Kentucky Administrative Regulations › Title 805 - ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT CABINET › Chapter 8 - Sanctions and Penalties › Section 805 KAR 8:030 - Criteria for the imposition and enforcement of sanctions against certified miners

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 1, July 1, 2024
RELATES TO: KRS 351.1041, 351.120, 351.194, 352.010-
				352.540
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.