KRS 351.315: Licensing of blaster -- Training requirements.

(1) No person shall detonate explosives in any blasting operation in which more than

five (5) pounds of explosives or the equivalent are used in a single charge or in

which less than five (5) pounds of explosives are used by a regular user, excluding

blasting for agriculture and underground coal, unless he is licensed by the

department. The department shall issue a license to use explosives to any person

who:

(a) Has worked in blasting operations for at least twenty -four (24) months under

the immediate supervision of an experienced blaster or has worked in blasting

operations for twelve (12) months and has completed a formal training

program approved by the department; and

(b) Has passed an examination prescribed by the department which shall test the

examinee's practice of blasting operations and the storage, moving, handling,

and detonation of explosives.

(2) Application for license shall be in writing upon a form furnished by the department

and shall be accompanied by a photograph of the applicant. If the appl icant is

successful in passing the examination, a license indicating his competency to

detonate explosives shall be issued upon the payment of a fee of twenty -five dollars

($25).

(3) Any person who is a licensed blaster in another state where the qualifica tions

prescribed at the time of licensing were, in the opinion of the commissioner, equal

to those prescribed in the Commonwealth at the date of application, and where

reciprocal licensing privileges satisfactory to the department are granted to licensees

of the Commonwealth, may be granted a license without an examination, upon the

payment of a fee.

(4) Each blaster shall be required to renew his license every three (3) years by

application to the department, which application shall be accompanied by a fee and

subject to the following training requirements:

(a) Each applicant for renewal of a Kentucky blaster's license shall furnish proof

that during the preceding three (3) years, the blaster annually has attended a

minimum of eight (8) hours of department -approved blaster's training. No

more than four (4) hours of the annual blaster training may be attributed to

attending a conference unless otherwise approved by the department; and

(b) Each applicant for renewal of a limited Kentucky blaster's license shall furnish

proof that during the preceding three (3) years, the blaster has attended a

minimum of four (4) hours of blaster's training approved by the department.

(5) The department shall not issue a blaster's license to any person not entitled to

transport or receive explosives under existing federal law, including persons who:

(a) Are less than twenty-one (21) years of age; or

(b) Have been convicted in any court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a

term exceeding one (1) year, unless the conviction has been specifically

exempted by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms or

its successor.

(6) All fees provided in this section shall be set by the department by administrative

regulation; however, the fee for an application shall not exceed forty dollars ($40),

the fee for license renewal shall not exceed sixty dollars ($60), and the fee for

reciprocal licensing shall not exceed sixty dollars ($60).

(7) The commissioner may suspend any license for due cause, but no license may be

revoked until the licensee has been granted adequate opportunity for a hearing

before the cabinet's Office of Administrative Hearings.