[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 204 (Monday, October 24, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64255-64256]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-23005]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Mine Safety and Health Administration


Petition for Modification of Application of Existing Mandatory 
Safety Standards

AGENCY: Mine Safety and Health Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice is a summary of a petition for modification 
submitted to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by the 
party listed below.

DATES: All comments on the petition must be received by MSHA's Office 
of Standards, Regulations, and Variances on or before November 23, 
2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments identified by Docket No. MSHA-2022-
053 by any of the following methods:
    1. Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow 
the instructions for submitting comments for MSHA-2022-053.
    2. Fax: 202-693-9441.
    3. Email: [email protected].
    4. Regular Mail or Hand Delivery: MSHA, Office of Standards, 
Regulations, and Variances, 201 12th Street South, Suite 4E401, 
Arlington, Virginia 22202-5452.
    Attention: S. Aromie Noe, Director, Office of Standards, 
Regulations, and Variances. Persons delivering documents are required 
to check in at the receptionist's desk in Suite 4E401. Individuals may 
inspect copies of the petition and comments during normal business 
hours at the address listed above. Before visiting MSHA in person, call 
202-693-9455 to make an appointment, in keeping with the Department of 
Labor's COVID-19 policy. Special health precautions may be required.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: S. Aromie Noe, Office of Standards, 
Regulations, and Variances at 202-693-9440 (voice), 
[email protected] (email), or 202-693-9441 (fax). [These 
are not toll-free numbers.]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety 
and Health Act of 1977 and Title 30 of the

[[Page 64256]]

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) part 44 govern the application, 
processing, and disposition of petitions for modification.

I. Background

    Section 101(c) of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 
(Mine Act) allows the mine operator or representative of miners to file 
a petition to modify the application of any mandatory safety standard 
to a coal or other mine if the Secretary of Labor determines that:
    1. An alternative method of achieving the result of such standard 
exists which will at all times guarantee no less than the same measure 
of protection afforded the miners of such mine by such standard; or
    2. The application of such standard to such mine will result in a 
diminution of safety to the miners in such mine.
    In addition, sections 44.10 and 44.11 of 30 CFR establish the 
requirements for filing petitions for modification.

II. Petition for Modification

    Docket Number: M-2022-022-C.
    Petitioner: M&D Anthracite Coal Company, 71 Hill Road, Hegins, 
Pennsylvania, 17938.
    Mine: Slope #1, MSHA ID No. 36-09976, located in Schuylkill County, 
Pennsylvania.
    Regulation Affected: 30 CFR 75.1002 (a), Installation of electric 
equipment and conductors; permissibility.
    Modification Request: The petitioner requests a modification of 30 
CFR 75.1002(a) to permit the use of non-permissible electric equipment, 
including drags and battery locomotives, within 150 feet of the pillar 
line.
    The petitioner states that:
    (a) The mine is a pitching anthracite mine.
    (b) The use of drags on less than moderate pitching veins (less 
than 20 degrees pitch) is the only practical system of mining in use.
    (c) Permissible drags are not commercially available. Partly due to 
their small size, permissible locomotives are not commercially 
available.
    (d) Because of low daily production rates and full timbering 
support, in-rushes of methane resulting from massive pillar falls are 
unlikely to occur.
    (e) Recovery of the pillars above the first miner heading is 
usually accomplished on the advance within 150 feet of the section 
intake (gangway) and the remaining minable pillars are recovered from 
the deepest point of penetration outby.
    The petitioner proposes the following alternative method:
    (a) The equipment shall be operated in the working section's only 
intake entry (gangway) which is regularly traveled and examined.
    (b) Methane testing shall occur on an hourly basis and the test 
results shall be recorded in the on-shift examination record.
    (c) Equipment operation shall be suspended if the methane 
concentration at the equipment reaches 0.5% methane during a pre-shift 
examination or operation.
    (d) The required intake air flow of 5,000 cubic feet per minute 
shall be measured just outby the nonpermissible equipment, with the 
ventilating air passing over the equipment to ventilate the pillar 
being mined.
    (e) The electrical equipment shall be attended during operation and 
shall be de-energized at the intersection of the working gangway and 
intake slope.
    (f) Where more than one active line of pillar breast recovery 
exist, the locomotive may travel to a point just outby the deepest 
active chute/breast (room) workings or last open crosscut in a 
developing set of entries.
    The petitioner asserts that the alternative method proposed will at 
all times guarantee no less than the same measure of protection 
afforded the miners under the mandatory standard.

Song-ae Aromie Noe,
Director, Office of Standards, Regulations, and Variances.
[FR Doc. 2022-23005 Filed 10-21-22; 8:45 am]
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