PRINTER'S NO. 2318
No. 1849 Session of 1987
INTRODUCED BY PETRARCA, OLASZ, HALUSKA, TELEK, KASUNIC, VEON,
LaGROTTA, J. L. WRIGHT, MICOZZIE, CIVERA, GEIST AND FREIND,
OCTOBER 19, 1987
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON MINES AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT,
OCTOBER 19, 1987
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 17, 1961 (P.L.659, No.339), entitled
2 "An act relating to bituminous coal mines; amending,
3 revising, consolidating and changing the laws relating
4 thereto; providing for the health and safety of persons
5 employed in and about the bituminous coal mines of
6 Pennsylvania and for the protection and preservation of
7 property connected therewith; prescribing powers and duties
8 in connection therewith; prescribing penalties; and repealing
9 existing laws," providing for longwall and shortwall mining.
10 The General Assembly finds that the primary concern of the
11 coal mining industry must be the health and safety of its most
12 precious resource, the miner; and that coal mining is highly
13 specialized, technical and complex and requires frequent review,
14 additions, refinement and improvement of safety standards in
15 order to protect the health and safety of miners.
16 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
17 hereby enacts as follows:
18 Section 1. The act of July 17, 1961 (P.L.659, No.339), known
19 as the Pennsylvania Bituminous Coal Mine Act, is amended by
20 adding an article to read:
1 ARTICLE VI-A
2 LONGWALL AND SHORTWALL MINING
3 Section 601-A. Application of Standards.--The standards set
4 forth in this article for underground longwall and shortwall
5 mining are in addition to other provisions of law:
6 Section 602-A. Plans Generally.--(a) No new longwall or
7 shortwall mining sections shall be started until required plans
8 for longwall mining have been filed and approved by the
9 department. In coal mines where retreat longwall and shortwall
10 mining sections operations are in progress prior to the
11 effective date of this section, all plans shall be revised
12 within sixty days of such date. Longwall and shortwall mining
13 plans submitted for approval shall include the following:
14 (1) The company name, mine name, mine location, mine
15 address, mine telephone number and the mine ID number and the
16 name, title and telephone number of the person submitting the
17 plan.
18 (2) A roof control plan which meets the requirements of this
19 act and which includes a plan indicating the roof support to be
20 used and the working procedures to be followed when a cavity is
21 encountered over chocks, prohibiting any person from being
22 exposed to unsupported roof.
23 (3) A ventilation plan, which shall include the complete
24 section and face ventilation control and bleeder systems, and
25 which shall be a separate plan from any conventional or
26 continuous miner section plan. In addition to other requirements
27 of law, the plans for ventilation and dust control shall: state
28 the maximum cutting speed of the machine; state the average
29 tonnage per shift; specify in detail all dust allaying devices
30 and apparatus; specify plans for washing down the roof support
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1 jack and chock line once between every shift, and the return
2 entry as is required to maintain the incombustible content at
3 not less than eighty per cent plus one and four tenths per cent
4 for each one tenth per cent of methane detected in the methane
5 examination within the preceding one hundred twenty days having
6 the highest level detected; specify the minimum amount of air
7 that shall be maintained at all locations on the section, which
8 at the intake shall in no event be less than fifteen thousand
9 CFM; detail all use of water; specify tailgate entries of the
10 section, unless such is demonstrated to be impossible; specify
11 the frequency and location (one of which shall be at the
12 tailgate) of air velocity tests across the face with a
13 calibrated anamometer.
14 (4) Such other requirements as the department may require.
15 (b) After approval of submitted plans has been obtained,
16 additional approval for new longwall and shortwall sections will
17 be necessary, if the initial plan is not complied with. The
18 immediate supervisor of each miner who will be engaged in
19 production on a longwall or shortwall face shall, at the onset
20 of every shift, orally review relevant parts of the roof and
21 ventilation plan. The time of day and the parts of the plan
22 reviewed shall be recorded in a log book kept for such purpose
23 and all entries shall be signed by the supervisor. All plans
24 shall be reviewed periodically, at least once very six months,
25 by the department. The representative of the miners shall be
26 provided all proposed plans and revisions and afforded the
27 opportunity to participate in the development and reviews of
28 plans and to comment prior to any approval.
29 Section 603-A. Chock Recovery Plan.--The operator shall
30 develop a plan for recovery of chocks and/or shield or other
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1 roof support. Such recovery shall not be initiated until a
2 recovery plan is approved by the district mine inspector and
3 department. Proposed revisions thereto shall be submitted in the
4 same manner. The plan shall require that no person be exposed to
5 unsupported roof in the retreating process. The plan shall
6 include the following:
7 (1) A method of transporting the parts to be removed.
8 (2) Face and mother line removal procedures.
9 (3) Adequate plans for the support of the roof area.
10 (4) Recovery procedures.
11 (5) Description of the method to be used for the track
12 transportation of machinery, etc.
13 (6) A procedure for recovery of the hydraulic roof support.
14 (7) Fire protection procedures.
15 (8) Such other requirements as the department shall
16 prescribe.
17 The representative of the miners shall be provided with a copy
18 of the proposed plans and shall be afforded the opportunity to
19 comment prior to any approvals and participate in the reviews.
20 Section 604-A. Communications.--(a) Two-way face
21 communication facilities, approved by the department, shall be
22 provided at the headgate, tailgate, in the stage loader area,
23 and across each longwall section face and shall be audible at
24 all times. If the audibility becomes inadequate, the conveyors
25 shall be disengaged. During the production of coal, longwall
26 section face communication facilities shall be a separate system
27 from the mine communication facilities. Longwall face
28 communication facilities shall be located at a point not more
29 than one hundred feet across the longwall section face. During
30 production of coal, the headgate operator, or other designated
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1 person, shall be continuously available to the longwall section
2 communication and longwall face communication facilities.
3 (b) Two-way section communication facilities shall be
4 provided on each longwall and shortwall working section.
5 (c) All such two-way section communication facilities shall
6 provide clearly distinquishable voice contact over all
7 surrounding noise. Before each working shift, the communications
8 network on a longwall or shortwall section shall be checked to
9 assure that it is fully functional, and operations shall not
10 begin until such communications are fully functional.
11 Section 605-A. Examinations for Methane and Other Hazards.--
12 (a) It shall be the duty of the certified person designated by
13 the mine foreman to supervise a longwall or shortwall section to
14 examine the longwall or shortwall face for hazards at least once
15 every two hours during each coal-producing shift or more often
16 if necessary for safety. The pre-shift and on-shift examination
17 shall be performed by a certified person experienced on the
18 section and shall include an examination of the longwall
19 conveyor, cable carrier and cable for frayed or defective
20 insulation and other defects which could cause electrical shock.
21 Such examinations shall include tests for methane gas and oxygen
22 deficiency and shall be made at intervals of at least one
23 hundred feet between the headgate and tailgate. The examiner's
24 initials, the date and the time shall be recorded at the shall
25 be recorded at the test locations.
26 (b) In addition to the two hour examination, a person
27 qualified to make methane examinations shall make a methane test
28 at intervals of at least every one hundred feet between the
29 headgate and tailgate along the longwall or shortwall face every
30 twenty minutes. The test shall be made twelve inches from the
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1 roof and rib and twelve inches from the bottom of the rib with a
2 methane detector with a probe. The examiner's initials, the date
3 and the time shall be recorded.
4 (c) The department shall require an approval methane monitor
5 to be installed at the headgate on a longwall working section
6 and at intervals of not more than one hundred fifty feet along
7 the pan line. On a shortwall section, an approved methane
8 monitor shall be installed on the continuous miner machine. Such
9 methane monitors shall be kept operative and properly maintained
10 at all times and tested weekly. Such methane monitors shall give
11 warning and automatically de-energize the equipment when the
12 concentration of methane reaches a maximum percentage of not
13 more than 1.0 volume per centum of methane. The electrical
14 equipment shall be immediately de-energized and the electrical
15 power current disconnected from the power supply and remain so
16 until the place is pronounced safe by a certified person.
17 (d) The operator of any mine in which longwall or shortwall
18 mining is performed shall establish and adopt a definite
19 maintenance program designed to keep such methane monitors
20 operative, and a written description of such program shall be
21 available for inspection by interested parties. The methane
22 monitors shall be checked weekly, or more often if necessary,
23 for operating accuracy with a known methane air mixture and
24 calibrated.
25 Section 606-A. Longwall Face Conveyors.--(a) No person
26 shall cross the longwall section face conveyor while such is in
27 operation unless a crossover is provided for a person to cross
28 the face conveyor safely. No person shall ride the longwall
29 section face conveyor; however, a plan may be submitted to the
30 department for approval for the removal of injured persons on
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1 the longwall section face conveyor, provided it is necessary to
2 transport such injured person on a stretcher or backboard.
3 (b) No person shall be permitted to ride belt conveyors
4 unless equipped and authorized for mantrip purposes. Prior to a
5 belt being used as a mantrip, it shall be operated empty at
6 least one complete revolution.
7 (c) Prior to starting a longwall section face conveyor, a
8 telephone paper communication or other effective warning signal
9 shall be sounded to alert all persons across the longwall
10 section working face.
11 (d) Mining along a longwall section shall be conducted to
12 assure a face which is as straight as possible (not bowed). A
13 device no less effective than a laser beam shall be provided on
14 all longwall miners to assure proper alignment of the head and
15 tail stalls and shall be operative at all times. When such a
16 device is not operative, the longwall equipment shall be shut
17 down until the device is operative.
18 (e) All shearer and plow motors used on a longwall section
19 shall be designed and equipped so that the shearer bits or plow
20 cannot begin operating when power is initially applied and
21 subsequent manual action is required to initiate the shearer
22 bits or plow.
23 Section 607-A. Longwall and Shortwall Roof Support.--(a)
24 All longwall and shortwall face roof support units shall be
25 equipped with adjacent unit controls, and at no time shall two
26 adjacent units be moved at the same time.
27 (b) All longwall or shortwall face roof support units
28 installed after the effective date of this section shall be
29 equipped with an outlet to facilitate measurement of the yield
30 pressure. Yield valves of face roof support units shall be
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1 calibrated at least annually to within ten per cent of the yield
2 pressure specified in the approved roof control plan. A legible
3 record of such calibrations of each valve shall be kept on the
4 surface of the mine for at least eighteen months and be
5 available for inspection by interested persons.
6 (c) No person shall be exposed to an unsupported roof. The
7 roof and rib or face shall be tested and any loose material
8 shall be secured or pulled down before repair work is performed
9 in the area of the pan line between the face and the canopy
10 ends, and if the distance between the shield and face exceeds
11 twenty-four inches, temporary supports shall be installed in the
12 area where work is being performed.
13 (d) The space between the aprons or canopies across the face
14 line of a longwall section shall not exceed twenty-four inches
15 at the base. Aprons or canopies shall be maintained as close as
16 possible to the face at all times. Standards for aprons and
17 canopies shall be developed on a mine-to-mine basis and made a
18 part of the roof control plan. Aprons or canopies shall be
19 required to extend over the pan line a minimum of six inches at
20 all times. No person shall be allowed inby the aprons or
21 canopies, except as otherwise specified herein.
22 (e) When a jack, chock or other roof support becomes
23 inoperative or defective, it shall be repaired or replaced
24 immediately.
25 (f) All bleeder taps shall be adequately supported at all
26 times. The bleeder system shall be kept operative at all times.
27 (g) Stiff jacking to slue chocks and jacks shall be
28 prohibited. Crib blocks shall not be used to push the face pan
29 line.
30 (h) Additional roof support, as specified in the roof
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1 control plan, shall be provided in head and tail areas where
2 persons are required to cross a stage loader conveyor or face
3 conveyor.
4 (i) All approved roof control plans for a longwall or
5 shortwall mining section shall include a plan indicating
6 additional roof support in the headgate and tailgate headings
7 installed during the development process through each such
8 intersection from a point, a minimum of eight foot outby the
9 intersection continuously to a point a minimum of eight feet
10 inby the intersection and further shall be installed rib-to-rib
11 (no more than four feet from the rib at any point) in the
12 intersection crosscuts going away from the intersection for a
13 minimum of eight feet. Such additional support shall be secured
14 to the roof on centers of no more than four feet, unless it is
15 determined that there exists a more effective method to provide
16 additional support. If supported by posts, the spacing between
17 the posts shall not exceed four feet. If supported by cribs, the
18 spacing between the cribs shall not exceed eight feet. Spacing
19 may be varied only for providing an adequate escapeway.
20 Section 608-A. Electrical De-energizing Devices.--(a) All
21 longwall section face conveyors shall be provided with lock-out
22 type de-energizing devices to de-energize the electrical power
23 on the longwall section face conveyor; such de-energizing
24 devices shall be provided at intervals of not more than fifty
25 feet when the height of the coal seam is below forty-eight
26 inches and at intervals of more than one hundred feet when the
27 height of the coal seam is above forty-eight inches.
28 (b) The headgate operator on the longwall section face shall
29 be provided with emergency de-energizing devices to de-energize
30 immediately the longwall mining face equipment.
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1 (c) At the beginning of each coal producing shift, all
2 emergency de-energizing devices shall be checked for proper
3 functioning. If an emergency de-energizing device is found to be
4 malfunctioning, mining operation shall not begin until all de-
5 energizing devices are functioning properly. If, during a coal
6 producing shift, a de-energizing device malfunctions, a
7 designated person shall be stationed at the next de-energizing
8 device until such time as the malfunctioning de-energizing
9 device is repaired. At no time shall mining operations progress
10 while more than one de-energizing device is malfunctioning.
11 (d) Longwall section face conveyor electrical circuits shall
12 be designed until the lock-out device is disengaged at the point
13 of initial interruption.
14 (e) All shearer and plow motors used on a longwall section
15 face shall be designed so that the cutting bits on the shearer
16 or plow cannot begin operating when electrical power is
17 initially applied.
18 (f) No person shall perform work in the pan line or on the
19 face side of the pan line unless such equipment is de-energized
20 and locked out.
21 Section 609-A. Cutting and Welding.--(a) Prior to cutting
22 or welding being performed on a longwall or shortwall section
23 face, methane gas examination shall be made by a certified mine
24 foreman, assistant mine foreman or mine examiner. Cutting and
25 welding may be performed only when methane gas is less than one
26 per cent. The certified person shall be continuously present
27 during all cutting and welding operations to supervise and make
28 frequent gas tests.
29 (b) Prior to cutting or welding on a longwall section face
30 pan line, such open bottom-type pan lines shall be jacked up,
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1 blocked and/or properly secured off the bottom a distance of at
2 least ten feet along the face on both sides where such cutting
3 and welding is initiated on such pan lines.
4 (c) All hydraulic line repairs shall be in accordance with
5 the requirements of the manufacturer's specifications. All
6 hydraulic roof support units and associated apparatus on a
7 longwall or shortwall working face shall be visually inspected
8 at least once during each coal production shift by a qualified
9 person. A written record of such examination shall be maintained
10 on the surface. If interior prop pressure in two adjacent units
11 fails to reach the valve for the specified setting load due to
12 hydraulic problems, temporary support shall be installed until
13 such time as necessary repairs are made. Spilled hydraulic fluid
14 shall be immediately cleaned up and removed from the mine.
15 Section 610-A.--Additional Ventilation Requirements.--(a)
16 Check points in bleeder systems established by the department
17 shall be inspected at least once a week and more frequently, as
18 prescribed by the department, when excessive amounts of methane
19 are detected.
20 (b) All bleeder systems shall be adequately ventilated and
21 supported at all times. The entire bleeder system shall be free
22 of water and otherwise maintained at all times for traveling
23 purposes.
24 (c) In addition to the water spraying devices on the shearer
25 or plow, except where clearly demonstrated to the department to
26 be unnecessary to maintain the required dust standard, a
27 nonclogging water spraying system with devices connected to the
28 pan line shall be required on all longwall and shortwall mining
29 sections as hereinafter provided. Such water spraying devices
30 shall be located at appropriate intervals along the pan line to
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1 allow spraying at all times of appropriate plow or shearer
2 operation, and the devices shall have three sprays of water in
3 the general direction of forty-five degrees, and ninety degrees
4 and one hundred thirty-five degrees from the fact, have a
5 constant nozzle pressure of not less than one hundred fifty
6 pounds per square inch, delivering at least fifty gallons per
7 minute, and be activated automatically when the plow or shearer
8 is moved within ten feet of such plow or shearer and remain
9 activated until such plow or shearer passes more than ten feet
10 past such plow or shearer. No water spraying device shall be
11 activated except when the plow or shearer is within ten feet of
12 such device. There shall be continuous sprays located at dumping
13 points and crushes at intervals of not more than ten feet to
14 extend forty feet outby the crusher or feeder.
15 (d) All miners in high risk areas (i.e., tailgate operators
16 and pack movers) shall be supplied with air stream helmets. The
17 use of such helmets shall not be considered as being in lieu of
18 compliance with the direct standards of this act.
19 (e) Dust samples shall be taken continuously during each
20 production shift at no less than two stationary locations along
21 the longwall face when miners are working on a production shift.
22 Such locations shall include:
23 (1) A designated place within forty-eight inches of the tail
24 of the face pan line.
25 (2) One centrally located designated place within forty-
26 eight inches of the face pan line.
27 (f) At such time when they are available, the department
28 shall require continuous readout, machine-mounted dust monitors
29 to be installed on all longwall and shortwall mining equipment.
30 Section 611-A. Escapeways.--(a) An accessible travel route
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1 shall be maintained at all times, including, but not limited to,
2 the headgate and tailgate end of the longwall or shortwall
3 working face. When not so maintained, miners shall be withdrawn
4 outby the affected area to a safe location.
5 (b) A written escape procedure shall be developed for each
6 longwall and shortwall section. The escape procedures shall be
7 developed jointly by the operator, the representative of the
8 miners at the mine and the department. A copy of each such
9 escape procedure shall be posted and maintained at a designated
10 eating place for the longwall and shortwall sections, on the
11 mine bulletin board and on the employes' bulletin board; and a
12 copy shall be made available to any person on request. The
13 immediate supervisor of each minor who will be engaged in any
14 activity on a longwall section shall, at the onset of any such
15 shift, orally review the escape procedure. The name of the
16 persons present and the supervisor reviewing the procedure shall
17 be recorded in the on-shift examination book and signed by the
18 supervisor making the entry.
19 (c) There shall be an adequate number of entries (at least
20 four) during development and retreat mining to provide for an
21 escapeway on both sides of any longwall or shortwall mining
22 section; there shall be no trolley wire, track, belt or any
23 other electrical energized equipment in such escape routes that
24 would hinder escape.
25 Section 612-A. Miscellaneous Provisions.--(a) First-aid
26 equipment is required on each working section and shall be
27 maintained at all times within twenty-five feet of the headgate
28 and tailgate longwall section and in the headgate entry in a
29 shortwall section.
30 (b) Training programs in the hazards of longwall mining
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1 shall be submitted for approval to the department after
2 opportunity for participation and comment by the representative
3 of the miners. The training program shall include escapeway and
4 travel routes, ventilation, roof support, communications, stop
5 controls and signals, location of first-aid equipment, and
6 safety rules for longwall mining.
7 (c) The immediate supervisor of each miner who will be
8 engaged in production on a longwall or shortwall face shall, at
9 the onset of every shift, orally review relevant parts of the
10 roof and ventilation plan. The time of day and parts of the plan
11 reviewed shall be recorded in a log book kept for such purpose
12 and all entries shall be signed by the supervisor.
13 (d) An adequate lighting system shall be established and
14 maintained at all times along the pan line.
15 Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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