                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

 SURFACE STORAGE OF EXPLOSIVES AND DETONATORS (§ 45.2-719)

A. Two or more surface magazines shall be provided for the storage of explosives
and the separate storage of detonators.

B. Every surface magazine for storing and distributing explosives in an amount
exceeding 150 pounds shall be:

   1. Reasonably bullet-resistant and constructed of incombustible material or
   covered with fire-resistant material. 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 material 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;

   2. 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;

   3. Provided with dry floors that are made of wood or other nonsparking
   material and have no metal exposed inside the magazine;

   4. Provided with suitable warning signs located so that a bullet passing
   directly through the face of a sign will not strike the magazine;

   5. Provided with properly screened ventilators;

   6. Equipped with no openings except for entrance and ventilation openings;

   7. Kept locked securely when unattended; and

   8. Electrically bonded and grounded if constructed of metal.

C. A surface magazine for storing detonators need not be bullet-resistant, but
it shall comply with the other provisions of subsection B regarding the storage
of explosives.

D. Explosives weighing a total of no more than 150 pounds, or detonators
numbering 5,000 or fewer, shall be stored (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 material. No magazine shall be placed (a) in a
building containing oil, grease, gasoline, wastepaper, or other highly flammable
material or (b) within 20 feet of a stove, furnace, open fire, or flame.

E. No magazine shall be placed less than 300 feet from any mine opening.
However, if a magazine cannot be practicably located at such distance, it may be
located less than 300 feet from a mine opening if it is sufficiently barricaded
and is approved by the Chief. Unless approved by the Chief, no magazine shall be
located closer to an occupied building, public road, or passenger railway than
the distance recommended in the &#8220;American Table of Distances for Storage
of Explosive Materials&#8221; published by the Institute of Makers of
Explosives.

F. 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 partition at least four inches thick or the equivalent.

G. The area surrounding any magazine shall be kept free of rubbish, dry grass,
or other materials of a combustible nature for at least 25 feet in every
direction.

H. If an explosives magazine is illuminated electrically, each lamp shall be
vapor-proof and installed and wired so as to minimize any fire or contact
hazard.

I. Only nonmetallic tools shall be used for opening any wooden explosives
container. Extraneous materials shall not be stored with explosives or
detonators in an explosives magazine.

J. Smoking or carrying smokers&#8217; articles or open flames is prohibited in
or near any magazine.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 45-53.2; 1954, c. 191; 1966, c. 594, § 45.1-44; 1978, c.
729; 1994, c. 28, § 45.1-161.126; 2005, c. 3; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 387.