Section 690-350 - Equipment approvals(a) Departmental discretion.--The department may require the approval of all underground equipment, surface substations feeding power underground, fans and personnel conveyances (elevators, man hoists and escape capsules) connected to an underground mine. All elevators at the time of installation shall meet the criteria established in the current American Society of Mechanical Engineers A17.1 Safety Code, pertaining to special application elevators, mine elevators, connected to an underground mine. The equipment shall be grouped as follows for the purposes of approval: (1) Bituminous face equipment (BFE)--permissible equipment.(2) Bituminous open type equipment (BOTE)--nonpermissible equipment.(3) Bituminous power distribution equipment (BPDE)--nonpermissible power equipment.(4) Surface installations: (i) Mine power substations (MM-S).(iii) Personnel conveyances (MM-P).(5) Minewide monitoring systems (MWMS).(b) Limitation of approvals.--The approvals under subsection (a) are specifically limited by the provision that permissible equipment approved by the MSHA Approval and Certification Center that is not in conflict with and which meets the requirements of this act shall be deemed to be approved by the department.(c) Procedures for approval.--The procedures for approval of underground and surface equipment are as follows:(1) Approvals shall be limited to electrical systems, safety systems required by this act and specifications developed by the task force established by the parties and provided for under subsection (d).(2) Newly purchased permissible equipment shall be constructed in a fashion as to provide accessibility for inspection of permissible components.(3) The evaluation to determine whether the equipment should be approved shall be based strictly on the specific criteria set forth in this act and the performance specifications under subsection (d). In the absence of performance specifications for equipment or specific provisions of this act addressing such equipment and if the department considers that the equipment as designed or built poses an unacceptable risk to the health or safety of miners, the following procedure shall be applied:(i) The department, in a written report, shall specify the unacceptable risk, based upon objective ascertainable data and criteria approved by a nationally recognized standards organization.(ii) The department shall convene a task force to develop specifications for the equipment in an expedited fashion.(iii) If the task force is unable to develop applicable performance standards within 75 days, the department may continue to withhold approval based upon noncompliance with a mandatory safety standard of a nationally recognized standards organization that has been shown to be appropriate for mining.(4) For new equipment, the prototype of which has not been previously approved, a manufacturer or operator shall submit to the department an application requesting approval. The request for approval shall include four schematics, a description and any other pertinent information for the equipment.(5) The application under paragraph (4) shall be reviewed within 15 working days after receipt. Within the 15-day period, the department shall communicate verbally and in writing to the applicant all discrepancies between the application and the equipment performance specifications. If the department does not communicate to the applicant within the 15 days as described in this paragraph, the application shall be deemed approved. If the applicant submits additional schematics or information, the department shall have an additional 15 days to communicate to the applicant concerning such additional schematics or information.(6) When the application review under paragraph (5) is complete, an inspector shall be assigned to evaluate the equipment and the operator or manufacturer notified of that assignment. The equipment inspection shall be scheduled within 20 working days of the departmental inspector being notified. If the inspector gets to the inspection site and the equipment is not in conformance with the specific criteria set forth in this act and the performance specifications described in this section, the time frame shall stop. When the equipment has been modified to conform with the specific criteria set forth in this act and the performance specifications, the operator shall notify the department for a reinspection, and the department shall schedule the reinspection within ten working days. If the equipment is in conformance with the specific criteria set out in this act and the performance specifications described in this section, but the schematics are not, the equipment can be used, but the operator or manufacturer shall have ten working days to resubmit the corrected schematics or the equipment shall be taken out of service.(7) For previously approved equipment that an operator proposes to modify, the approval procedure established for new equipment that has not been previously approved is to be applicable. The approval process shall address only the modification that has been made and shall not require changes to the components of the equipment that were initially approved. For the purpose of this paragraph, modification shall not include changes to equipment in which components are changed and replaced with components that provide equivalent protection. Modifications subject to approval shall include only those changes to equipment which affect whether the equipment still satisfies the applicable performance specifications described in this section or set out specifically in this act.(8) Approved equipment and repaired equipment that has not been modified are outside the scope of the approval process and shall be handled under the mine inspection program of the department.(9) Any direction to take corrective action shall be in writing and shall specify the provisions of this act or the performance specifications upon which the department relies.(10) The department has the right to inspect equipment to determine that it is in compliance with applicable requirements of this act and the equipment performance specifications. The inspections shall be performed in the normal course of inspecting the mine and shall, to the extent feasible, minimize the disruption of production.(11) New or rebuilt equipment that has been approved, but has not been inspected by an approval inspector, shall be inspected by a mine electrical inspector. The operator shall give reasonable notice to the mine electrical inspector for an inspection prior to the equipment entering the mine. The inspection shall be performed in the normal course of inspecting the mine and shall, to the extent feasible, minimize the disruption of production.(d) Written criteria for equipment performance specifications.--A task force shall be established to develop written criteria for equipment performance specifications. (1) The task force shall be comprised of equal numbers of representatives, not less than two nor more than four, selected by the department and the major trade association representing coal operators in this Commonwealth. Final consensus on performance specifications shall be determined by a majority of the task force.(2) The task force shall develop performance specifications for approval of equipment and reserves the right, for just cause, to add or delete from the developed equipment performance specifications.(3) All equipment performance specifications approved pursuant to the stipulation of settlement shall remain in effect unless and until they are modified, suspended or revoked by this act, regulations promulgated under this act or the equipment performance specifications task force.(e) Definitions.--As used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection: "Permissible equipment." As applied to electric face equipment, all electrically operated equipment taken into or used in or by the last open crosscut of an entry or a room of any coal mine the electrical parts of which equipment, including, but not limited to, associated electrical equipment, components and accessories, are designed, constructed and installed in accordance with the specifications of MSHA to assure that the equipment will not cause a mine explosion or mine fire, and the other features of which are designed and constructed, in accordance with the specifications of the Department of Environmental Protection, to prevent, to the greatest extent possible, other accidents in the use of the equipment.
2008, July 7, P.L. 654, No. 55, §350, effective in 180 days [ 1/5/2009].