SB 470 - This act pertains to blasting and excavation and may be cited as the "Missouri Blasting Safety Act". An abbreviated breakdown of the act follows. The act directs that any person who uses explosives first obtain a license except those who are exempted within the act. The Missouri Division of Fire Safety shall be responsible for issuing the licenses and information required on the application is laid out in the act. There will be a fee submitted with the application, the amount of which shall be established by the division through rules promulgated to that effect, however such fee shall not exceed one hundred dollars.
The act lays out qualifications for any applicant, some of those include:
- applicant is at least 21 years old;
applicant has been honest in his/her application for licensure;
- applicant is familiar with other federal and state regulations relating to explosives;
- applicant has not been convicted of a felony;
- applicant does not use illegal drugs;
- applicant has completed an approved blaster's training course and successfully passed the certification examination;
- applicant has two years or two thousand hours of experience directly related to the use of explosives and shall provide signed documentation speaking to that experience;
- applicant has not been adjudicated as mentally defective; and
- applicant is a citizen of the United States.
Upon satisfying the requirements, the division shall issue a license, and any change of material fact relating to these requirements must be provided to the division by the individual holding the license.
The act states that such license shall expire three years from the date of issuance; any attempt to renew such a license shall require documentation that an additional eight hours of explosive-related training has been completed by the individual. Any training above and beyond the eight hours required for renewal shall not carry over for more than one subsequent renewal of the license.
The act lays out the documentation provided when a license is issued, and directs any individual who holds such a license to provide the division with such documentation.
Circumstances under which a license can be suspended or revoked are laid out in the act. In such a case, the division shall provide written notice to the individual in question and that individual must then surrender all copies of the license to the division as well as ceasing all blasting activity. The decision to suspend or revoke a license may be appealed by the individual to the state blasting safety board, as it established in the act. Any decision made by the board shall be done within thirty days of the date the appeal is received by the board.
The act directs any person whose license has been expired for a period of three years or less to complete the examination and attend eight hours of training. Those licenses that have been expired for more than three years, require satisfying the qualifications for initial licensure as well as completing twenty hours of training and passing the examination.
License reciprocity is dealt with in the act; enjoyed by anyone holding a valid license or certification from another source within the last three years provided all requirements meet or exceed the provisions laid out in this act. The burden of proof lays with the division with regard to investigating the requirements of other licenses or certifications as they relate to this particular license.
The act details the courses of instruction offered by the division, directs that two such courses be offered annually, and that they shall fulfill the training requirements laid out in the act. Other courses may be utilized as necessary training courses, provided those courses have been approved by the division. Upon such approval, the division shall issue a letter attesting to that fact, and such letter shall be valid for three years. It is however, the division's prerogative to determine otherwise in that time, and revoke any letters approving such a course. Requirements for courses seeking to satisfy the training element are laid out in the act as are the requirements for those providing such training.
The division is to approve a standard examination for license qualification, and a fee not to exceed fifty dollars shall accompany the exam. Results from the examination are to be provided within thirty days to the individual, and anyone failing the test can retake it within six months without having to complete an additional course of instruction. If an individual fails the test twice, additional instruction must be taken before the examination can be retaken.
Any person guilty of loading or firing explosives without a valid license to do so shall be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor for the first offense, a Class B misdemeanor for the second offense, or a Class A misdemeanor for the third offense; anyone found convicted of a Class A misdemeanor for this violation shall permanently prohibited from obtaining a blaster's license in this state.
The act lays out those individual's who are exempt from the requirements provided for in the act, some of those include:
- employees of universities when the use of explosives is confined to a course of instruction;
- individuals using explosive materials in the forms prescribed by the official U.S. Pharmacopoeia or the National Formulary and used in medicines or medical agents;
- individuals conducting training or emergency operations;
- individuals who are members of the armed forces;
- individuals using pyrotechnics;
- individuals using small arms ammunition which are subject to the Gun Control Act of 1968;
- individuals using agricultural fertilizers when used for agricultural and horticulture purposes;
- individuals handling explosives while engaged in the process of explosive manufacturing; and
- employees of rural electric cooperatives
The act lays out prescriptive requirements for blasting activity in the state; including details with regard to seismograph recordings.
The act directs each person using explosives in the state to register with the state fire marshal within sixty days of the effective date - August 28, 2005. A registration fee of one hundred dollars shall accompany the registration, and an annual report to the state fire marshal shall be forthcoming stating any change or addition to the information laid out in the original report. Information required for the report is laid out in the act. A fee per ton shall be submitted annually with the report, the minimum being set at fifty dollars, the maximum being set at two thousand five hundred dollars.
The act creates a state blasting safety board, membership, terms in office, meeting times and responsibilities of the board are all laid out in the act.
Duties for the division of fire safety are laid out in the act with regard to the training, testing, and licensing discussed in the act.
The Missouri explosives safety act administration fund is created in the act. The state fire marshal shall submit a report to the state blasting safety board annually detailing the revenue in the fund generated by fees, and how that revenue was spent.
Notice of violations and how they shall be prescribed are detailed in the act, any person receiving such a notice has the opportunity to request a hearing before the state blasting safety board. Decisions by the board are appealable to the Administrative Hearing Commission.
The act directs any person using explosives to notify, at least twenty-four hours in advance, the responsible municipality whose jurisdiction the blasting is taking place in. The municipality's powers with regard to information are laid out in the act.
MEGAN WORD