The Board of Coal Mine Health & Safety released four (4) sets of administrative rules earlier this week for public comment. The rules address fire protection on underground conveyor belts, updated requirements for mine rescue teams and team member training, requirements for a recording “barometer” to be located at all underground coal mines, and more frequent calibration requirements for machine mounted methane gas monitors.
The proposed rules affecting “conveyor belts” and “mine rescue teams” have been developing before the Board for the past two years. Both rulemaking actions are intended to comport the state requirements to corresponding, newly finalized federal standards on these two topics. The proposed standards for mine rescue teams were recommended to the Board for promulgation in April, 2008 by the Mine Safety Technology Task Force.
The rule establishing requirements for “barometers” is a new requirement for state mines. The proposed rule requires a recording barometer in the mine office, a daily inspection of the barometer by the mine foreman and for the atmospheric pressure to be recorded. Additionally, the proposed rule places an obligation on the WV Board of Miner Training, Education & Certification to develop a unit of instruction for inclusion into the continuing education program designed for mine foreman.
The proposal relating to the “calibration of methane monitors” changes the current frequency of calibrating methane monitors on face equipment from every month to every 15 days and is only intended to apply to machine mounted monitors.
After lengthy discussion of the new rock dusting requirement of 80% that was embodied in Governor Manchin’s Executive Order last week, the Board elected to enlist the assistance of NIOSH and the Mine Safety Technology Task Force to determine the appropriateness of the 80% standard and to assist in the design and development of sampling and enforcement protocols.
A comment period extends through May 28th for interested or affected persons to provide written comments on these proposed rules.
