how do mining companies maneuver around the reclamation law

Through 1994, over $140 million will have been. The Bingham Creek lead tailings removal efforts will cost nearly $40 million. The precise nature of mine closure and rehabilitation varies from place to place because of different public policies and accepted industry practices. Additional leach collection system improvements were made through the years, culminating in the construction of the Large Bingham Creek Reservoir in 1965. Acceptable post-mining land uses include commercial, residential, recreational, agricultural or public facility improvements. It's an amended version of the Coal Mine Safety. It also runs its own knowledge management project, which is intended to make mining and post-mining know-how available in a database. ICLG - Mining Laws and Regulations - USA Chapter covers common issues in mining laws and regulations - including the acquisition of rights, ownership requirements and restrictions, processing, transfer and encumbrance, environmental aspects, native title and land rights. dredge. FIGURE 1 Kennecott Utah Copper operating facilities. Do you enjoy reading reports from the Academies online for free? First, in most countries, mineral rights are held the government regardless of who owns the surface rights. Existing land-use policies have placed large tracts of land off-limits to mineral exploration and development in a number of countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United States. As part of the life cycle of a surface coal mine, completed mine areas must undergo rehabilitation. [10][11][12] When the best available material is not topsoil, topsoil can be made on site by using early successional species of native hardy perennial grasses and other plants, combined with livestock substituting for the species of wildlife needed to complete the biosystem. The refinery modernization will improve plantwide efficiency, including energy efficiency. Few individuals outside the industry are aware of modern mining practices and associated business, environmental, and public policy issues (highlighted in Appendix A) or of how mining companies are responding to today's environmental challenges. The desire to avoid the environmental damages of mining is an important reason behind these withdrawals of land from mineral activities. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 ( SMCRA) is the primary federal law that regulates the environmental effects of coal mining in the United States . A critical issue for public is the size of the bond: high enough to ensure that mine operators actually perform the required work rather than simply forfeit the bonded money, but not so high as to discourage mining. The Large Bingham Creek Reservoir has been divided into two major segmentszone 1 and zone 2by construction of an intermediate dike. 1992. A percentage of the fund is distributed to states with approved reclamation programs for their projects, and the remaining monies are used by the federal government through the OSMRE to reclaim abandoned mines in states without active programs. Although the process of mine reclamation occurs once mining is completed, the planning of mine reclamation activities occurs prior to a mine being permitted or started. A case study from post-mining sites", "Soil Organic Matter Accumulation in Postmining Sites: Potential Drivers and Mechanisms", "Soil carbon accumulation after open-cast coal and oil shale mining in Northern Hemisphere: a quantitative review", http://mining.state.co.us/pdfFiles/reg.pdf, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/search/pagedetails.action;jsessionid=JpQ3T3CRlm3vc0Vn2ynLGRMN9nj1VkTTvhs9K8GdKM6mbGcXdQWh!1067014512!-1849986691?browsePath=Title+30%2FChapter+25%2FSubchapter+V%2FSec.+1258&granuleId=USCODE-2010-title30-chap25-subchapV-sec1258&packageId=USCODE-2010-title30&collapse=true&fromBrowse=true, http://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Secretary-Salazar-and-Director-Pizarchik-Announce-485-Million-in-Grants-to-States-and-Tribes-to-Clean-Up-Abandoned-Coal-Mines.cfm, "RAG-Stiftung: Forschungszentrum Nachbergbau", "NACHBergbauzeit in NRW: THGA und Bezirksregierung Arnsberg diskutieren Aufgaben und Perspektiven", Mineral Information Institute (reclamation stories), Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation (US Dept. What industrial ecology is and how it may be applied to corporate environmentalism are the subject of The Industrial Green Game. The environmental disruption caused by exploration tends to be localized and minor. What are the recent developments in the exploration and extraction of mineral resources in your jurisdiction? Mining companies typically are required to obtain environmental permits signifying government approval of various aspects of their mine plans, including those for reclamation, waste disposal, sewage treatment, drinking water, and construction of dams and other impoundments. The firm's environmental policy attempts to strike a balance between society's need for metals and an environmentally sound approach to operations. Excerpted with permission from Mining and the Environment: International Perspectives on Public Policy, Pp. Actual recovery rates usually range between 90 and 100 percent, resulting in somewhat smaller volumes of tailings. These volumes of waste, however, are not good proxies for the amount of actual environmental damage caused by mining and beneficiation. Although there is a risk that Kennecott's responses to these environmental problems will not be acceptable to the regulators, Kennecott is proceeding as rapidly as possible to implement the solutions it believes are appropriate. These broader aspects of liability are designed to encourage companies to go beyond simple compliance with existing regulations. 1 The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (91 Stat. Generally, states and tribes must reclaim all Priority 1 and 2 coal sites before using AML funds on Priority 3 coal sites, but several exceptions exist. Kennecott had been negotiating a ground-breaking legal agreement with EPA that would have governed the comprehensive cleanup program at Utah Copper. Published: 20/09/2022 Hot off the press 21/06/2023 Corporate Immigration In all areas, Kennecott is attempting to stay ahead of the regulatory agencies in determining the pace and priorities of the cleanup program. Starting in the early 2000s the mining industry experienced a significant improvement in cash flows, as commodity prices remained elevated through 2011 (excluding the 2008 financial crisis). A mining entity may also have a policy or practice of reclamation regardless of whether or not a law exists, in which case a constructive obligation as to the future recla mation activities may exist. When Kennecott realized the seriousness of the groundwater problem, it constructed the Small Bingham Creek Reservoir to serve as the leach-water surge basin. The barren waters from the precipitation plant are returned to the waste-rock disposal areas. Mine rehabilitation: An economic perspective on a technical activity. When complete, the program will ensure that KUC remains one of the world's cleanest and most efficient copper producers well into the next century. Intarapravich, D., and A. L. Clark. In Hodel v. Virginia Surface Mining & Reclamation Association, Inc., 452 U.S. 264 (1981) the Supreme Court of the United States found the SMCRA does not violate the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Loosely grade the topsoil or topsoil substitute established in step one to create a non-compacted growth medium. During initial assessment of a region's geologic potential, explorationists rely heavily on satellite images, airborne geophysical surveys, and large-scale geologic maps to study large areas of landhundreds or even thousands of square kilometers. [20] The bond is not released to the operator until after the state or federal regulatory office has concluded that the reclamation is successful, which could be over 10 years after the reclamation process has been completed. The expression "best contemporary practice" means the best available and proven technology appropriate to the situation, taking into account economic and environmental factors. Costs may rise because of expenditures on permitting and environmental assessment and on implementing changes in project design that the compliance process may require. Risks rise, from the perspective of the firm prior to mining, in the sense that governments may decide not to allow mine development after companies have spent significant sums of money on exploration. Locatable, which are subject to the Mining Law of 1872, as amended, include gold, silver, copper and other hard rock minerals. Most coal-mining states now have the primary responsibility to regulate surface coal mining on lands within their jurisdiction, with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) performing an oversight role.[19]. The rehabilitation requirements often are only vaguely defined: for example, mined land must be returned to a ''usable condition," to a "stable condition," to the "greatest degree." Both the principal effects of mining on the environment and the important issues for public policy in this area are perhaps best introduced within the context of this production stages. Guidelines for post-mining reclamation were generally less stringent than they are today. Abandoned mines pose risks to people and the environment. Coal mining represented about half of this land, with mining of nonmetallic minerals accounting for about two-fifths and of metallic minerals about one-tenth. A mining company must undertake all mining activities to be viable and competitive. This volume examines industrial circulation of materials, energy efficiency strategies, "green" accounting, life-cycle analysis, and other approaches for preventing pollution and improving performance. Under SMCRA, prior to receiving a mining permit, operators must present a detailed and comprehensive plan for reclaiming the land after mining has been completed. In March 1992, Kennecott announced plans to complete the modernization of its operating facilities with the construction of state-of-the-art smelting and refining facilities. Transportation improvements included a 5-mile ore conveyor system and the installation of three pipelines to replace the outdated railroad ore and waste rock haulage system. The excavation work has been completed, and the sludge and tailings have been relocated to the Bingham Canyon Mine waste-rock disposal areas. Prior to 2006, companies often paid more money into the AML fund each year than Congress chose to appropriate. But such broad liability has been criticized for being unfair and for discouraging investment in mining activities. Many areas along the lower reaches of Bingham Creek have now been developed to accommodate the growing population of the region, and resident now may come in direct contact with these tailings. Key issues for public policy in this area are: the rehabilitation requirements; the mechanism for ensuring that appropriate closure and rehabilitation procedures are followed; and the nature of postmining liability. Some 47 percent of the land affected by mining and waste disposal had been reclaimed. The land which was used to obtain these resources must be rehabilitated as much as possible. Office of Technology Assessment. [3][4] In some situation even spontaneous ecosystem development may result in reasonable forest cover[5][6] but in most cases specific restoration approaches are used. Tailings are the fine waste particles that are produced during the beneficiation of ore and typically suspended in water. 165181. Sow the native species of early successional species of plants and grasses. The objectives of this process include: minimizing environmental effects. The remainder of the tailings contain relatively low concentrations of metals and were reclaimed by capping with soils and revegetation. Utah issued a groundwater discharge permit for the Small Bingham Creek Reservoir in 1992. The Industrial Green Game: Overview and Perspectives, Industrial Ecololgy: Closing the Loop on Waste Materials, Metrics, Systems, and Technological Choices, Energetics Concepts Drawn from Electricity Production and Consumption, The Functional Economy: Cultural and Organizational Change, Environmental Constraints and the Evolution of the Private Firm, Examples of Environmental Design and Management, The Industrial Symbiosis at Kalundborg, Denmark, Improving Environmental Performance Through Effective, Hydro Aluminum's Experience with Industrial Ecology, Environmental Strategies in the Mining Industry: One Company Experience, Public Perception, Understanding, and Values, Consumer Perceptions of Environmentalism in the Triad, A Critique of Life Cycle Analysis: Paper Products, Japan's Changing Environmental Policy, Government Initiatives, and Industry Responses.
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