§ Mr. McDonnellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions when he intends to lay the regulations under section 58 of the Environment Act 1995 for mine operators to notify the Environment Agency before abandoning a mine or part of a mine. [37705]
§ Mr. MeacherI am today laying before the House, together with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales, my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Mr. Griffiths), The Mines (Notice of Abandonment) Regulations 1998. The Regulations will come into force on 1 July 1998. On 4 March, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle) made the necessary Commencement Order to bring the remainder of section 58 and 60 of the Environment Act 1995 into force on 1 July. This period of notice will allow mine operators time to put in place the necessary steps to avoid a criminal liability for failing to notify the Agency of proposed abandonment.
These Regulations are being introduced following extensive consultation with interested parties. Copies of the responses received are available from the Departments' libraries. The Regulations will help the Environment Agency ("the Agency") avoid an unexpected minewater breakout resulting in serious contamination of controlled waters by enabling the Agency to identify appropriate action to prevent pollution or treat minewaters when a mine or part of a mine is abandoned.
534WThe Regulations require mine operators to notify the Agency at least six months before abandoning a mine or part of a mine and to publish a notice in at least one local newspaper where the mine is situated. They set out the precise contents of both the notice to be given to the Agency and the public notice in a local newspaper. The notice for the Agency requires the operator to give an opinion as to the consequences of the proposed abandonment with relevant supporting information. Variations to the timing of the notice will apply where abandonment follows an emergency, and in some cases of insolvency. Where a phased programme of abandonment is planned, this could be notified to the Agency and published in local newspaper at one time, so as to reduce the burdens on the operator.
My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has also brought into effect the remainder of section 60 of the Environment Act 1995. This removes the statutory defence against prosecution from the owners and former operators of mines abandoned after 31 December 1999, where a polluting discharge is "permitted" to flow from an abandoned mine or part of a mine.