Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 3, September 1, 2024
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 351.070(13) authorizes
the Secretary of the Energy and Environment Cabinet to promulgate
administrative regulations he deems necessary and suitable for the proper
administration of KRS Chapter 351. KRS 351.025(1)(a) requires the Department
for Natural Resources to promulgate administrative regulations that establish
comprehensive criteria for the imposition and enforcement of sanctions against
certified miners whose intentional violation of, or order to violate, mine
safety laws places miners in imminent danger of serious injury or death. This
administrative regulation establishes the criteria for the revocation,
suspension, or probation of a miner's certificate upon an adjudication by the
Mine Safety Review Commission that a miner has committed this type of
violation.
Section 1.
(1) If a certified miner commits a first
offense, as adjudicated by the Kentucky Mine Safety Review Commission, the
commission may revoke or suspend the miner's certificate, in accordance with
KRS 351.194(5) and (6), or it may probate the miner's certificate for a period
of no greater than ten (10) working days.
(2) If a certified miner's certificate is
revoked pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the miner may apply to the
Division of Mine Safety for the reinstatement of his certificate, after the
revocation period has ended, and after he has retaken and passed the requisite
examination required for the certification. The Division of Mine Safety may
grant or deny the application in accordance with KRS Chapter 351 and the
administrative regulations promulgated under that chapter.
(3) If a certified miner's certificate is
suspended, pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, it shall be
automatically reinstated at the end of the specified period of suspension. A
suspension imposed by the commission may be for nonconsecutive days.
(4) If a certified miner is placed on
probation, the Mine Safety Review Commission may impose the terms of the
probation, and it may impose penalties for the violation of the terms of
probation, in accordance with KRS 351.025(1)(a) and subsection (1) of this
section. If the certified miner satisfies the terms of his probation, the
probation shall automatically expire at the end of the probationary
period.
(5) If a certified miner,
who has been adjudicated by the Mine Safety Review Commission to have committed
a first or subsequent offense, holds more than one (1) certificate, the
commission may revoke, suspend, or probate some or all of the miner's
certificates.
(6)
(a) A certified miner, who has been
adjudicated by the Mine Safety Review Commission to have committed a first or
subsequent offense, and who is hourly and not a foreman, may request the
commission to consider whether the miner:
1.
Was ordered by a foreman or other superior to commit a violation; or
2. Acted solely on his own accord.
(b) If requested by the miner, the
commission shall take into consideration the factors in paragraph (a) of this
subsection when determining the penalty.
(c) If the commission determines that the
miner was ordered by a foreman to violate the mine safety law, the commission
shall state whether and why that fact mitigated the severity of the penalty it
imposed.
