351.030 Hearings before department -- Petition for intervention

351.030 Hearings before department -- Petition for intervention.

(1) All administrative hearings conducted by the department shall be conducted in

accordance with KRS Chapter 13B and this section. Following the hearing, the

department shall decide each matter in controversy. No person shall be discharged

or otherwise discriminated against by his or her employer for testifying, or for his

failure to testify, at these hearings.

(2) The executor or administrator of a deceased miner's estate, or his or her designee, in

the case of a fatality, miners that are injured as a result of an accident, and miners

that are significantly affected by the conduct that gave rise to a disciplinary

proceeding shall be granted the right of intervention in the penalty phase of that

proceeding. The petition for intervention shall be made in accordance with KRS

13B.060(3). All hearings before the Mine Safety Review Commission shall be open

proceedings. Any party with pertinent information regarding a mine accident may

submit that information directly to the division's chief accident investigator.