352.371 Boreholes in advance of working face required. Whenever any working place approaches within fifty (50) feet of abandoned areas in the mine as shown by surveys made and certified by a registered engineer, or within two hundred (200) feet of any other abandoned areas of the mine which cannot be inspected and which may contain dangerous accumulations of water or gas, or within two hundred (200) feet of any workings of an adjacent mine, a borehole or boreholes shall be drilled to a distance of at least twenty (20) feet in advance of the working face of the working place and shall be continually maintained to a distance of at least ten (10) feet in advance of the advancing working face. When there is more than one (1) borehole, they shall be drilled sufficiently close to each other to insure that the advancing working face will not accidentally hole through into abandoned areas or adjacent mines. Boreholes shall also be drilled not more than eight (8) feet apart in the rib of the working place to a distance of at least twenty (20) feet and at an angle of forty-five (45) degrees before additional cuts are taken. Rib holes shall be drilled in one (1) or both ribs of the working place as may be necessary for adequate protection of miners in such place. Alternative plans which afford equal or greater protection may be approved by the commissioner or his authorized representative. Effective: July 15, 2002 History: Amended 2002 Ky. Acts ch. 355, sec. 19, effective July 15, 2002. -- Amended 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 308, sec. 44, effective April 9, 1996. -- Created 1972 Ky. Acts ch. 303, sec. 34. Legislative Research Commission Note (4/9/96). The action taken with respect to this statute by 1996 Ky. Acts ch. 308 was to have become effective April 8, 1996, under Section 51 of that Act. The Act, however, did not become effective until April 9, 1996, when the Governor's signed copy of the Act was filed with the Secretary of State.