[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 164 (Friday, August 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54675-54676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-21566]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration


Petitions for Modification

    The following parties have filed petitions to modify the 
application of existing safety standards under section 101(c) of the 
Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977.

1. Buck Mountain Coal Company

[Docket No. M-2002-062-C]

    Buck Mountain Coal Company, PO Box 6, Tremont, Pennsylvania 17981 
has filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.1002-1 
(Location of other electric equipment; requirements for permissibility) 
to its Buck Mountain Slope Mine (I.D. No. 36-01962) located in 
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The petitioner requests a modification 
of the existing standard to permit the use of non-permissible electric 
equipment within 150 feet of the pillar line. The petitioner states 
that the non-permissible equipment would include drags and battery 
locomotives due in part to the method of mining used in pitching 
anthracite mines and the alternative evaluation of the mine air quality 
for methane on an hourly basis during operation. The petitioner asserts 
that the proposed alternative method would provide at least the same 
measure of protection as the existing standard.

2. Buck Mountain Coal Company

[Docket No. M-2002-063-C]

    Buck Mountain Coal Company, PO Box 6, Tremont, Pennsylvania 17981 
has filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.1100-2(a) 
(Quantity and location of firefighting equipment) to its Buck Mountain 
Slope Mine (I.D. No. 36-01962) located in Schuylkill County, 
Pennsylvania. The petitioner requests a modification of the standard to 
permit use of only portable fire extinguishers to replace existing 
requirements where rock dust, water cars, and other water storage 
equipped with three (3) ten quart pails is not practical. The 
petitioner proposes to use two (2) fire extinguishers near the slope 
bottom and an additional portable fire extinguisher within 500 feet of 
the working face for equivalent fire protection for the Buck Mountain 
Slope Mine. The petitioner asserts that the proposed alternative method 
would provide at least the same measure of protection as the existing 
standard.

3. Buck Mountain Coal Company

[Docket No. M-2002-064-C]

    Buck Mountain Coal Company, PO Box 6, Tremont, Pennsylvania 17981 
has filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.1200 (d) & 
(i) (Mine map) to its Buck Mountain Slope Mine (I.D. No. 36-01962) 
located in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The petitioner proposes to 
use cross-sections instead of contour lines through the intake slope, 
at locations of rock tunnel connections between veins, and at 1,000 
foot intervals of advance from the intake slope; and to limit the 
required mapping of the mine workings above and below to those present 
within 100 feet of the vein being mined except when veins are 
interconnected to other veins beyond the 100-foot limit through rock 
tunnels. The petitioner asserts that due to the steep pitch encountered 
in mining anthracite coal veins, contours provide no useful information 
and their presence would make portions of the map illegible. The 
petitioner further asserts that use of cross-sections in lieu of 
contour lines has been practiced since the late 1800's thereby 
providing critical information relative to the spacing between veins 
and proximity to other mine workings which fluctuate considerably. The 
petitioner asserts that the proposed alternative method would provide 
at least the same measure of protection as the existing standard.

4. Buck Mountain Coal Company

[Docket No. M-2002-065-C]

    Buck Mountain Coal Company, PO Box 6, Tremont, Pennsylvania 17981 
has filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.1202 and 
75.1202-1(a) (Temporary notations, revisions, and supplements) to its 
Buck Mountain Slope Mine (I.D. No. 36-01962) located in Schuylkill 
County, Pennsylvania. The petitioner proposes to revise and supplement 
mine maps annually instead of every 6 months as required, and to update 
maps daily by hand notations. The petitioner also proposes to conduct 
surveys prior to commencing retreat mining and whenever either a 
drilling program under 30 CFR 75.388 or plan for mining into 
inaccessible areas under 30 CFR 75.389 is required. The petitioner 
asserts that the proposed alternative method would provide at least the 
same measure of protection as the existing standard.

5. Energy West Mining Company

[Docket No. M-2002-066-C]

    Energy West Mining Company, PO 310, Huntington, Utah 84528 has 
filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.500(d) 
(Permissible electric equipment) to its Deer Creek Mine (I.D. No. 42-
00121) located in Emery County, Utah. The petitioner proposes to use 
the following non-permissible equipment inby the last open crosscut: 
low-voltage or battery powered electronic testing and diagnostic 
equipment such as lap top computers, oscilloscopes, vibration analysis 
machines, cable fault detectors, point temperature probes, recording 
amp meters, thermal image devices, infrared temperature devices and 
recorders, pressure and flow measurement devices, signal analyzer 
devices, ultrasonic thickness gauges, electronic component testers, and 
electronic tachometers; low-voltage or battery powered equipment such 
as electric and/or battery operated drills and grinders; and other 
testing and diagnostic equipment if approved by the District Office. 
The petitioner states that equipment used in or inby the last open 
crosscut shall be examined by a qualified person on a weekly basis, and 
new equipment would be examined prior to use. The petitioner has listed 
in this petition specific procedures that would be followed when using 
this

[[Page 54676]]

equipment. The petitioner asserts that the proposed alternative method 
would provide at least the same measure of protection as the existing 
standard.

6. Border Mining, Inc.

[Docket No. M-2002-067-C]

    Border Mining, Inc., 7617 Upper Johns Creek Road, Phelps, Kentucky 
41553 has filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.503 
(Permissible electric face equipment; maintenance) and 30 CFR 18.41(f) 
(Plug and receptacle-type connectors) to its No. 2 Mine (I.D. No. 15-
17110) located in Knott County, Kentucky. The petitioner proposes to 
use permanently installed, spring-loaded locking devices to prevent 
battery plugs from unintentionally loosening from battery receptacles 
to eliminate the hazards associated with difficult removal of padlocks 
during emergency situations. The petitioner asserts that application of 
the existing standard would result in a diminution of safety to the 
miners, and that the proposed alternative method would provide at least 
the same measure of protection as the existing standard.

7. R & T Coal Company, Inc.

[Docket No. M-2002-068-C]

    R & T Coal Company, Inc., 405 KY HWY 1092, Sitka, Kentucky 41255 
has filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.800 (High-
voltage circuits; circuits breakers) to its Mine No. 1 (I.D. No. 15-
18523) located in Morgan County, Kentucky. The petitioner proposes to 
use a Jennings RP-170-2300 high-voltage contactor in lieu of circuit 
breakers in its substation. The petitioner states that the Jennings RP-
170-2300 is equivalent electrically and mechanically to high-voltage 
circuit breakers; that the substation has 12470 volts feed with 30 amp 
high-voltage fuses on the pole limiting the 4160 side to no more than 
90 amps; that available vault current from Licking Valley Rural 
Electric is 924 amps line to ground and 1200 amps phase to phase; and 
that the Jennings contactor is more than capable of carrying the load. 
The petitioner asserts that the proposed alternative method would 
provide at least the same measure of protection as the existing 
standard.

8. Oxbow Mining, LLC

[Docket No. M-2002-069-C]

    Oxbow Mining, LLC, PO Box 535, 3737 Highway 133, Somerset, Colorado 
81434 has filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.350 
(Air course and belt haulage entries) to its Elk Creek Mine (I.D. No. 
05-04674) located in Gunnison County, Colorado. The petitioner requests 
a modification of the existing safety standard to permit air coursed 
through the conveyor belt haulage entries to be used to ventilate 
working places. The petitioner proposes to install a carbon monoxide 
monitoring system as an early warning fire detection system in all belt 
entries used to course intake air to a working place. The petitioner 
asserts that the proposed alternative method would provide at least the 
same measure of protection as the existing standard.

9. Energy West Mining Company

[Docket No. M-2002-070-C]

    Energy West Mining Company, PO Box 310, Huntington, Utah 84528 has 
filed a petition to modify the application of 30 CFR 75.1002-1(a) 
(Location of other electric equipment; requirements for permissibility) 
to its Deer Creek Mine (I.D. No. 42-00121) located in Emery County, 
Utah. The petitioner requests a modification of the existing standard 
to permit the following non-permissible equipment to be used within 150 
feet from pillar workings (longwall gob): lap top computers, 
oscilloscopes, vibration analysis machines, cable fault detectors, 
point temperature probes, recording amp meters, thermal image devices, 
infrared temperature devices and recorders, pressure and flow 
measurement devices, signal analyzer devices, ultrasonic thickness 
gauges, electronic component testers, and electronic tachometers, low-
voltage or battery powered equipment such as electric and/or battery 
operated drills and grinders, and may use other testing and diagnostic 
equipment if approved by the District Office. The petitioner states 
that equipment used in or inby the last open crosscut shall be examined 
by a qualified person on a weekly basis, and that new equipment would 
be examined prior to use. The petitioner has listed in this petition 
for modification specific procedures that would be followed when using 
this equipment. The petitioner asserts that the proposed alternative 
method would provide at least the same measure of protection as the 
existing standard.

Request for Comments

    Persons interested in these petitions are encouraged to submit 
comments via e-mail to ``[email protected],'' or on a computer disk 
along with an original hard copy to the Office of Standards, 
Regulations, and Variances, Mine Safety and Health Administration, 1100 
Wilson Boulevard, Room 2352, Arlington, Virginia 22209. All comments 
must be postmarked or received in that office on or before September 
23, 2002. Copies of these petitions are available for inspection at 
that address.

    Dated at Arlington, Virginia this 19th day of August 2002.
Marvin W. Nichols, Jr.,
Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances.
[FR Doc. 02-21566 Filed 8-22-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-43-P