundred meshes per linear inch;
the particles of which when wetted and dried will not cohere to form
a cake which will not be dispersed into separate particles by a
light blast of air; and which does not contain more than 5 per
centum of combustible matter or more than a total of 4 per centum of
free and combined silica (SiO2), or, where the Secretary finds that
such silica concentrations are not available, which does not contain
more than 5 per centum of free and combined silica;
(e) ``anthracite'' means coals with a volatile ratio equal to
0.12 or less;
(f) ``volatile ratio'' means volatile matter content divided by
the volatile matter plus the fixed carbon;
(g)(1) ``working face'' means any place in a coal mine in which
work of extracting coal from its natural deposit in the earth is
performed during the mining cycle,
(2) ``working place'' means the area of a coal mine inby the
last open crosscut,
(3) ``working section'' means all areas of the coal mine from
the loading point of the section to and including the working faces,
(4) ``active workings'' means any place in a coal mine where
miners are normally required to work or travel;
(h) ``abandoned areas'' means sections, panels, and other areas
that are not ventilated and examined in the manner required for
working places under section 863 of this title;
(i) ``permissible'' as applied to electric face equipment means
all electrically operated equipment taken into or used inby the last
open crosscut of an entry or a room of any coal mine the electrical
parts of which, including, but not limited to, associated electrical
equipment, components, and accessories, are designed, constructed,
and installed, in accordance with the specifications of the
Secretary, to assure that such equipment will not cause a mine
explosion or mine fire, and the other features of which are designed
and constructed, in accordance with the specifications of the
Secretary, to prevent, to the greatest extent possible, other
accidents in the use of such equipment; and the regulations of the
Secretary or the Director of the United States Bureau of Mines in
effect on the operative date of this subchapter relating to the
requirements for investigation, testing, approval, certification,
and acceptance of such equipment as permissible shall continue in
effect until modified or superseded by the Secretary, except that
the Secretary shall provide procedures, including, where feasible,
testing, approval, certification, and acceptance in the field by an
authorized representative of the Secretary, to facilitate compliance
by an operator with the requirements of section 865(a) of this title
within the periods prescribed therein;
(j) ``low voltage'' means up to and including 660 volts;
``medium voltage'' means voltages from 661 to 1,000 volts; and
``high voltage'' means more than 1,000 volts;
(k) Repealed. Pub. L. 95-164, title II, Sec. 202(b), Nov. 9,
1977, 91 Stat. 1317.
(l) ``coal mine'' includes areas of adjoining mines connected
underground.
(Pub. L. 91-173, title III, Sec. 318, Dec. 30, 1969, 83 Stat. 791; Pub.
L. 95-164, title II, Sec. 202(b), Nov. 9, 1977, 91 Stat. 1317; Pub. L.
102-285, Sec. 10(b), May 18, 1992, 106 Stat. 172.)
References in Text
For the operative date of this subchapter, referred to in par. (i),
see section 509 of Pub. L. 91-173, set out as an Effective Date note
under section 801 of this title.
Amendments
1977--Par. (k). Pub. L. 95-164 struck out par. (k) which defined
``respirable dust'' as dust particles 5 microns or less in size.
Change of Name
``United States Bureau of Mines'' substituted for ``Bureau of
Mines'' in par. (i) pursuant to section 10(b) of Pub. L. 102-285, set
out as a note under section 1 of this title.
Effective Date of 1977 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 95-164 effective Nov. 9, 1977, see section 307
of Pub. L. 95-164, set out as a note under section 801 of this title.
Section Referred to in Other Sections
This section is referred to in sections 841, 861 of this title.
