AN ACT RELATIVE TO THE OPERATION OF STEAM BOILERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 46 of chapter 146 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1996 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first sentence and inserting in place thereof the following two sentences:- No person shall have charge of or operate a steam boiler or engine or its appurtenances, except boilers and engines upon locomotives, turbines on test stands being operated solely for the purpose of testing such turbines by qualified testing personnel approved by the turbine designer and manufacturer, motor vehicles, boilers and engines in private residences, boilers in apartment houses of less than five apartments, boilers and engines under the jurisdiction of the United States, boilers and engines used for agricultural, horticultural and floricultural purposes exclusively, boilers and engines of less than nine horsepower and boilers which are provided with a device approved by the commissioner limiting the pressure carried to 15 pounds to the square inch, unless he holds a license referred to in section 49. Boilers and engines, not exempt under this section, of nine to 250 horsepower, in the aggregate, shall require periodic attendance, boilers and engines of 251 horsepower to 500 horsepower, in the aggregate, shall require noncontinuous attendance and boilers of 501 horsepower or more, in the aggregate, shall require continuous attendance.
SECTION 2. Said section 46 of said chapter 146, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following paragraph:-
As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
"Continuous attendance", manned attendance by a licensed operator during all times of operation.
"Noncontinuous attendance", in addition to the requirements of periodic attendance, a remote monitoring station shall be in place that has the ability to shut down the boiler and the boiler shall be inspected by the operator between four and six times per shift.
"Periodic attendance", a licensed engineer shall perform daily maintenance as required by the department's maintenance log book, the engineer shall remain in the same building as the operating boiler, the boiler shall be equipped with automatic shut-down devices as required by law; provided, however, that the safe operation of the boiler shall be the primary duty of the operator and such operator shall retain full discretion to return to the boiler room for monitoring purposes and all such visits shall be required to be recorded in the department's log book.
SECTION 3. Section 48 of said chapter 146, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the first, second and third paragraphs and inserting in place thereof the following two paragraphs:-
When liquid or gaseous fuel, electric or atomic energy or any other source of heat is used, the horsepower of a boiler shall be determined by either the manufacturer's factory tag affixed to the boiler or burner denoting horsepower, or calculated by one of the following formulae: the steam output capacity as listed on the manufacturer's tag divided by 34.5, the Btu/Hr Input listed on the manufacturer's tag divided by 41,840 or the Btu/Hr Output listed on the manufacturer's tag divided by 33,475.
If a tag is missing, damaged or unclear, the licensed engineer in charge or on duty at the time shall notify the owner or user of the steam boiler. The owner or user shall obtain a notarized letter, signed by an officer of the manufacturer of the boiler or burner, listing the maximum capacity of the steam boiler in Btu/Hr. Such letter shall be an acceptable basis for calculating the horsepower of that particular steam boiler.
SECTION 4. Said chapter 146 is hereby further amended by striking out section 49, as so appearing, and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 49. Licenses shall be granted according to the competence of the applicant and shall be classified as follows: Engineer's licenses: First class, to have charge of and operate any steam plant. Second class, to have charge of and operate a boiler or boilers, and to have charge of and operate engines, no one of which shall exceed 150 horsepower, or to operate a first class plant under the engineer in direct charge thereof. Third class, to have charge of and operate a boiler or boilers not exceeding, in the aggregate, 150 horsepower when solid fuel is burned or not exceeding, in the aggregate, 500 horsepower when steam is generated by the use of liquid or gaseous fuel, electric or atomic energy or any other source of heat and an engine or engines not exceeding 50 horsepower each or to operate a second class plant under the engineer in direct charge thereof. Firemen's licenses: First class, to have charge of and operate any boiler or boilers where the safety valve or valves are set to blow at a pressure not exceeding 25 pounds to the square inch or to operate high pressure boilers under the engineer or fireman in direct charge thereof. No engineer or fireman in charge of a steam plant shall be permitted to be in charge of any other steam plant, unless it is within one mile from the specific plant of which the engineer or fireman is designated to be in charge or unless a licensed second or third class engineer or fireman shall be in attendance at such plant and shall perform his duties under the supervision of such engineer or fireman. Second class, to operate any boiler or boilers under the engineer or fireman in direct charge thereof. A person holding a first class fireman's license may operate a third class plant under the engineer in direct charge thereof. Special licenses: A person who desires to have charge of or to operate a particular steam plant may, if he files with his application for such examination a written request signed by the owner or user of the plant, be examined as to his competence for such service and no other and, if found competent and trustworthy, shall be granted a license for such service, and no other; provided, however, that no special license shall be granted to give a person charge of or permission to operate an engine over 50 horsepower, or a boiler or boilers exceeding, in the aggregate, 250 horsepower, except that where the main power plant is run exclusively by waterpower, developed on the premises of such plant a major part of the year and has auxiliary steam power for use during the periods of low water, a special license may be granted to an applicant holding an engineer's license.
The department shall promulgate regulations which shall require the renewal of such licenses every five years. Commencing with the license renewal on January 1, 2000, all individuals licensed by the commonwealth to operate boilers shall demonstrate completion of 30 hours of continuing education at or through an institution or organization approved by the commissioner, in consultation with the chief inspector, during each five-year period preceding each license renewal.
SECTION 5. Said chapter 146 is hereby further amended by inserting after section 46 the following section:-
Section 46A. The commissioner shall develop a log book which shall include a checklist for the proper daily steam boiler maintenance that shall be required to be completed daily by the operator of a steam boiler exceeding nine horsepower. Such checklist shall include, but not be limited to, the following requirements: (1) give the boiler measured bottom blowdowns in accordance with instructions provided by the company supplying the feedwater treatment; (2) remove accumulations on water surfaces by using surface blow valves; (3) blowdown water column; (4) test low-water cutoff and feedwater regulator; (5) operate safety valves manually on start-up; (6) check lubrication on auxiliary equipment; (7) when starting boiler, make sure ignition operates properly; and (8) keep boiler room clean.
SECTION 6. Section 64 of said chapter 146, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "the", in line 5, the following words:- commissioner, in consultation with the.
SECTION 7. The first paragraph of said section 64 of said chapter 146, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following sentence:- An oral examination shall be recorded on tape and such tape shall remain on file with the department through the expiration of the time allowed for appeal.