A review of 42 mining projects is to be suspended until a revision of the Mining Act (礦業法) is complete, Premier Lin Chuan (林全) said yesterday following the death of a filmmaker whose documentaries raised awareness of the environmental damage caused by mining.
The revision of the Mining Act is imperative and urgent, and the Cabinet expects to submit a draft amendment for legislative review during the next legislative session in September, Lin said.
The major problem with the Mining Act is its lack of limitation on the maximum amount miners are allowed to excavate, which leads to a loose regulatory mechanism, he said.
“The new Mining Act must limit the quantity of extraction when a mining license is approved and stipulate that an environmental impact review is required for any request for additional mining,” Lin said.
A national-level strategic environmental assessment on mining should also be conducted to review the overall impact of the mining industry on the environment, he added.
Public attention about mining practices has risen following the death of documentary filmmaker Chi Po-lin (齊柏林) in a helicopter crash on Saturday after Chi documented the mining operations of Asia Cement Corp in Hualien.
Asia Cement has been mining in eastern Taiwan for 60 years and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in March approved a 20-year extension of its mining rights in Sincheng Township (新城), allowing the company to bypass an environmental impact assessment.
“Mr Chi sacrificed his life to give us a clear glimpse of Taiwan, its spectacular beauty as well as the mismanagement of past development projects,” Lin said.
Meanwhile, a petition launched by environmental group Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan to urge the government to withdraw its renewal of Asia Cement’s mining license had collected more than 150,000 signatures as of yesterday.
Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan researcher Pan Cheng-cheng (潘正正) said it is commendable that the government is headed in the right direction in dealing with environmental issues.
Pan called on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to deliberate possible amendments to the Mining Act during the extraordinary legislative session starting today and to finalize the revisions by the end of this year.
The revision should limit both the quantity and period of mining operations, and an environmental impact assessment should be conducted at the beginning and the end of each operation to understand its impact on the environment, Pan said.
“Chi contributed greatly to the mining issue and our organization would like to commemorate him with the realization of the goal of amending the mining regulations,” she said.
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