Ohio Code 1514.43 – Enforcement of rule-based safety standards
(A) The chief of the division of mineral resources management shall enforce the safety standards established in rules when conducting inspections under section 1514.41 of the Revised Code.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 1514.43
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Operator: means any person engaged in surface mining who removes minerals, or minerals and incidental coal, from the earth by surface mining or who removes overburden for the purpose of determining the location, quality, or quantity of a mineral deposit. See Ohio Code 1514.01
- Surface mining: means all or any part of a process followed in the production of minerals from the earth or from the surface of the land by surface excavation methods, such as open pit mining, dredging, placering, or quarrying, and includes the removal of overburden for the purpose of determining the location, quantity, or quality of mineral deposits, and the incidental removal of coal at a rate less than one-sixth the total weight of minerals and coal removed during the year, but does not include: test or exploration boring; mining operations carried out beneath the surface by means of shafts, tunnels, or similar mine openings; the extraction of minerals, other than coal, by a landowner for the landowner's own noncommercial use where such material is extracted and used in an unprocessed form on the same tract of land; the extraction of minerals, other than coal, from borrow pits for highway construction purposes, provided that the extraction is performed under a bond, a contract, and specifications that substantially provide for and require reclamation practices consistent with the requirements of this chapter; the removal of minerals incidental to construction work, provided that the owner or person having control of the land upon which the construction occurs, the contractor, or the construction firm possesses a valid building permit; the removal of minerals to a depth of not more than five feet, measured from the highest original surface elevation of the area to be excavated, where not more than one acre of land is excavated during twelve successive calendar months; routine dredging of a watercourse for purely navigational or flood control purposes during which materials are removed for noncommercial purposes, including activities conducted by or on behalf of a conservancy district, organized under Chapter 6101. See Ohio Code 1514.01
- surface mining operation: means all of the premises, facilities, and equipment used in the process of removing minerals, or minerals and incidental coal, by surface mining from a mining area in the creation of which mining area overburden or minerals, or minerals and incidental coal, are disturbed or removed, such surface mining area being located upon a single tract of land or upon two or more contiguous tracts of land. See Ohio Code 1514.01
(B) Except as otherwise provided in section 1514.44 of the Revised Code or pursuant to a safety audit conducted under section 1514.42 of the Revised Code, if during an inspection the chief finds a violation of a safety standard, the chief shall require the operator to comply with the standard that is being violated within a reasonable period of time. If the chief finds a violation of a safety standard, the chief shall return to the surface mining operation after a reasonable period of time to determine if the operator has complied with the standard that was being violated. If the operator has failed to comply with the standard, the chief shall take appropriate action to obtain compliance if necessary.
(C) Except as otherwise provided in section 1514.44 of the Revised Code or pursuant to a safety audit conducted under section 1514.42 of the Revised Code, after completion of an inspection of a surface mining operation, the chief shall prepare a report that describes the general conditions of the surface mining operation, lists any hazardous conditions at the operation, lists any violations of the safety standards established in rules, and describes the nature and extent of any hazardous condition or violation found and the corresponding remedy for each hazardous condition or violation. The chief shall provide two copies of the report to the operator of the operation. The operator shall post one copy of the report at the operation for review by the employees of the operation.
(D) Except pursuant to a safety audit conducted under section 1514.42 of the Revised Code, not later than ten days after receipt of a report under this section, the operator may submit a written request to the chief for a meeting with the chief to review the findings contained in the report. Upon receipt of a request, the chief shall review the report and schedule a meeting with the operator. Within a reasonable period of time after the meeting, the chief shall make a written determination concerning the findings contained in the report and provide one copy of the determination to the operator of the surface mining operation and one copy of the determination to an authorized representative of the miners at the operation. If the chief makes a determination that affirms the findings contained in the report, the chief’s determination constitutes an order for purposes of this chapter and rules adopted under it.
(E) An operator shall not appeal the contents of a report prepared under division (C) of this section. However, an operator may appeal a determination of the chief made under division (D) of this section.
(F) No operator shall violate or fail to comply with an order issued pursuant to this section.