[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 201 (Tuesday, October 19, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Page 61527]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-23352]


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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. Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Company

[Docket No. M-2004-042-C]

    Synergy Engineering Services, PLLC, 34 First Street, Foxbottom, 
Harold, Kentucky 41635, Permit 1201764, has filed a petition 
for modification for the Clintwood Elkhorn Mining Company, P.O. Box 
196, Hurley, Virginia 24620, to modify the application of 30 CFR 
77.214(a) (Refuse piles; general) for the Devils Branch Blair 
1 Mine (MSHA I.D. No. 44-07014), and the Devils Branch Blair 
2 Mine (MSHA I.D. No. 44-07032) located in Buchanan County, 
Virginia. The petitioner proposes to backfill two existing underground 
mine face-ups, Blair 1 and Blair 2, with coarse scalp 
rock material generated from an adjacent underground mine. The Blair 
1 Mine is still active, and will be backfilled once mining is 
complete; the Blair 2 Mine has been mined out and abandoned. A 
total of four entries exist in both the Blair 1 and Blair 
2 Mine, and all entries are located in the Blair coal seam at 
approximately 1395 feet elevation. The petitioner has listed specific 
procedures in this petition that would be followed to seal the mine 
openings. The petitioner asserts that the proposed alternative method 
would not diminish the level of protection provided to the miners.

Request for Comments

    Persons interested in these petitions are encouraged to submit 
comments via Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov; E-
mail: [email protected]; Fax: (202) 693-9441; or Regular Mail/Hand 
Delivery/Courier: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Office of 
Standards, Regulations, and Variances, 1100 Wilson Boulevard, Room 
2350, Arlington, Virginia 22209. All comments must be postmarked or 
received in that office on or before November 18, 2004. Copies of these 
petitions are available for inspection at that address.

    Dated at Arlington, Virginia, this 13th day of October, 2004.
Marvin W. Nichols, Jr.,
Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances.
[FR Doc. 04-23352 Filed 10-18-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-43-P