This chapter sets mine safety standards, gives the department inspection and enforcement powers, requires mine managers to provide access for inspections, keeps certain filed reports confidential, and provides penalties for noncompliance.
Chapter 20. Mine Operation. Sec. 27.20.005. Purposes. This chapter is intended to provide uniform safety standards for all mining operations conducted within the state; to afford maximum freedom of operation to mining operators while assuring proper working conditions for their employees in regard to mining operations; to insure the protection of the public safety and public interest; and to provide for the conservation of natural resources in the public interest in relating to mining operations. Sec. 27.20.010. Regulations. (a) The commissioner may adopt the regulations and issue the orders considered necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and the regulations shall have the force and effect of law. Regulations and orders authorized by this chapter shall be consistent with its purposes and may include but are not limited to regulations and orders pertaining to and supplementing the subject matter contained in this chapter. The commissioner, in adopting coal mining safety regulations, shall, as nearly as is practicable, conform to the federal regulations applicable to bituminous coal and lignite mine safety. (b) All regulations and orders authorized by this chapter shall be adopted in accordance with AS 44.62 (Administrative Procedure Act. Sec. 27.20.015. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.020. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.021. Inspection of mining operations. The department may enter, inspect, and examine any mining operations in the state and inspect and examine the workings and the machinery belonging to it at all reasonable times, either day or night, but not so as to impede or obstruct the workings of the mining operation more than is necessary. The department may also make inquiry into the condition of the mine, workings, machinery, ventilation, drainage, and methods of lighting or using lights and into methods, things, and appliances connected with and relating to the health and safety of persons in or about the mine. The manager of each mine shall furnish the means necessary for entry, inspection, examination, inquiry, and exit. Sec. 27.20.025. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.030. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.031. Correcting unsafe conditions. If, upon examination, a mine or a portion of it is found to be in an unsafe condition as defined by regulations adopted under this chapter or if proper first aid or mine rescue measures have not been adopted, the department shall at once serve notice in writing upon the owner, lessee, agent, operator, manager, or superintendent of the mine, setting out the nature of the defects that render the mine unsafe or insecure and the place in the mine where the defects exist, and require the repairs necessary to remedy the defects to be made within a specified time. If circumstances require it, the department shall forbid the operation of the mine or portion of it that is declared unsafe or insecure, except for the purpose of making necessary repairs to make the mine safe for employees in it and for the purpose of permitting inspection and investigation of the conditions described in the notice. Sec. 27.20.035. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.040. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.041. Reports to be confidential. The department shall keep confidential, upon the request of the person supplying the information, all reports and information required to be filed by regulations adopted under this chapter and all information deducible from filed information. Except by order of a court of competent jurisdiction, the information shall be revealed only to authorized employees and officers of the state and persons authorized in writing by the persons supplying the information. The information may also be made available to the public in the form of statistical reports if the identity of any particular person or mine operator is not revealed by the reports. Sec. 27.20.045. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.050. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.051. Penalties. A person who fails to comply with this chapter or with a regulation or order adopted under it, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, by imprisonment for not more than one year, or by both. Sec. 27.20.055. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.060. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.] Sec. 27.20.061. Definitions. In this chapter, (1) department means the Department of Natural Resources; (2) mining operation includes all parts of a mine or mineral exploration project in the state and any mining or treatment plant or equipment connected with it, underground or on the surface, that contributes or may contribute to the mining or treatment of ore or other metalliferous or nonmetalliferous mineral product; the term also includes a site of tunneling, shaft-sinking, quarrying, or excavation of rock for other purposes, including but not limited to the construction of water or highway tunnels or drains or of underground sites for the housing of industrial plants or other facilities. Secs. 27.20.065 27.20.480. [Repealed, § 3 ch 75 SLA 1963.]