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Kentucky · Snapshot 09/05/2026

KRS 351.010: Definitions for chapter -- Applicability.

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  1. KRS Chapter 351

(1) As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:

(a) "Adulterated specimen" means a specimen containing a substance that is not a

normal constituent or containing an endogenous substance at a concentration

that is not a normal physiological concentration;

(b) "Approved" means that a device, apparatus, equipment, or machinery, or

practice employed in the mining of coal has been approved by the

commissioner of the Department for Natural Resources;

(c) "Assistant mine foreman" means a certified person designated to assist the

mine foreman in the supervision of a portion or the whole of a mine or of the

persons employed therein;

(d) "Commercial mine" means any coal mine from which coal is mined for sale,

commercial use, or exchange. This term shal l in no instance be construed to

include a mine where coal is produced for own use;

(e) "Commission" means the Mine Safety Review Commission created by KRS

351.1041;

(f) "Commissioner" means commissioner of the Department for Natural

Resources;

(g) "Department" means the Department for Natural Resources;

(h) "Drift" means an opening through strata or coal seams with opening grades

sufficient to permit coal to be hauled therefrom or which is used for the

purpose of ventilation, drainage, ingress, egress, and other purposes in

connection with the mining of coal;

(i) "Excavations and workings" means the excavated portions of a mine;

(j) "Fire boss" (often referred to as mine examiner) means a person certified as a

mine foreman or assistant mine foreman who is designated by management to

examine a mine or part of a mine for explosive gas or other dangers before a

shift crew enters;

(k) "Gassy mine." All mines shall be classified as gassy or gaseous;

(l) "Illicit substances" includes prescription drugs used illegally or in excess of

therapeutic levels as well as illegal drugs;

(m) "Intake air" means air that has not passed through the last w orking place of

the split or by the unsealed entrances to abandoned workings and by analysis

contains not less than nineteen and one -half percent (19.5%) oxygen, no

dangerous quantities of flammable gas, and no harmful amounts of poisonous

gas or dust;

(n) "Licensee" means any owner, operator, lessee, corporation, partnership, or

other person who procures a license from the department to operate a coal

mine;

(o) "Medical review officer" or "MRO" means a licensed physician with

knowledge of substance abuse d isorders, laboratory testing, chain of custody,

collection procedures, and the ability to verify positive, confirmed test results.

The MRO shall possess the necessary medical training to interpret and

evaluate a positive test result in relation to the pers on's medical history or any

other relevant biomedical information;

(p) "Mine" means any open pit or any underground workings from which coal is

produced for sale, exchange, or commercial use, and all shafts, slopes, drifts,

or inclines leading thereto, and includes all buildings and equipment, above or

below the surface of the ground, used in connection with the workings.

Workings that are adjacent to each other and under the same management, but

which are administered as distinct units, shall be considered a separate mine;

(q) "Mine foreman" means a certified person whom the licensee or superintendent

places in charge of the workings of the mine and of the persons employed

therein;

(r) "Mine manager" means a certified or noncertified person whom the license e

places in charge of a mine or mines and whose duties include but are not

limited to operations at the mine or mines and supervision of personnel when

qualified to do so;

(s) "Open-pit mine" shall include open excavations and open -cut workings,

including but not limited to auger operations and highwall mining systems for

the extraction of coal. However, excavation of refuse from a coarse coal

refuse fill for reprocessing of the refuse, which is permitted and bonded under

KRS Chapter 350 and is regulated by the Mine Safety and Health

Administration, shall not be required to obtain a license under this chapter;

(t) "Operator" means the licensee, owner, lessee, or other person who operates or

controls a coal mine;

(u) "Permissible" refers to any equipment, dev ice, or explosive that has been

approved by the United States Bureau of Mines, the Mining Enforcement and

Safety Administration, or the Mine Safety and Health Administration and that

meets all requirements, restrictions, exceptions, limitations, and condit ions

attached to the classification by the approving agency;

(v) "Preshift examination" means the examination of a mine or any portion

thereof where miners are scheduled to work or travel, which shall be

conducted not more than three (3) hours before any oncoming shift;

(w) "Return air" means air that has passed through the last active working place

on each split, or air that has passed through abandoned, inaccessible, or

pillared workings;

(x) "Serious physical injury" means an injury which has a reasonabl e potential to

cause death;

(y) "Shaft" means a vertical opening through the strata that is used in connection

with the mining of coal, for the purpose of ventilation or drainage, or for

hoisting men, coal, or materials;

(z) "Slope" means an inclined opening used for the same purpose as a shaft;

(aa) "Superintendent" means the person who, on behalf of the licensee, has

immediate supervision of one (1) or more mines;

(ab) "Supervisory personnel" means a person certified under the provisions of this

chapter to assist in the supervision of a portion or the whole of the mine or of

the persons employed therein;

(ac) "Division" means the Division of Mine Safety;

(ad) "Director" means the director of the Division of Mine Safety;

(ae) "Probation" means the status of a certification or license issued by the

Division of Mine Safety that conditions the validity of the certification or

license upon compliance with orders of the Mine Safety Review Commission;

(af) "Final order of the commission" means an order which has n ot been appealed

to the Franklin Circuit Court within thirty (30) days of entry, or an order

affirming the commission's order that has been entered by any court within

the Commonwealth and for which all appeals have been exhausted;

(ag) "Emergency medical technician" has the same meaning as in KRS 311A.010;

and

(ah) "Mine emergency technician" means a person that holds a current surface or

underground miner's certification in the Commonwealth and that has been

certified as having met all the requirements pr escribed by the Division of

Mine Safety for that certification.

(2) Except as the context otherwise requires, this chapter applies only to commercial

coal mines.

(3) The definitions in KRS 352.010 apply also to this chapter, unless the context

requires otherwise.

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