Coal mining policies should encourage privatization and prohibit mining in areas that have historic, scientific, wildlife, geological and/or agricultural value, restricting them in places that are ecologically fragile like watershed areas and dense forests and regions that are either reserved or inhabited by tribals. Mining policies should maximize energy conservation; aim at restoring lands affected by mining and maintain ecological balances by improving air and water quality. India needs to strengthen its existing policies on coal mining and implement such policies through effective and comprehensive program of legislation combined with adequate regulatory and taxation norms, energy conservation programs and steps to protect the health and safety of mine workers. Stringent enforcement of such legislation has to commence at the point of issuing mining permits when the mining operator gets drawn into a regulated framework of legal machinery that demands accountability and imposes huge responsibility in maintaining ecosystems.
An operator of a coal mine should draw out a mine management plan that offers funding for re-vegetation and reclamation of mined areas to help restore mined land to a state of biological productivity which is deemed better than the one that existed earlier. The mine management plan should discuss in detail the pollution control methods, restoration techniques, reclamation technologies, mode of treatment of mine drainage, mine sealing, handling of slurry mixtures and prevention of pollution discharge into ground water sources and aquifers. The operator, who shall be responsible for transportation or storage of the mined coal, shall also be held responsible for abatement of any kind of pollution. It is important that the regulations prescribe stringent effluent standards for all parameters of pollution, performance standards for restoration of land affected by surface and underground mining and replenishment of depleted water supply. It could be work half-done if the legislation does not regulate coal refuse disposal which degrades landscape and increases the incidents of fire hazards endangering the lives of miners. The burden of proof for compliance of all rules and regulation must rest with the mine operator.
The underground and surface mining methods result in disturbance of surface areas reducing the utility value of the land. Surface mining, invariably, causes immense damage to the land and mining operators are expected to restore the land to the same physical contour and productivity that existed prior to mining. With the availability of better technology for surface mining, entities taking up coal mining have to necessarily declare the nature of reclamation technology to be adopted at the time of applying for a permit and also provide substantial resources in the form of performance bonds to reclaim abandoned mining areas as is done in other countries. Underground mining in forest areas endangers the lives of mine workers and therefore it is important that safety standards are set and regulated through legislation for better management of the industry.
As India works towards energy security, coal mining in forest areas seems inevitable, and it only seems prudent to restrict coal mining in dense forest areas. If the so called ‘no-go’ forest areas are diverted for coal mining, we could be as well be legitimizing the degradation of natural resources with no recourse to reclamation and restoration of mined areas. Coal mining in dense forest areas is enabled only through underground mining methods which not only poses as a safety hazard to all mine workers but can also cause land subsidence. Subsidence of land that occurs after coal removal remains a significant problem requiring constant monitoring, reporting standards and effective management to prevent damage to buildings or structures in and around mining areas.
Mine Subsidence Repairs and the Abandoned Mine land program.
The Forest Conservation Act merely deals with exploitation and conservation of forests primarily from the point of clearing forests for agricultural activities and other allied activities may not serve the purpose of regulating coal mining in the strictest sense. The Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act, 1957, lacks teeth to regulate an hazardous activity like coal mining which could leave deep scars on the landscape of our country and undermine our wealth of natural resources. Coal mining has to be heavily regulated at the stage of issuing permits as a safety measure and to mitigate environmental impacts that the industry can have on our natural resources. The National Forest Policy expects beneficiaries, who are allowed to mine and quarry in forest land and land covered by trees, to repair and re-vegetate mined areas along established forestry practices. The policy further states that no mining lease be granted to any party, private or public, without a proper mine management plan appraised from the environmental angle and enforced by adequate machinery, although such a machinery seems clearly absent in the present scenario. There is no denying that the present regulatory framework is inadequate to regulate the serious business of coal mining. With increasing need to divert more forest areas for coal mining purposes there arises an inherent need to translate the National Forest Policy into a comprehensive legislation which not only regulates coal mining but ensures restoration of degraded land, replenishment of depleted ground water sources and reclamation of abandoned coal mines.
Coal mining permits issued under the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) 1957 do not place any conditions with regard to investments in alternative energy or protection of the environment. Presently, there are no guidelines or regulations to reclaim abandoned mine lands while the existing ones on forest conservation fail to compensate for the ills of coal mining. The Compensatory Afforestation Bill, 2008 lacks the necessary provisions to deal with coal mining and the same is pending in the Lok Sabha.
Professor Kanchan Chopra Committee on Net Present Value (NPV), in the year 2006, presented certain recommendations to the Supreme Court that are fairly clear in their approach to coal mining. Environmental justice demands that these recommendations and the Supreme Court guidelines which emanated out of the committee's report do find a way into our legal and regulatory framework. A specific legislation can reduce the number of interim applications and other miscellaneous petitions filed before the Apex Court by those who wish to make a policy work in favour of environment protection, specially in the absence of a regulatory and legal framework. The numerous applications and petitions force the highest court of the land to play the role of an enforcing authority.
State regulatory bodies may be competent to grant permits, inspect mining sites and oversee the reclamation of mined areas and therefore a statute that grants those powers to the state to undertake all these responsibilities and ensure enforcement of all regulations could go a long way in saving our land. The provisions of the statute must help reduce the socio-economic costs of coal mining and mitigate the degradation of environmental quality of surrounding areas and protect our resources. The regulations need to ensure commencement of reclamation activities soon after mining activities have ceased. Reclamation activities taken up in mined areas have not only been able to restore the ecological balance of mined areas but have also enhanced our wealth of natural resources.
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) of the United States, is a comprehensive statute on surface mining control. Under SMCRA, all operators of coal mines are expected to submit a reclamation program at the time of making an application for mining and obtain necessary approvals. The statute deems that “every operator of coal mining shall pay a reclamation fee of 31.5 cents per ton of coal produced by surface mining and 13.5 cents per ton of coal produced by underground mining or 10 per centum of the value of the coal at the mine, whichever is less, except that the reclamation fee for lignite coal shall be at a rate of 2 per centum of the value of the coal at the mine or 9 cents per ton whichever is less.” The act further levies penalty and demands regular audits on the coal produced and the fees paid toward such mining and prescribe civil action to recover any dues under the act. There is so much to gain from following the tenets of the SMCRA in creation of reclamation funds and encouraging participation of indigenous people in the reclamation and restoration process.
It is unclear as to how the clean energy fund created out of a cess on coal could promote the capital intensive industry of renewable energy. It seems a better option to expect coal mining operators to divert a portion of their investment into alternative energy projects and make corporate social responsibility a reality.
Funds for reclamation, created with the help of government grants and the fees paid by the coal mining operators, be disbursed to tribals within whose jurisdiction coal mining activities have been taken up leading to their displacement and loss of livelihood. The reclamation projects, ultimately, can be offered to the displaced tribals themselves with an intent to provide them with a vocation to reclaim and rejuvenate abandoned mines. This form of environmental insurance reassures displaced villagers and tribals and makes it easier to seek their cooperation in any future mining activities.
Environmental insurance (EI) as a financial tool, ensures environmental safety in all industrial operations and under a statute drawn on similar lines as that of SMCRA, can help integrate the risk management tool of EI into the legal and regulatory framework to help achieve environmental security. Several countries like Argentina mandate adoption of environmental insurance by businesses that are considered ‘high environmental risks’ and any renewal of licenses or permits is tied to adoption of EI. SMCRA in a way promotes financial assurance or financial responsibility on the part of potential polluters who are expected to demonstrate sufficient financial resources to take up cleanup and reclamation of abandoned coal mines.
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