Mineral Legal Perspective | Lawyer's Perspective Concerned about the Ecological Restoration of Mines in Shandong Province

Published:

2022-03-07

In order to standardize the ecological restoration work of mines and improve the ecological restoration capacity of land and space, the Department of natural resources of Shandong Province, the development and Reform Commission of Shandong Province, the Department of finance of Shandong Province, the Department of ecological environment of Shandong Province, the Department of water resources of Shandong Province, the Department of agriculture and rural areas of Shandong Province, the Department of emergency response of Shandong Province and the Energy Bureau of Shandong Province have studied and formulated the implementation management measures for mine ecological restoration, now let us learn about the ecological restoration of mines in Shandong Province, which are worthy of attention: 1. what is mine ecological restoration? Mine ecological restoration refers to the ecological restoration of historical mines and production mines. According to the principle of balanced population, resources and environment, and unified economic, social and ecological benefits, systematic restoration and comprehensive management are implemented on the basis of scientific evaluation, so as to promote the comprehensive utilization and protection of various natural resources, and realize the optimization and improvement of production, life and ecological functions. A mine left over from history is a mine where it is not possible to determine the person responsible for the repair or the person responsible for the loss due to the loss of mining rights or policy closure. Production mines refer to mines in which mining enterprises have obtained mining rights in accordance with the law and are implementing infrastructure construction or organizing production. 2. mine ecological restoration should meet what requirements? Mine ecological restoration activities shall meet the requirements: (1) to conform to the territorial space planning; (2) to comply with the land space ecological restoration planning and related special planning; (3) To meet the requirements of "three lines and one order" ecological environment zoning control; (4) in strict accordance with the green mine construction norms; (5) To comply with the technical requirements and standards for ecological restoration. Principles to be Followed in Ecological Restoration of 3. Mines (I) ecological priority, security. Adhere to the policy of giving priority to ecology, conservation, protection and natural restoration, taking into account ecological, social and economic benefits. In accordance with the order of ensuring safety, restoring ecology, and taking into account the landscape, overall protection, system restoration, and comprehensive management will improve the quality and stability of the ecosystem. (II) highlight the key points and promote as a whole. Coordinate the current situation of mine land space, the suitability of future land space and the needs of industrial development, and simultaneously promote the ecological restoration of historical mines and production mines. Priority should be given to solving the outstanding problems in the ecological restoration of historical mines within the visual scope of the "three districts and two lines", such as many historical debts, large potential safety hazards, poor landscape image, and single source of funds. (III) government-led, market-operated. Give full play to the leading role of the government, strengthen policy guidance and incentives, and stimulate the vitality of market players. According to the principle of "who invests, who benefits" and "who destroys, who repairs", social capital is encouraged to participate in mine ecological restoration and management by means of marketization. According to the "Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Encouraging and Supporting Social Capital to Participate in Ecological Protection and Restoration" (No. 40 [2021] of the State Council) issued by the General Office of the State Council, it is also to encourage and support social capital to participate in ecological protection and restoration projects. The ways of participation include: 1. independent investment mode. Social capital alone or in the form of consortia, industrial alliances and other forms of funding to carry out ecological protection and restoration. 2. Mode of cooperation with the government. Social capital may set up funds in accordance with the principle of marketization to invest in ecological protection and restoration projects. For projects with stable operating income, models such as government and social capital cooperation (PPP) can be adopted, and local governments can support social capital to obtain reasonable returns through investment subsidies, operating subsidies, and capital injections as required. 3. Public participation model. Encourage public welfare organizations and individuals to cooperate with the government and its departments to participate in ecological protection and restoration and jointly build ecological civilization. (IV) according to local conditions, precise policy. Implement the requirements of land and space planning control and use control, accurately grasp the characteristics of mines and surrounding environment, combine local economic and social development, resource endowment, ecological environment, etc., based on the integrity of the ecosystem, through conservation and protection, natural restoration, auxiliary restoration, and ecological remodeling, Resource development and other methods, adjust and optimize the layout, structure and function of land space, and promote the improvement of natural recovery capabilities. 4. which subjects can participate in mine ecological restoration? (1) Government functional departments All levels of development and reform, public security, finance, natural resources, ecological environment, water conservancy, agriculture and rural areas, emergency management and other departments in accordance with their respective responsibilities, coordinated to promote the ecological restoration of mines. (2) Government financing platforms and social capital Encourage government investment and financing platforms to cooperate with social capital to participate in mine ecological restoration activities. (3) Mining enterprises and social investment entities Support mining enterprises and social investment entities to use market-oriented methods to obtain foreign government low-interest loans, bank green financial loans, government guidance funds and other funds to carry out mine ecological restoration within the scope of laws, regulations and financial policies. What is the investigation of the ecological status of 5. mines? 1. The competent department of natural resources at the county level shall make use of the results of the geological environment survey of mines, combined with the results of the third land survey, the annual land change survey and the registration and certification of land rights, to organize the investigation of the ecological status of mines left over from history and production mines in the area under its jurisdiction. 2. The investigation of mine ecological status mainly includes:(1) the basic situation of the mine. Geographical location, regional area, current land type, land ownership, ore type, remaining resources, residual soil and stone, etc. of the mine. (2) mine ecological situation. The current situation of topography and landscape, the development and utilization of natural resources such as land, minerals, forest and grass, and the damage of resources such as land, forest and grass vegetation. (3) Other contents stipulated by the state and the province. 3. According to the survey results of the mine ecological status, the county-level natural resources department shall establish a background account, incorporate it into the ecological restoration management information system, and update it in real time. What are the responsibilities of 6. mining enterprises for the ecological restoration of production mines? In addition to the overall plan for mine ecological restoration formulated by the competent department of natural resources for mine geological environment investigation, there are relevant regulations for the ecological restoration of historical mines and the ecological restoration of production mines. This paper focuses on the ecological restoration of production mines: 1. Ecological restoration of new mines Mining enterprises in newly-built mines should take into account the ecological conditions around the mine, natural landscape, living environment, village location, industrial layout and other factors, combined with the actual needs of safe production and ecological restoration and landscape reconstruction in the later period of the mine, scientifically and rationally formulate development and utilization plans, mine geological environment protection and land reclamation plans. The preparation of mine geological environment protection and land reclamation plan shall comply with relevant national laws and regulations, the overall mine ecological restoration plan and other relevant requirements. 2. Abandoned mines with mining conditions For the abandoned mines formed in history, which cannot implement ecological restoration measures due to high and steep slopes, deep pits and other reasons, and still have mining conditions, under the premise of conforming to the planning and conducive to the improvement of the ecological environment, it is necessary to re-set mining rights in accordance with relevant regulations. After slope treatment, if it meets the requirements of ecological restoration conditions, in addition to the preparation of mine geological environment protection and land reclamation plans, formulate an annual mining and mine geological environment restoration and governance plan, clarify the annual mining area, mining volume, governance measures, governance scope, governance effect, etc., and report to the county-level natural resources authority for approval. The competent departments of natural resources at the county level should strengthen supervision, and those who fail to implement the plan should be ordered to make rectification within a time limit, and the implementation can continue only after the rectification is in place. 3, mining enterprises should implement the "side mining, side management, side repair" principle. Mining enterprises should strictly implement the mine geological environment protection and land reclamation plan, strictly implement the green mine construction standards, and strictly perform the mine geological environment protection and land reclamation obligations in accordance with the principle of "mining, governance, and restoration" to ensure ecological restoration Work is carried out simultaneously with mineral resources mining activities. During the process of restoration and leveling, dust pollution shall be well controlled to ensure that there is no obvious visible dust in the mining area. If the mining right owner temporarily stops production, he shall take necessary measures to reduce the disturbance to the ecosystem. 4, mining enterprises "closed before the pit" must complete the task of repair The mining right owner shall, in accordance with the overall deployment of the mine geological environment protection and land reclamation plan and the annual mine ecological restoration plan, carry out the mine ecological restoration work, set aside the mine geological environment management and restoration fund, and carry out the mine ecological protection and restoration work year by year. When the mine is closed, the ecological protection and restoration task of the whole mine must be completed. If the mine is closed or closed before the expiration of the mining right transfer period, the mining right owner shall comprehensively carry out the ecological restoration of the mine. Among them, for mines closed due to policy, the people's government at the county level should clarify the main body of responsibility for mine ecological protection and restoration and determine the time limit for governance. If the ecological restoration responsibility is still performed by the original enterprise, the natural resources department at the county level where the mine is located shall supervise the original enterprise to complete the restoration task on schedule and carry out acceptance in accordance with relevant regulations. When providing legal services for mining enterprises, lawyers should focus on the ecological restoration of production mines to prompt mining enterprises to pay attention to avoid legal risks in the ecological restoration of production mines and bear legal responsibilities.

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