<?xml version="1.0"?>
<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>54618</law_id><section_number>45.2-931</section_number><catch_line> Surface storage of explosives and detonators</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>45.2-775</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="45.2">Mines, Minerals, and Energy</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="II">Coal Mining</unit><unit label="part" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="C">Surface Coal Mines</unit><unit label="chapter" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="9">Requirements Applicable to Surface Coal Mines</unit><unit label="article" level="5" order_by="1" identifier="10">Explosives and Blasting</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> Two or more surface magazines shall be provided for the storage of explosives and the separate storage of detonators. <a id="paragraph-200585" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> Every surface magazine for storing and distributing explosives in an amount exceeding 150 pounds shall be: <a id="paragraph-200586" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B1" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Reasonably bullet-resistant and constructed of incombustible <span class="dictionary">material</span> or covered with fire-resistant <span class="dictionary">material</span>. The roof of a magazine that is located in such a way as to make it impossible to fire a bullet directly through the roof from the ground need not be bullet-resistant. Where it is possible to fire a bullet directly through a roof from the ground, such roof shall be made bullet-resistant by <span class="dictionary">material</span> construction, by the use of a ceiling that forms a tray containing not less than a four-inch thickness of sand, or by another method; <a id="paragraph-200587" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B2" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> Provided with doors that are constructed of three-eighth-inch steel plate. Such doors shall be lined with a two-inch thickness of wood or the equivalent; <a id="paragraph-200588" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B3" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">3.</span> Provided with dry floors made of wood or other nonsparking <span class="dictionary">material</span> and have no metal exposed inside the magazine; <a id="paragraph-200589" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B3"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B4" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">4.</span> Provided with suitable warning signs located so that a bullet passing directly through the face of a sign will not strike the magazine; <a id="paragraph-200590" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B4"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B5" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">5.</span> Provided with properly screened ventilators; <a id="paragraph-200591" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B5"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B6" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">6.</span> Equipped with no openings except for entrance and ventilation openings; <a id="paragraph-200592" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B6"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B7" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">7.</span> Kept locked securely when unattended; and <a id="paragraph-200593" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B7"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B8" class="indent-1"><p><span class="prefix-number">8.</span> Electrically bonded and grounded if constructed of metal. <a id="paragraph-200594" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#B8"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="C"><p><span class="prefix-number">C.</span> A surface magazine for storing detonators need not be bullet-resistant, but it shall comply with other provisions for storing explosives. <a id="paragraph-200595" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#C"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="D"><p><span class="prefix-number">D.</span> Explosives weighing a total of no more than 150 pounds, or detonators numbering 5,000 or fewer, shall be stored either (i) in accordance with the standards set forth in subsection A, B, or C or (ii) in a separate locked box-type magazine. A box-type magazine may also be used as a distributing magazine when the weight of the explosives or the number of detonators does not exceed the limits set forth in this subsection. Every box-type magazine shall be strongly constructed of two-inch hardwood or the equivalent. Every metal magazine shall be lined with nonsparking <span class="dictionary">material</span>. No magazine shall be placed (a) in a building containing oil, grease, gasoline, wastepaper, or other highly flammable <span class="dictionary">material</span> or (b) within 20 feet of a stove, furnace, open fire, or flame. <a id="paragraph-200596" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#D"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="E"><p><span class="prefix-number">E.</span> No magazine shall be placed less than 300 feet from any mine opening. However, if a magazine cannot be practicably located at such a distance, it may be located less than 300 feet from a mine opening if it is sufficiently barricaded and is approved by the <span class="dictionary">Chief</span>. Unless approved by the <span class="dictionary">Chief</span>, no magazine shall be located closer to an occupied building, public road, or passenger railway than the distance recommended in the &#x201C;American Table of Distances for Storage of Explosive <span class="dictionary">Materials</span>&#x201D; published by the Institute of Makers of Explosives. <a id="paragraph-200597" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#E"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="F"><p><span class="prefix-number">F.</span> The supply kept in a distribution magazine shall be limited to approximately a 48-hour supply, and supplies of explosives and detonators may be distributed from the same magazine if they are separated by a substantially fastened hardwood <span class="dictionary">partition</span> at least four inches thick or the equivalent. <a id="paragraph-200598" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#F"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="G"><p><span class="prefix-number">G.</span> The area surrounding any magazine shall be kept free of rubbish, dry grass, or other <span class="dictionary">materials</span> of a combustible nature for at least 25 feet in every direction. <a id="paragraph-200599" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#G"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="H"><p><span class="prefix-number">H.</span> If an explosives magazine is illuminated electrically, each lamp shall be of vapor-proof type and installed and wired so as to present a minimal fire or contact hazard. <a id="paragraph-200600" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#H"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="I"><p><span class="prefix-number">I.</span> Only nonmetallic tools shall be used for opening any wooden explosives container. Extraneous <span class="dictionary">materials</span> shall not be stored with explosives or detonators in an explosives magazine. <a id="paragraph-200601" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#I"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="J"><p><span class="prefix-number">J.</span> Smoking or carrying smokers&#x2019; articles or open flames is prohibited in or near any magazine. <a id="paragraph-200602" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/45.2-931/#J"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 45-53.2; 1954, c. 191; 1966, c. 594, &#xA7; 45.1-44; 1978, c. 729; 1994, c. 28, &#xA7; 45.1-161.284; 2010, cc. 809, 857; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
