New Mining Law in DR article. GLTA!Nueva Ley Minera consolidar la minera responsable en el pas https://hoy.com.do/nueva-ley-minera-consolidara-la-mineria-responsable-en-el-pais/
By Miguel Diaz
Let's be clear from the beginning. Law No.146 -71 or Mining , promulgated on May 26, 1971, dates from a time when the concepts: mining cycle, environmental and social impact study and design of projects for the closure of mineral deposits, did not they were relevant as performance standards for responsible mining.
This law, however, as well as its Regulation No. 297-98, reflected the best practices of the time and formed a legal framework that was as competitive as that historical context required for the regulation of an activity of an international nature.
Mining that avoids or minimizes environmental and social impacts, and simultaneously produces the metals and minerals that support modern living standards, emerged nearly a decade later, through a scientific and social movement that rejected the potential for negative environmental impacts that the mining extraction left in the communities because mitigating them was not a priority for the extractive industry actors at the time.
Urged on by the "Our Common Future" report, published in the mid-1980s, environmental impact studies, as well as the adoption of the "Design for Closure" approach and the incorporation of stricter regulations, developed from the analysis of environmental aspects integrated the bases of what we know today as responsible mining.
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Contrary to what has happened with numerous laws in the country, during the last 50 years Law 146-71 has not been updated. Therefore, its modernization is necessary not only to adapt its content to the new global context, but also so that the Ministry of Energy and Mines can count on tools that allow it to effectively regulate the responsible and sustainable development of national, metallic and not metallic.
Adapting the law is also imperative due to the technological advances that have occurred in recent decades. The localization, data acquisition and typing procedures contained in the current law have become obsolete.
The reform of the Mining Law presented by the Ministry of Energy and Mines lays the foundations for a digitized mining cadastre that allows speeding up not only the application process, but also effectively documenting and monitoring the mining cycle of any operation.
After several analysis meetings with the sector to be regulated and extractive industry players, the fiscal framework is redirected to achieving an income that will be more competitive for the industry and for the State. Aspects related to legal certainty were also strengthened, an essential requirement for investors when evaluating risks and possible profits when investing in any country.
The concepts related to the development cycle of mining resources, including the design for the closure of the project, have been incorporated into the modernization draft, in such a way that they serve as a basis for the responsible development of mining projects. These terms, as well as the integration of environmental and social impact studies, change the conceptual paradigm of the industry.
The draft Mining Law bases the development of a national management system for taxes on the extraction of non-renewable resources (known as 5%) to support sustainable development projects that benefit the impacted community.
In this area, an instrument has been developed to explain how the use of funds would be applied and prioritized. We understand that it is necessary to consult about this instrument before accessing the design of a system with the aim that all interested parties understand and agree with the application model.
The modernization of this law will also make it possible to make the technical and operational aspects more transparent and to put them on a par with the already transparent economic contributions of the sector, which are available to the public through the portal of the Industry Transparency Initiative. Extractive ( https://eitird.mem.gob.do/), which we invite Dominican society to visit in order to become familiar with all the mining processes that take place in the Dominican Republic.
The author is Vice Minister of Mines of the Ministry of Energy and Mines