Mining for Closure: Policies, practises and guidelines for sustainable mining and closure of mines

processing activities in mining, especially tailings dis- posal facilities, including tailing ponds or dams, have potential to produce very serious consequences. As a result, the Commission highlighted the need for an extension of the scope of Directive 96/82/ EC. In its resolution of 5 July 2001 (5) on the Com- mission Communication on the safe operation of mining activities, the European Parliament passed an extension of the scope of that Directive to cover risks arising from storage and processing activities in mining. In short, a significant range of mining activities are now addressed by Seveso II and the obligations of the Directive are now mandatory for industrial actors and for the public authorities of the Member States responsible for the implemen- tation and enforcement of the Directive. These conditions will also be valid for accession countries and should be of great interest to those countries aspiring to accession. Links to the full content of Seveso II 47 (Directive 2003/105/EC Of The European Parliament And Of The Council of 16 December 2003 amending Coun- cil Directive 96/82/EC on the control of major-ac- cident hazards involving dangerous substances) are included within Appendix B to this document. 2.3.3 the eu mining directive and its implications 48 As part of its continuing programme of harmoni- zation of regulations, the European Community is developing an extractive industry waste direc- tive. This is known as the European Community Draft Directive on the Management of Waste from the Extractive Industry. 49 The draft directive was given first reading by the European Parliament at the end of March 2004 and the Council reached political agreement on the proposal in October the same year. It seeks to prevent pollution and acci- dents and directly targets countries such as those in SEE/TRB. The proposed Directive will help prevent serious acci- dents resulting from the mismanagement of mining waste, like the disaster in Baia Mare in 2000, where the whole of the Danube was polluted with cyanide ... It will also minimise chronic pollution of lakes and rivers by waste facilities that are badly operated and monitored. In short, the proposed Directive will make management of waste from the extractive in- dustries safer. We are currently embarking on a his- toric enlargement of the EU and must ensure that

the best environmental standards are applied across Europe (European Commission, 2003 quoting En- vironment Commissioner Margot) In a press release in mid-2003 (European Commis- sion, 2003) the Commission indicated that the Di- rective is intended to regulate the management of waste from the mining and quarrying industries. It was held that due to the composition or volumes involved, such waste can constitute a serious threat to the environment and human health if not prop- erly managed. The proposal seeks to introduce EU- wide rules designed to prevent water and soil pol- lution from long-term storage of waste in tailings ponds, waste heaps, and so forth. The Directive is intended to ensure the stability of these waste stor- age facilities to minimise possible consequences from accidents. Further, the Directive is intended to work together with the revised Seveso II Direc- tive on the control of major industrial accidents, and a Best Available Techniques document on tail- ings and waste rock (Commission of the European Community: Directorate-General JRC, 2004). This initiative falls under the competence of the Eu- ropean Integrated Pollution Prevention and Con- trol Bureau (http://eippcb.jrc.es/), part of the Insti- tute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) in Sevilla of the Joint Research Centre. 50 The Best Available Techniques reference document (BREF) describes the Best Available Techniques of waste management to reduce everyday pollution and to prevent or mitigate accidents in the mining sector 47. Available online at http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/ dat/2003/l_345/l_34520031231en00970105.pdf 48. For a summary of this Directive, see http://europa.eu.int/ comm/environment/waste/mining/. 49. Proposal for a Directive Of The European Parliament And Of The Council on the management of waste from the extractive indus- tries COM(2003) 319 final 2003/0107 (COD). 50. The IPPC-Directive (96/61/EC) has introduced a framework requiring EU member states to issue operating permits for indus- trial installations performing activities as described in its Annex 1. These permits must contain conditions that are based on Best Available Techniques (BAT), and aim at achieving a high level of protection of the environment as a whole. Importantly in the context of this document, a key feature of the IPPC-Directive (cf. art. 16) is to stimulate an intensive exchange of information on Best Available Techniques between the European Member States and the industries considered. For Annex 1 activities, the Euro- pean IPPC-Bureau organises this exchange of information and produces BAT reference documents (BREFs) and Member States are required to take into account when determining permit condi- tions for so called ‘Annex 1’-type installations. The Bureau carries out its work through Technical Working Groups (TWGs) compris- ing nominated experts from EU Member States, EFTA Countries, industry, and environmental NGOs.

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MINING FOR CLOSURE