788
Boreholes.
Smoking,prohibition.
Portable e l e c tric lamps.
Ante, p. 784.
PUBLIC LAW 91-173-DEC. 30, 1969
[83 STAT.
with State laws and regulations, except that such barriers shall not be less than three hundred feet in diameter, unless the Secretary or his authorized representative permits a lesser barrier consistent with the applicable State laws and re<rnlations where such lesser barrier will be adequate to protect against hazards from such wells to the miners in such mine, or unless the Secretary or his authorized representative requires a greater barrier where the depth of the mine, other geologic conditions, or other factors warrant such a greater barrier. (b) Whenever any working place approaches within fifty feet of abandoned areas in the mine as shown by surveys made and certified by a registered engineer or surveyor, or within two hundred feet of any other abandoned areas of the mine which cannot be inspected and which may contain dangerous accumulations of water or gas, or within two hundred feet of any workings of an adjacent mine, a borehole or boreholes shall be drilled to a distance of at least twenty feet in advance of the working face of such working place and shall be continually maintained to a distance of at least ten feet in advance of the advancing working face. When there is more than one borehole, they shall be drilled sufficiently close to each other to insure that the advancing working face will not accidentally hole through into abandoned areas or adjacent mines. Boreholes shall also be drilled not more than eight feet apart in the rib of such working place to a distance of at least twenty feet and at an angle of forty-five degrees. Such rib holes shall be drilled in one or both ribs of such working place as may be necessary for adequate protection of miners in such place. (c) No person shall smoke, carry smoking materials, matches, or lighters underground, or smoke in or around oil houses, explosives magazines, or other surface areas where such practice may cause a fire or explosion. The operator shall institute a program, approved by the Secretary, to insure that any person entering the underground area of the mine does not carry smoking materials, matches, or lighters. (d) Persons underground shall use only permissible electric lamps approved by the Secretary for portable illumination. Xo open flame shall be permitted in the underground area of any coal mine, except as permitted under section 311(d) of this title. (e) Within nine months after the operative date of this title, the Secretary shall propose the standards under which all workinn- places in a mine shall be illuminated by permissible lighting, ^yithin eighteen months after the promulgation of such standards, while persons are working in such places. (f)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, at least two separate and distinct trayelable passageways which are maintained to insure passage at all times of any person, including disabled persons, and which are to be designated as escapeways, at least one of which is ventilated with intake air, shall be provided from each working section continuous to the surface escape drift opening, or continuous to the escape shaft or slope facilities to the surface, as appropriate, and shall be maintained in safe condition and properly marked. Mine openings shall be adequately protected to prevent the entrance into the underground area of the mine of surface fires, fumes, smoke, and flood water. Escape facilities approved by the Secretary or his authorized representative, properly maintained and frequently tested, shall be present at or in each escape shaft or slope to allow all persons, including disabled persons, to escape quickly to the surface in the event of an emergency. (2) When new coal mines are opened, not more than twenty miners shall be allowed at any one time in any mine until a connection has
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