# KRS § 351.010: 351.010 Definitions for chapter -- Applicability > Kentucky · Statutes · In force URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.010 ## Section - **Citation:** KRS § 351.010 - **Heading:** 351.010 Definitions for chapter -- Applicability - **Jurisdiction:** Kentucky - **Kind:** Statutes - **Status:** In force - **Text as of:** August 14, 2026 - **Source:** Compiled text - **Location:** KY Code / Title XXVIII / Chapter 351 / Section 351.010 ## Text 351.010 Definitions for chapter -- Applicability. (1) As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise: (a) "Adulterated specimen" means a specimen containing a substance that is not a normal constituent or containing an endogenous substance at a concentration that is not a normal physiological concentration; (b) "Approved" means that a device, apparatus, equipment, or machinery, or practice employed in the mining of coal has been approved by the commissioner of the Department for Natural Resources; (c) "Assistant mine foreman" means a certified person designated to assist the mine foreman in the supervision of a portion or the whole of a mine or of the persons employed therein; (d) "Commercial mine" means any coal mine from which coal is mined for sale, commercial use, or exchange. This term shall in no instance be construed to include a mine where coal is produced for own use; (e) "Commission" means the Mine Safety Review Commission created by KRS 351.1041; (f) "Commissioner" means commissioner of the Department for Natural Resources; (g) "Department" means the Department for Natural Resources; (h) "Drift" means an opening through strata or coal seams with opening grades sufficient to permit coal to be hauled therefrom or which is used for the purpose of ventilation, drainage, ingress, egress, and other purposes in connection with the mining of coal; (i) "Excavations and workings" means the excavated portions of a mine; (j) "Fire boss" (often referred to as mine examiner) means a person certified as a mine foreman or assistant mine foreman who is designated by management to examine a mine or part of a mine for explosive gas or other dangers before a shift crew enters; (k) "Gassy mine." All mines shall be classified as gassy or gaseous; (l) "Illicit substances" includes prescription drugs used illegally or in excess of therapeutic levels as well as illegal drugs; (m) "Intake air" means air that has not passed through the last working place of the split or by the unsealed entrances to abandoned workings and by analysis contains not less than nineteen and one-half percent (19.5%) oxygen, no dangerous quantities of flammable gas, and no harmful amounts of poisonous gas or dust; (n) "Licensee" means any owner, operator, lessee, corporation, partnership, or other person who procures a license from the department to operate a coal mine; (o) "Medical review officer" or "MRO" means a licensed physician with knowledge of substance abuse disorders, laboratory testing, chain of custody, collection procedures, and the ability to verify positive, confirmed test results. The MRO shall possess the necessary medical training to interpret and evaluate a positive test result in relation to the person's medical history or any other relevant biomedical information; (p) "Mine" means any open pit or any underground workings from which coal is produced for sale, exchange, or commercial use, and all shafts, slopes, drifts, or inclines leading thereto, and includes all buildings and equipment, above or below the surface of the ground, used in connection with the workings. Workings that are adjacent to each other and under the same management, but which are administered as distinct units, shall be considered a separate mine; (q) "Mine foreman" means a certified person whom the licensee or superintendent places in charge of the workings of the mine and of the persons employed therein; (r) "Mine manager" means a certified or noncertified person whom the licensee places in charge of a mine or mines and whose duties include but are not limited to operations at the mine or mines and supervision of personnel when qualified to do so; an" means a certified person whom the licensee or superintendent places in charge of the workings of the mine and of the persons employed therein; (r) "Mine manager" means a certified or noncertified person whom the licensee places in charge of a mine or mines and whose duties include but are not limited to operations at the mine or mines and supervision of personnel when qualified to do so; (s) "Open-pit mine" shall include open excavations and open-cut workings, including but not limited to auger operations and highwall mining systems for the extraction of coal. However, excavation of refuse from a coarse coal refuse fill for reprocessing of the refuse, which is permitted and bonded under KRS Chapter 350 and is regulated by the Mine Safety and Health Administration, shall not be required to obtain a license under this chapter; (t) "Operator" means the licensee, owner, lessee, or other person who operates or controls a coal mine; (u) "Permissible" refers to any equipment, device, or explosive that has been approved by the United States Bureau of Mines, the Mining Enforcement and Safety Administration, or the Mine Safety and Health Administration and that meets all requirements, restrictions, exceptions, limitations, and conditions attached to the classification by the approving agency; (v) "Preshift examination" means the examination of a mine or any portion thereof where miners are scheduled to work or travel, which shall be conducted not more than three (3) hours before any oncoming shift; (w) "Return air" means air that has passed through the last active working place on each split, or air that has passed through abandoned, inaccessible, or pillared workings; (x) "Serious physical injury" means an injury which has a reasonable potential to cause death; (y) "Shaft" means a vertical opening through the strata that is used in connection with the mining of coal, for the purpose of ventilation or drainage, or for hoisting men, coal, or materials; (z) "Slope" means an inclined opening used for the same purpose as a shaft; (aa) "Superintendent" means the person who, on behalf of the licensee, has immediate supervision of one (1) or more mines; (ab) "Supervisory personnel" means a person certified under the provisions of this chapter to assist in the supervision of a portion or the whole of the mine or of the persons employed therein; (ac) "Division" means the Division of Mine Safety; (ad) "Director" means the director of the Division of Mine Safety; (ae) "Probation" means the status of a certification or license issued by the Division of Mine Safety that conditions the validity of the certification or license upon compliance with orders of the Mine Safety Review Commission; (af) "Final order of the commission" means an order which has not been appealed to the Franklin Circuit Court within thirty (30) days of entry, or an order affirming the commission's order that has been entered by any court within the Commonwealth and for which all appeals have been exhausted; (ag) "Emergency medical technician" has the same meaning as in KRS 311A.010; and (ah) "Mine emergency technician" means a person that holds a current surface or underground miner's certification in the Commonwealth and that has been certified as having met all the requirements prescribed by the Division of Mine Safety for that certification. (2) Except as the context otherwise requires, this chapter applies only to commercial coal mines. (3) The definitions in KRS 352.010 apply also to this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise. ## Nearby sections - [KRS § 351.010 351.010 Definitions for chapter -- Applicability](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.010.md) - [KRS § 351.020 351.020 Commissioner of Department for Natural Resources -- Functions](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.020.md) - [KRS § 351.025 351.025 Duties of department relating to mine safety -- Administrative regulations](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.025.md) - [KRS § 351.030 351.030 Hearings before department -- Petition for intervention](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.030.md) - [KRS § 351.040 351.040 Action to vacate order of department -- Appeal](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.040.md) - [KRS § 351.060 351.060 Qualifications of director of Division of Mine Safety](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.060.md) - [KRS § 351.070 351.070 Duties of the commissioner -- Division of Mine Safety -- Secretary may promulgate administrative regulations -- Family liaison -- Civil monetary penalties](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.070.md) - [KRS § 351.075 351.075 Exceptions to mandatory mine safety standards](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.075.md) - [KRS § 351.080 351.080 Offices of mine inspectors](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.080.md) - [KRS § 351.090 351.090 Mine safety specialists -- Appointment -- Qualifications -- Oath and bond -- Background check](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.090.md) - [KRS § 351.101 351.101 Declaration of legislative finding of fact](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.101.md) - [KRS § 351.102 351.102 Certificate of competency and qualification or permit as trainee required -- Proof of drug- and alcohol-free status to be submitted -- Examinations -- Hearing -- Appeals](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.102.md) - [KRS § 351.103 351.103 Eligibility of mining specialists to work as miners](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.103.md) - [KRS § 351.106 351.106 Education and training program -- Alcohol and substance abuse training and education -- Retraining and reeducation requirements -- Administrative regulations -- Implementation of program for training and examination -- Records](https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.106.md) --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/statutes/STATE_KY_TXXVIII_C351_S351.010. 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