Section 220.10  Introduction and Definitions

 

a)         Adoption of Regulations-Scope and Authority.

            This Part sets forth mandatory safety standards for bituminous, anthracite and lignite surface coal mines, including open pit and auger mines, preparation facilities and all other surface work areas of underground and surface coal mines.  In adopting this part, the Mining Board implements The Coal Mining Act [225 ILCS 705/2.12 and 38.2].  None of these rules provide for any protection at a level which is below that established in the federal standards for surface installation health and safety.

 

b)         Definitions.

 

            For the purposes of  this Part the term:

 

            "Active workings" means any place in a coal mine where miners are normally required to work or travel;

 

            "American Table of Distances" means the February 1986 edition of the "The American Table of Distances for Storage of Explosives" published by the Institute of Makers of Explosives Suite 310, 1120 Nineteenth Street N.W., Washington D.C. 20036-2605 (The reference does not include any later amendments or editions.);

 

            "Barricaded" means to obstruct passage of persons, vehicles, or flying materials;

 

            "Berm" means a pile or mound of material capable of restraining a vehicle;

 

            "Blasting agent" means any material or mixture, consisting of fuel and oxidizer, that is intended for blasting and not otherwise defined as an explosive; if the finished product, as mixed for use or shipment, cannot be detonated by means of a number 8 test blasting cap when unconfined. A number 8 test blasting cap is one containing 2 grams of a mixture of 80 percent mercury fulminate and 20 percent potassium chlorate, or a blasting cap of equivalent strength. An equivalent strength cap comprises 0.40-0.45 grams of PETN base charge pressed in an aluminum shell with bottom thickness not to exceed 0.03 of an inch, to a specific gravity of not less than 1.4 g/cc., and primed with standard weights of primer depending on the manufacturer.

 

            "Blasting Area" means the area near blasting operations in which concussion or flying material can reasonably be expected to cause injury;

 

            "Blasting cap" means a detonator containing a charge of detonating compound, which is ignited by electric current, or the spark of a fuse.

 

            "Blasting Circuit" means electric circuits used to fire electric detonators or to ignite an igniter cord by means of an electric starter;

 

            "Blasting switch" means a switch used to connect a power source to a blasting circuit;

 

            "Box-type magazine" means a small, portable magazine used to store limited quantities of explosives or detonators for short periods of time in locations at the mine which are convenient to the blasting sites at which they will be used;

 

            "Capped fuse" means a length of safety fuse to which a detonator has been attached;

 

            "Capped primer" means a package or cartridge of explosives which is specifically designed to transmit detonation to other explosives and which contains a detonator;

 

            "Certified" as applied to any person, means a person certified as a Surface Mine Supervisor by the Mining Board to perform duties prescribed by these rules, and the laws of the State of Illinois;

 

            "Circuit breaker" means a mechanical switching device capable of carrying electrical current under normal circuit conditions and also, carrying for a specified time, and breaking currents under overload, undercurrent and short circuit conditions;

 

            "Connection box" means a boxlike enclosure with a removable lid/plate/door or other means of access within which electric connections between sections of cable can be made;

 

            "Department" means the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Illinois;

 

            "Detonating cord" or "detonating fuse" means a flexible cord containing a core of high explosive;

 

            "Director" means the Director of the Department of Natural Resources of the State of Illinois;

 

            "Electrical grounding" means to connect with the ground to make the earth part of the circuit;

 

            "Explosive" means any chemical compound, mixture, or device the primary or common purpose of which is to function by explosion.  Explosives include, but are not limited to black powder, dynamite, nitroglycerin, fulminate, ammonium nitrate when mixed with a hydrocarbon, and other blasting agents;

 

            "Flash point" means the minimum temperature at which sufficient vapor is released by a liquid or solid to form a flammable vapor-air mixture at atmospheric pressure;

 

            "Fuse" means an electrical overload protective device with a circuit opening fusible part that is heated and severed by the passage of overcurrent through it;

 

            "High-voltage" means more than one thousand (1,000) volts;

 

            "Low-voltage" means up to and including six hundred sixty (660) volts ;

 

            "Medium-voltage" means voltages from six hundred sixty-one (661) to one thousand (1,000) volts;

 

            "Mining Board" means the State Mining Board in the Department of Natural Resources, Office of Mines and Minerals created by Section 5.04 of the Civil Administrative Code of Illinois [20 ILCS 5/5.04].

 

            "Misfires" means the complete or partial failure of a blasting charge to explode as planned;

 

            "Mobile electric equipment" means equipment capable of moving under its own power;

 

            "Portable electric equipment" means equipment that is actually moved or can be readily moved from one place to another. Some illustrative examples include:

 

            electric hand tools;

 

            electric pumps and air compressors which receive power through a portable cable and are designed to be moved from

 

            place to place in a strip pit;

 

            electric welders which receive power through a portable cable and are designed to be moved from place to place in a preparation plant or on board a unit of mobile electric equipment; and

 

            a skid mounted substation which receives its power

 

            through a portable cable;

 

            "Primer" or "Booster" means a package or cartridge of explosives which is designed specifically to transmit detonation to other explosives and which does not contain a detonator;

 

            "Qualified person" means as the context requires;

 

            "Rated" is a term that, applied to an operating characteristic, indicates the designated limit or limits of the characteristic for application under specified conditions;

 

            "Resistance grounded systems" means electrical circuits that are grounded through impedance, the principal element of which is resistance;

 

            "Roll protection" means a framework, safety canopy, or similar protection for the operator when equipment overturns;

 

            "Safety can" means an approved container, of not over five (5) gallons capacity, having a spring-closing lid and spout cover;

 

            "Safety fuse" means a train of powder enclosed in cotton, jute yarn, and waterproofing compounds which burns at a uniform rate; used for firing a cap containing the detonating compound which in turn sets off the explosive charge;

 

            "Safety switch" means a sectionalizing switch that also provides shunt protection in blasting circuits between the blasting switch and the shot area.

 

            "Stationary electric equipment" means equipment that is installed in a fixed location and is wired in a permanent manner. Some illustrative examples of stationary electric equipment include:

 

            pendant type lighting fixtures even though the fixtures

 

            are suspended from the ceiling by a portable cord;

 

            electric welders which are installed in a fixed location

 

            and are wired with a permanent wiring method;

 

            electric pumps which are installed in a fixed location in

 

            a preparation plant and are wired with a permanent wiring

 

            method; and

 

            a skid mounted substation which is installed and grounded

 

            in a permanent manner and receives its power directly from

 

            an overhead power line.

 

(Source:  Amended at 13 Ill. Reg. 5955, effective April 18, 1989)