As used in this chapter and in Chapters 14.3 (§ 45.1-161.105 et seq.) and14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of this title, unless the context requires adifferent meaning:
"Accident" means (i) a death of an individual at a mine; (ii) a seriouspersonal injury; (iii) an entrapment of an individual for more than 30minutes; (iv) an unplanned inundation of a mine by liquid or gas; (v) anunplanned ignition or explosion of gas or dust; (vi) an unplanned fire notextinguished within 30 minutes of discovery; (vii) an unplanned ignition orexplosion of a blasting agent or an explosive; (viii) an unplanned roof fallat or above the anchorage zone in active workings where roof bolts are inuse; or an unplanned roof or rib fall in active workings that impairsventilation or impedes passage; (ix) a coal or rock outburst that causeswithdrawal of miners or which disrupts regular mining activity for more thanone hour; (x) an unstable condition at an impoundment, refuse pile, or culmbank which requires emergency action in order to prevent failure, or whichcauses individuals to evacuate an area; or, failure of an impoundment, refusepile or culm bank; (xi) damage to hoisting equipment in a shaft or slopewhich endangers an individual or which interferes with use of the equipmentfor more than 30 minutes; (xii) an event at a mine which causes death orbodily injury to an individual not at a mine at the time the event occurs;and (xiii) the unintentional fall of highwall that entraps equipment for morethan 30 minutes.
"Active areas" means all places in a mine that are ventilated, ifunderground, and examined regularly.
"Active workings" means any place in a mine where miners are normallyrequired to work or travel.
"Agent" means any person charged by the operator with responsibility forthe operation of all or a part of a mine or the supervision of the miners ina mine.
"Approved" means a device, apparatus, equipment, condition, method, courseor practice approved in writing by the Chief or Director.
"Authorized person" means a person assigned by the operator or agent toperform a specific type of duty or duties or to be at a specific location orlocations in the mine who is trained and has demonstrated the ability toperform such duty or duties safely and effectively.
"Auxiliary fan" means a supplemental underground fan installed to increasethe volume of air to a specified location for the purpose of controllingdust, methane, or air quality.
"Cable" means a stranded conductor (single-conductor cable) or acombination of conductors insulated from one another (multiple-conductorcable).
"Certified person" means a person holding a valid certificate from theBoard of Coal Mining Examiners authorizing him to perform the task to whichhe is assigned.
"Circuit" means a conducting part or a system of conducting parts throughwhich an electric current is intended to flow.
"Circuit breaker" means a device for interrupting a circuit betweenseparable contacts under normal or abnormal conditions.
"Coal mine" means a surface coal mine or an underground coal mine.
"Coal Mine Safety Act" or "Act" shall mean this chapter and Chapters14.3 (§ 45.1-161.105 et seq.) and 14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of thistitle, and shall include any regulations promulgated thereunder, whereapplicable.
"Cross entry" means any entry or set of entries, turned from main entries,from which room entries are turned.
"Experienced surface miner" means a person with more than six months ofexperience working at a surface mine or the surface area of an undergroundmine.
"Experienced underground miner" means a person with more than six months ofunderground mining experience.
"Federal mine safety law" means the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of1977 (P.L. 95-164), and regulations promulgated thereunder.
"Fuse" means an overcurrent protective device with a circuit-openingfusible member directly heated and destroyed by the passage of overcurrentthrough it.
"Ground" means a conducting connection between an electric circuit orequipment and earth or to some conducting body which serves in place of earth.
"Grounded" means connected to earth or to some connecting body which servesin place of the earth.
"Hazardous condition" means conditions that are likely to cause death orserious personal injury to persons exposed to such conditions.
"Imminent danger" means the existence of any condition or practice in amine which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious personalinjury before such condition or practice can be abated.
"Inactive mine" means a mine (i) at which coal or minerals have not beenexcavated or processed, or work, other than examinations by a certifiedperson or emergency work to preserve the mine, has not been performed at anunderground mine for a period of 30 days, or at a surface mine for a periodof 60 days, (ii) for which a valid license is in effect, and (iii) at whichreclamation activities have not been completed.
"Inexperienced underground miner" means a person with less than six monthsof underground mining experience.
"Intake air" means air that has not passed through the last active workingplace of the split of any working section or any worked-out area whetherpillared or nonpillared, and by analysis contains not less than nineteen andone-half percent oxygen nor more than one-half of one percent of carbondioxide, nor any hazardous quantities of flammable gas nor any harmfulamounts of poisonous gas.
"Interested persons" means members of the Mine Safety Committee and otherduly authorized representatives of the employees at a mine; federal MineSafety and Health Administration employees; mine inspectors; and, to theextent required by this Act, any other person.
"Main entry" means the principal entry or set of entries driven through thecoal bed or mineral deposit from which cross entries, room entries, or roomsare turned.
"Mine" means any underground coal mine or surface coal mine. Mines that areadjacent to each other and under the same management and which areadministered as distinct units shall be considered as separate mines. A siteshall not be a mine unless the coal extracted or excavated therefrom isoffered for sale or exchange, or used for any other commercial purposes. Thearea in which coal is excavated under an exemption to the permittingrequirements of § 45.1-234 shall not be a mine.
"Mine fire" means an unplanned fire not extinguished within 30 minutes ofdiscovery.
"Mine foreman" means a person holding a valid certificate of qualificationas a foreman duly issued by action of the Board of Coal Mining Examiners.
"Mine inspector" means a public employee assigned by the Chief or theDirector to make mine inspections as required by this Act, and otherapplicable laws.
"Miner" means any individual working in a mine.
"Mineral" means clay, stone, sand, gravel, metalliferous andnonmetalliferous ores, and any other solid material or substance ofcommercial value excavated in solid form from natural deposits on or in theearth, exclusive of coal and those minerals which occur naturally in liquidor gaseous form.
"Monthly" means, unless otherwise stated, to have occurred any time duringthe period of the first through the last day of a calendar month.
"Operator" means any person who operates, controls or supervises a mine orany independent contractor performing services or construction at such mine.
"Panel entry" means a room entry.
"Permissible" means a device, process, or equipment or method heretofore orhereafter classified by such term by the Mine Safety and HealthAdministration, when such classification is adopted by the Chief or theDirector, and includes, unless otherwise herein expressly stated, allrequirements, restrictions, exceptions, limitations, and conditions attachedto such classification by the Administration.
"Return air" means air that has passed through the last active workingplace on each split, or air that has passed through worked-out areas, whetherpillared or nonpillared.
"Room entry" means any entry or set of entries from which rooms are turned.
"Serious personal injury" means any injury which has a reasonable potentialto cause death or an injury other than a sprain or strain which requires anadmission to a hospital for 24 hours or more for medical treatment.
"Substation" means an electrical installation containing generating orpower-conversion equipment and associated electric equipment and parts, suchas switchboards, switches, wiring, fuses, circuit breakers, compensators andtransformers.
"Surface coal mine" means (i) the pit and other active and inactive areasof surface extraction of coal; (ii) on-site preparation plants, shops,tipples and related facilities appurtenant to the extraction and processingof coal; (iii) surface areas for the transportation and storage of coalextracted at the site; (iv) impoundments, retention dams, tailing ponds, andrefuse disposal areas appurtenant to the extraction of coal from the site;(v) equipment, machinery, tools, and other property used in, or to be usedin, the extraction of coal from the site; (vi) private ways and roadsappurtenant to such area; and (vii) the areas used to prepare a site forsurface coal extraction activities. A site shall commence being a surfacecoal mine upon the beginning of any site preparation activity other thanexploratory drilling or other exploration activity that does not disturb thesurface, and shall cease to be a surface coal mine upon completion of initialreclamation activities.
"Travel way" means a passage, walk or way regularly used and designated forpersons to go from one place to another.
"Underground coal mine" means (i) the working face and other active andinactive areas of underground excavation of coal; (ii) underground travelways, shafts, slopes, drifts, inclines, and tunnels connected to such areas;(iii) on-site preparation plants, shops, tipples and related facilitiesappurtenant to the excavation and processing of coal; (iv) on-site surfaceareas for the transportation and storage of coal excavated at the site; (v)impoundments, retention dams, and tailing ponds appurtenant to the excavationof coal from the site; (vi) equipment, machinery, tools, and other property,on the surface and underground, used in, or to be used in, the excavation ofcoal from the site; (vii) private ways and roads appurtenant to such area;(viii) the areas used to prepare a site for underground coal excavationactivities; and (ix) areas used for the drilling of vertical ventilationholes. A site shall commence being an underground coal mine upon thebeginning of any site preparation activity other than exploratory drilling orother exploration activity, and shall cease to be an underground coal mineupon completion of initial reclamation activities.
"Weekly" means, unless otherwise stated, to have occurred any time duringthe period of Sunday through Saturday of a calendar week.
"Work area," as used in Chapter 14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of thistitle, means those areas of a surface coal mine in production or beingprepared for production and those areas of the mine which may pose a dangerto miners at such areas.
"Worked-out area" means an area where underground coal mining has beencompleted, whether pillared or nonpillared, excluding developing entries,return air courses and intake air courses.
"Working face" means any place in a mine in which work of extracting coalfrom its natural deposit in the earth is performed during the mining cycle.
"Working place" means the area of an underground mine inby the last opencrosscut.
"Working section" means all areas from the loading point of a section toand including the working faces.
(Code 1950, § 45-0.2; 1954, c. 191; 1966, c. 594, § 45.1-2; 1975, c. 520;1978, cc. 120, 489; 1980, c. 442; 1984, c. 590; 1993, c. 442; 1994, c. 28;1996, c. 774; 1997, c. 390; 1999, c. 256; 2005, c. 3.)
As used in this chapter and in Chapters 14.3 (§ 45.1-161.105 et seq.) and14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of this title, unless the context requires adifferent meaning:
"Accident" means (i) a death of an individual at a mine; (ii) a seriouspersonal injury; (iii) an entrapment of an individual for more than 30minutes; (iv) an unplanned inundation of a mine by liquid or gas; (v) anunplanned ignition or explosion of gas or dust; (vi) an unplanned fire notextinguished within 30 minutes of discovery; (vii) an unplanned ignition orexplosion of a blasting agent or an explosive; (viii) an unplanned roof fallat or above the anchorage zone in active workings where roof bolts are inuse; or an unplanned roof or rib fall in active workings that impairsventilation or impedes passage; (ix) a coal or rock outburst that causeswithdrawal of miners or which disrupts regular mining activity for more thanone hour; (x) an unstable condition at an impoundment, refuse pile, or culmbank which requires emergency action in order to prevent failure, or whichcauses individuals to evacuate an area; or, failure of an impoundment, refusepile or culm bank; (xi) damage to hoisting equipment in a shaft or slopewhich endangers an individual or which interferes with use of the equipmentfor more than 30 minutes; (xii) an event at a mine which causes death orbodily injury to an individual not at a mine at the time the event occurs;and (xiii) the unintentional fall of highwall that entraps equipment for morethan 30 minutes.
"Active areas" means all places in a mine that are ventilated, ifunderground, and examined regularly.
"Active workings" means any place in a mine where miners are normallyrequired to work or travel.
"Agent" means any person charged by the operator with responsibility forthe operation of all or a part of a mine or the supervision of the miners ina mine.
"Approved" means a device, apparatus, equipment, condition, method, courseor practice approved in writing by the Chief or Director.
"Authorized person" means a person assigned by the operator or agent toperform a specific type of duty or duties or to be at a specific location orlocations in the mine who is trained and has demonstrated the ability toperform such duty or duties safely and effectively.
"Auxiliary fan" means a supplemental underground fan installed to increasethe volume of air to a specified location for the purpose of controllingdust, methane, or air quality.
"Cable" means a stranded conductor (single-conductor cable) or acombination of conductors insulated from one another (multiple-conductorcable).
"Certified person" means a person holding a valid certificate from theBoard of Coal Mining Examiners authorizing him to perform the task to whichhe is assigned.
"Circuit" means a conducting part or a system of conducting parts throughwhich an electric current is intended to flow.
"Circuit breaker" means a device for interrupting a circuit betweenseparable contacts under normal or abnormal conditions.
"Coal mine" means a surface coal mine or an underground coal mine.
"Coal Mine Safety Act" or "Act" shall mean this chapter and Chapters14.3 (§ 45.1-161.105 et seq.) and 14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of thistitle, and shall include any regulations promulgated thereunder, whereapplicable.
"Cross entry" means any entry or set of entries, turned from main entries,from which room entries are turned.
"Experienced surface miner" means a person with more than six months ofexperience working at a surface mine or the surface area of an undergroundmine.
"Experienced underground miner" means a person with more than six months ofunderground mining experience.
"Federal mine safety law" means the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of1977 (P.L. 95-164), and regulations promulgated thereunder.
"Fuse" means an overcurrent protective device with a circuit-openingfusible member directly heated and destroyed by the passage of overcurrentthrough it.
"Ground" means a conducting connection between an electric circuit orequipment and earth or to some conducting body which serves in place of earth.
"Grounded" means connected to earth or to some connecting body which servesin place of the earth.
"Hazardous condition" means conditions that are likely to cause death orserious personal injury to persons exposed to such conditions.
"Imminent danger" means the existence of any condition or practice in amine which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious personalinjury before such condition or practice can be abated.
"Inactive mine" means a mine (i) at which coal or minerals have not beenexcavated or processed, or work, other than examinations by a certifiedperson or emergency work to preserve the mine, has not been performed at anunderground mine for a period of 30 days, or at a surface mine for a periodof 60 days, (ii) for which a valid license is in effect, and (iii) at whichreclamation activities have not been completed.
"Inexperienced underground miner" means a person with less than six monthsof underground mining experience.
"Intake air" means air that has not passed through the last active workingplace of the split of any working section or any worked-out area whetherpillared or nonpillared, and by analysis contains not less than nineteen andone-half percent oxygen nor more than one-half of one percent of carbondioxide, nor any hazardous quantities of flammable gas nor any harmfulamounts of poisonous gas.
"Interested persons" means members of the Mine Safety Committee and otherduly authorized representatives of the employees at a mine; federal MineSafety and Health Administration employees; mine inspectors; and, to theextent required by this Act, any other person.
"Main entry" means the principal entry or set of entries driven through thecoal bed or mineral deposit from which cross entries, room entries, or roomsare turned.
"Mine" means any underground coal mine or surface coal mine. Mines that areadjacent to each other and under the same management and which areadministered as distinct units shall be considered as separate mines. A siteshall not be a mine unless the coal extracted or excavated therefrom isoffered for sale or exchange, or used for any other commercial purposes. Thearea in which coal is excavated under an exemption to the permittingrequirements of § 45.1-234 shall not be a mine.
"Mine fire" means an unplanned fire not extinguished within 30 minutes ofdiscovery.
"Mine foreman" means a person holding a valid certificate of qualificationas a foreman duly issued by action of the Board of Coal Mining Examiners.
"Mine inspector" means a public employee assigned by the Chief or theDirector to make mine inspections as required by this Act, and otherapplicable laws.
"Miner" means any individual working in a mine.
"Mineral" means clay, stone, sand, gravel, metalliferous andnonmetalliferous ores, and any other solid material or substance ofcommercial value excavated in solid form from natural deposits on or in theearth, exclusive of coal and those minerals which occur naturally in liquidor gaseous form.
"Monthly" means, unless otherwise stated, to have occurred any time duringthe period of the first through the last day of a calendar month.
"Operator" means any person who operates, controls or supervises a mine orany independent contractor performing services or construction at such mine.
"Panel entry" means a room entry.
"Permissible" means a device, process, or equipment or method heretofore orhereafter classified by such term by the Mine Safety and HealthAdministration, when such classification is adopted by the Chief or theDirector, and includes, unless otherwise herein expressly stated, allrequirements, restrictions, exceptions, limitations, and conditions attachedto such classification by the Administration.
"Return air" means air that has passed through the last active workingplace on each split, or air that has passed through worked-out areas, whetherpillared or nonpillared.
"Room entry" means any entry or set of entries from which rooms are turned.
"Serious personal injury" means any injury which has a reasonable potentialto cause death or an injury other than a sprain or strain which requires anadmission to a hospital for 24 hours or more for medical treatment.
"Substation" means an electrical installation containing generating orpower-conversion equipment and associated electric equipment and parts, suchas switchboards, switches, wiring, fuses, circuit breakers, compensators andtransformers.
"Surface coal mine" means (i) the pit and other active and inactive areasof surface extraction of coal; (ii) on-site preparation plants, shops,tipples and related facilities appurtenant to the extraction and processingof coal; (iii) surface areas for the transportation and storage of coalextracted at the site; (iv) impoundments, retention dams, tailing ponds, andrefuse disposal areas appurtenant to the extraction of coal from the site;(v) equipment, machinery, tools, and other property used in, or to be usedin, the extraction of coal from the site; (vi) private ways and roadsappurtenant to such area; and (vii) the areas used to prepare a site forsurface coal extraction activities. A site shall commence being a surfacecoal mine upon the beginning of any site preparation activity other thanexploratory drilling or other exploration activity that does not disturb thesurface, and shall cease to be a surface coal mine upon completion of initialreclamation activities.
"Travel way" means a passage, walk or way regularly used and designated forpersons to go from one place to another.
"Underground coal mine" means (i) the working face and other active andinactive areas of underground excavation of coal; (ii) underground travelways, shafts, slopes, drifts, inclines, and tunnels connected to such areas;(iii) on-site preparation plants, shops, tipples and related facilitiesappurtenant to the excavation and processing of coal; (iv) on-site surfaceareas for the transportation and storage of coal excavated at the site; (v)impoundments, retention dams, and tailing ponds appurtenant to the excavationof coal from the site; (vi) equipment, machinery, tools, and other property,on the surface and underground, used in, or to be used in, the excavation ofcoal from the site; (vii) private ways and roads appurtenant to such area;(viii) the areas used to prepare a site for underground coal excavationactivities; and (ix) areas used for the drilling of vertical ventilationholes. A site shall commence being an underground coal mine upon thebeginning of any site preparation activity other than exploratory drilling orother exploration activity, and shall cease to be an underground coal mineupon completion of initial reclamation activities.
"Weekly" means, unless otherwise stated, to have occurred any time duringthe period of Sunday through Saturday of a calendar week.
"Work area," as used in Chapter 14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of thistitle, means those areas of a surface coal mine in production or beingprepared for production and those areas of the mine which may pose a dangerto miners at such areas.
"Worked-out area" means an area where underground coal mining has beencompleted, whether pillared or nonpillared, excluding developing entries,return air courses and intake air courses.
"Working face" means any place in a mine in which work of extracting coalfrom its natural deposit in the earth is performed during the mining cycle.
"Working place" means the area of an underground mine inby the last opencrosscut.
"Working section" means all areas from the loading point of a section toand including the working faces.
(Code 1950, § 45-0.2; 1954, c. 191; 1966, c. 594, § 45.1-2; 1975, c. 520;1978, cc. 120, 489; 1980, c. 442; 1984, c. 590; 1993, c. 442; 1994, c. 28;1996, c. 774; 1997, c. 390; 1999, c. 256; 2005, c. 3.)
As used in this chapter and in Chapters 14.3 (§ 45.1-161.105 et seq.) and14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of this title, unless the context requires adifferent meaning:
"Accident" means (i) a death of an individual at a mine; (ii) a seriouspersonal injury; (iii) an entrapment of an individual for more than 30minutes; (iv) an unplanned inundation of a mine by liquid or gas; (v) anunplanned ignition or explosion of gas or dust; (vi) an unplanned fire notextinguished within 30 minutes of discovery; (vii) an unplanned ignition orexplosion of a blasting agent or an explosive; (viii) an unplanned roof fallat or above the anchorage zone in active workings where roof bolts are inuse; or an unplanned roof or rib fall in active workings that impairsventilation or impedes passage; (ix) a coal or rock outburst that causeswithdrawal of miners or which disrupts regular mining activity for more thanone hour; (x) an unstable condition at an impoundment, refuse pile, or culmbank which requires emergency action in order to prevent failure, or whichcauses individuals to evacuate an area; or, failure of an impoundment, refusepile or culm bank; (xi) damage to hoisting equipment in a shaft or slopewhich endangers an individual or which interferes with use of the equipmentfor more than 30 minutes; (xii) an event at a mine which causes death orbodily injury to an individual not at a mine at the time the event occurs;and (xiii) the unintentional fall of highwall that entraps equipment for morethan 30 minutes.
"Active areas" means all places in a mine that are ventilated, ifunderground, and examined regularly.
"Active workings" means any place in a mine where miners are normallyrequired to work or travel.
"Agent" means any person charged by the operator with responsibility forthe operation of all or a part of a mine or the supervision of the miners ina mine.
"Approved" means a device, apparatus, equipment, condition, method, courseor practice approved in writing by the Chief or Director.
"Authorized person" means a person assigned by the operator or agent toperform a specific type of duty or duties or to be at a specific location orlocations in the mine who is trained and has demonstrated the ability toperform such duty or duties safely and effectively.
"Auxiliary fan" means a supplemental underground fan installed to increasethe volume of air to a specified location for the purpose of controllingdust, methane, or air quality.
"Cable" means a stranded conductor (single-conductor cable) or acombination of conductors insulated from one another (multiple-conductorcable).
"Certified person" means a person holding a valid certificate from theBoard of Coal Mining Examiners authorizing him to perform the task to whichhe is assigned.
"Circuit" means a conducting part or a system of conducting parts throughwhich an electric current is intended to flow.
"Circuit breaker" means a device for interrupting a circuit betweenseparable contacts under normal or abnormal conditions.
"Coal mine" means a surface coal mine or an underground coal mine.
"Coal Mine Safety Act" or "Act" shall mean this chapter and Chapters14.3 (§ 45.1-161.105 et seq.) and 14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of thistitle, and shall include any regulations promulgated thereunder, whereapplicable.
"Cross entry" means any entry or set of entries, turned from main entries,from which room entries are turned.
"Experienced surface miner" means a person with more than six months ofexperience working at a surface mine or the surface area of an undergroundmine.
"Experienced underground miner" means a person with more than six months ofunderground mining experience.
"Federal mine safety law" means the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of1977 (P.L. 95-164), and regulations promulgated thereunder.
"Fuse" means an overcurrent protective device with a circuit-openingfusible member directly heated and destroyed by the passage of overcurrentthrough it.
"Ground" means a conducting connection between an electric circuit orequipment and earth or to some conducting body which serves in place of earth.
"Grounded" means connected to earth or to some connecting body which servesin place of the earth.
"Hazardous condition" means conditions that are likely to cause death orserious personal injury to persons exposed to such conditions.
"Imminent danger" means the existence of any condition or practice in amine which could reasonably be expected to cause death or serious personalinjury before such condition or practice can be abated.
"Inactive mine" means a mine (i) at which coal or minerals have not beenexcavated or processed, or work, other than examinations by a certifiedperson or emergency work to preserve the mine, has not been performed at anunderground mine for a period of 30 days, or at a surface mine for a periodof 60 days, (ii) for which a valid license is in effect, and (iii) at whichreclamation activities have not been completed.
"Inexperienced underground miner" means a person with less than six monthsof underground mining experience.
"Intake air" means air that has not passed through the last active workingplace of the split of any working section or any worked-out area whetherpillared or nonpillared, and by analysis contains not less than nineteen andone-half percent oxygen nor more than one-half of one percent of carbondioxide, nor any hazardous quantities of flammable gas nor any harmfulamounts of poisonous gas.
"Interested persons" means members of the Mine Safety Committee and otherduly authorized representatives of the employees at a mine; federal MineSafety and Health Administration employees; mine inspectors; and, to theextent required by this Act, any other person.
"Main entry" means the principal entry or set of entries driven through thecoal bed or mineral deposit from which cross entries, room entries, or roomsare turned.
"Mine" means any underground coal mine or surface coal mine. Mines that areadjacent to each other and under the same management and which areadministered as distinct units shall be considered as separate mines. A siteshall not be a mine unless the coal extracted or excavated therefrom isoffered for sale or exchange, or used for any other commercial purposes. Thearea in which coal is excavated under an exemption to the permittingrequirements of § 45.1-234 shall not be a mine.
"Mine fire" means an unplanned fire not extinguished within 30 minutes ofdiscovery.
"Mine foreman" means a person holding a valid certificate of qualificationas a foreman duly issued by action of the Board of Coal Mining Examiners.
"Mine inspector" means a public employee assigned by the Chief or theDirector to make mine inspections as required by this Act, and otherapplicable laws.
"Miner" means any individual working in a mine.
"Mineral" means clay, stone, sand, gravel, metalliferous andnonmetalliferous ores, and any other solid material or substance ofcommercial value excavated in solid form from natural deposits on or in theearth, exclusive of coal and those minerals which occur naturally in liquidor gaseous form.
"Monthly" means, unless otherwise stated, to have occurred any time duringthe period of the first through the last day of a calendar month.
"Operator" means any person who operates, controls or supervises a mine orany independent contractor performing services or construction at such mine.
"Panel entry" means a room entry.
"Permissible" means a device, process, or equipment or method heretofore orhereafter classified by such term by the Mine Safety and HealthAdministration, when such classification is adopted by the Chief or theDirector, and includes, unless otherwise herein expressly stated, allrequirements, restrictions, exceptions, limitations, and conditions attachedto such classification by the Administration.
"Return air" means air that has passed through the last active workingplace on each split, or air that has passed through worked-out areas, whetherpillared or nonpillared.
"Room entry" means any entry or set of entries from which rooms are turned.
"Serious personal injury" means any injury which has a reasonable potentialto cause death or an injury other than a sprain or strain which requires anadmission to a hospital for 24 hours or more for medical treatment.
"Substation" means an electrical installation containing generating orpower-conversion equipment and associated electric equipment and parts, suchas switchboards, switches, wiring, fuses, circuit breakers, compensators andtransformers.
"Surface coal mine" means (i) the pit and other active and inactive areasof surface extraction of coal; (ii) on-site preparation plants, shops,tipples and related facilities appurtenant to the extraction and processingof coal; (iii) surface areas for the transportation and storage of coalextracted at the site; (iv) impoundments, retention dams, tailing ponds, andrefuse disposal areas appurtenant to the extraction of coal from the site;(v) equipment, machinery, tools, and other property used in, or to be usedin, the extraction of coal from the site; (vi) private ways and roadsappurtenant to such area; and (vii) the areas used to prepare a site forsurface coal extraction activities. A site shall commence being a surfacecoal mine upon the beginning of any site preparation activity other thanexploratory drilling or other exploration activity that does not disturb thesurface, and shall cease to be a surface coal mine upon completion of initialreclamation activities.
"Travel way" means a passage, walk or way regularly used and designated forpersons to go from one place to another.
"Underground coal mine" means (i) the working face and other active andinactive areas of underground excavation of coal; (ii) underground travelways, shafts, slopes, drifts, inclines, and tunnels connected to such areas;(iii) on-site preparation plants, shops, tipples and related facilitiesappurtenant to the excavation and processing of coal; (iv) on-site surfaceareas for the transportation and storage of coal excavated at the site; (v)impoundments, retention dams, and tailing ponds appurtenant to the excavationof coal from the site; (vi) equipment, machinery, tools, and other property,on the surface and underground, used in, or to be used in, the excavation ofcoal from the site; (vii) private ways and roads appurtenant to such area;(viii) the areas used to prepare a site for underground coal excavationactivities; and (ix) areas used for the drilling of vertical ventilationholes. A site shall commence being an underground coal mine upon thebeginning of any site preparation activity other than exploratory drilling orother exploration activity, and shall cease to be an underground coal mineupon completion of initial reclamation activities.
"Weekly" means, unless otherwise stated, to have occurred any time duringthe period of Sunday through Saturday of a calendar week.
"Work area," as used in Chapter 14.4 (§ 45.1-161.253 et seq.) of thistitle, means those areas of a surface coal mine in production or beingprepared for production and those areas of the mine which may pose a dangerto miners at such areas.
"Worked-out area" means an area where underground coal mining has beencompleted, whether pillared or nonpillared, excluding developing entries,return air courses and intake air courses.
"Working face" means any place in a mine in which work of extracting coalfrom its natural deposit in the earth is performed during the mining cycle.
"Working place" means the area of an underground mine inby the last opencrosscut.
"Working section" means all areas from the loading point of a section toand including the working faces.
(Code 1950, § 45-0.2; 1954, c. 191; 1966, c. 594, § 45.1-2; 1975, c. 520;1978, cc. 120, 489; 1980, c. 442; 1984, c. 590; 1993, c. 442; 1994, c. 28;1996, c. 774; 1997, c. 390; 1999, c. 256; 2005, c. 3.)
