Pennsylvania Act 1957-362 — EXPLOSIVES USE REGULATION LAW

Act text

EXPLOSIVES USE REGULATION LAW
                 Act of Jul. 10, 1957, P.L. 685, No. 362              Cl. 35
                                  AN ACT

     Regulating the use of explosives in certain blasting operations;
        requiring examination and licensing of certain explosives'
        detonators and prescribing the fee thereof; and conferring
        powers and imposing duties on the Department of Labor and
        Industry.

        Compiler's Note:  Section 2 of Reorganization Plan No.8 of
            1981 provided that all the functions, powers and duties
            of the Department of Labor and Industry as set forth in
            Act 362 are transferred to the Department of
            Environmental Resources.

        The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
     hereby enacts as follows:

        Section 1.  Definitions.--As used in this act--
        (1)  "Explosives" mean any chemical compound or other
     substance intended for the purpose of producing an explosion, or
     that contains oxidizing and combustible units or other
     ingredients in such proportions or quantities that ignition by
     detonation may produce an explosion, capable of causing injury
     to persons or damage to property.
        (2)  "Blasting Operation" means the use of explosives in the
     blasting of stone, rock, ore or any other natural formation, or
     in any construction or demolition work in which six or more
     employes are engaged, but shall not include its use in
     agricultural operations or in anthracite or bituminous coal
     mines or strip mining operations.
        (3)  "Blaster" means a person licensed to fire or detonate
     explosives in blasting operations.
        Section 2.  Examination and Licensing of Blasters; Fees.--No
     person shall detonate explosives in any blasting operation
     unless he has passed an examination, prescribed by the
     Department of Labor and Industry, which shall test the
     examinee's skill and knowledge of the principles and practice of
     blasting operations and the storage, moving, handling and
     detonation of explosives. Application for examination as a
     blaster shall be in writing upon a form furnished by the
     department and shall be accompanied by a fee of ten dollars
     ($10). If the applicant is successful in passing the
     examination, a license indicating his competency to detonate
     explosives shall be issued upon the payment of an additional fee
     of five dollars ($5). Anything hereinbefore to the contrary
     notwithstanding, the department shall issue a license without
     examination to any applicant who shall show to the department
     that he has, at the effective date hereof, had three years
     experience in the handling and use of explosives. Each blaster
     shall be required to renew his license each year by application
     to the department, which application shall be accompanied by a
     fee of three dollars and fifty cents ($3.50). The Secretary of
     Labor and Industry may suspend any license for due cause but no
     license may be revoked until the licensee has been granted a
     hearing.
        (2 amended July 12, 1961, P.L.581, No.283)
        Section 3.  Blasting Operations Conducted in Accordance With
     Regulations.--(a)  The use of explosives for the purpose of
     blasting in the neighborhood of any public highway, stream of
     water, dwelling house, public building, school, church,
     commercial or institutional building, or pipe line, shall be
     done in accordance with the provisions of this section, and
     rules and regulations promulgated by the Department of Labor and
     Industry.
        (b)  In all blasting operations, except as hereinafter
     otherwise provided, the maximum peak particle velocity of any
     one of three mutually perpendicular components of the ground
     motion in the vertical and horizontal directions shall not
     exceed 2 inches per second at the immediate location of any
     dwelling house, public building, school, church, commercial or
     institutional building.
        (1)  Instruments for determining particle velocity as set
     forth in this subsection shall be limited to such specific types
     of devices as shall have been expressly approved by the
     Department of Labor and Industry, and the Secretary of Labor and
     Industry or his duly authorized agent may enter upon any
     premises for the purpose of conducting or supervising any
     necessary instrumentations provided by this act.
        (2)  Blasting operations without instrumentation will be
     considered as being within the limits set forth in this
     subsection if at a specified location on at least five blasts
     instrumentation has shown that the maximum peak particle
     velocity at the specified location is fifty percent (50%) or
     less than the limit set forth in this subsection: Provided, That
     for all future blasts the scaled distance is equal to or greater
     than the scaled distance for the instrumented blast. "Scaled
     distance" means the actual distance in feet divided by the
     square root of the maximum explosive weight in pounds that is
     detonated per delay period for delay intervals of eight (8)
     milliseconds or greater. If delay intervals less than eight (8)
     milliseconds are employed or if instantaneous blasting is
     employed, scaled distance shall be computed by dividing the
     actual distance in feet by the square root of the total
     explosive weight in pounds.
        (3)  When blasting operations are contemplated which would
     result in ground vibrations that would have a particle velocity
     of any one of three (3) mutually perpendicular components in
     excess of 2 inches per second at the immediate location of any
     dwelling house, public building, school, church, commercial or
     institutional building, blasting operations may proceed after
     receiving written consent from the property owner or owners
     affected and the Secretary of Labor and Industry.
        (c)  When blasting operations, other than those conducted at
     a fixed site as a part of an industry or business operated at
     such site, are to be conducted within two hundred feet of a pipe
     line, the blaster or person in charge of the blasting operations
     shall take due precautionary measures for the protection of the
     line, and shall notify the owner of the line or his agent that
     such blasting operations are intended.
        (d)  Blasting operations near streams shall be prohibited in
     all cases where the effect of the blasting is liable to change
     the course or channel of any stream without first obtaining a
     permit from the Department of Labor and Industry which has been
     approved by the Water and Power Resources Board.
        (e)  Blasting operations shall not be conducted within eight
     hundred feet of any public highway, unless due precautionary
     measures are taken to safeguard the public.
        (f)  Mudcapping in blasting operations shall be permitted
     only where it would endanger the safety of the workmen to drill
     the rock or material to be blasted. If mudcapping is necessary,
     no more than ten pounds of explosives shall be used for each
     charge.
        (g)  All trunk lines of detonating fuse may be covered,
     except that trunk lines of detonating fuse shall be covered if
     located within eight hundred feet of any public highway,
     dwelling house, public building, school, church, commercial or
     institutional building.
        (3 amended Jan. 26, 1966, 1965 P.L.1616, No.512)
        Section 4.  Promulgation of Rules and Regulations
     Authorized.--The Department of Labor and Industry may promulgate
     additional rules or regulations it deems necessary not
     inconsistent with law to effectuate the provisions of this act.
        Section 5.  Penalties.--Any person violating any of the
     provisions of this act, or any of the rules or regulations of
     the Department of Labor and Industry made pursuant thereto,
     shall, upon conviction in a summary proceeding, be sentenced to
     pay a fine of not less than ten dollars ($10) nor more than one
     hundred dollars ($100), and upon failure to pay such fine and
     costs, shall undergo imprisonment for not more than thirty days.