The Cabinet today approved draft amendments to portions of the Mining Act crafted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). The draft will now go to the Legislative Yuan for review.
Premier Lai Ching-te said that the crux of the Mining Act amendments rests on protecting the rights and interests of indigenous peoples in the spirit of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law, as well as imposing restrictions on mining activities and enhancing environmental protection and oversight mechanisms. At the same time, the changes will require information transparency and preserve the right of public participation. To balance environmental protection against industry requirements, production limits will be set primarily to meet internal demand, in order to meet the broadest expectations and consensus of society at large by promoting the sustainable development of the economy and environment.
Thanking Minister without Portfolio Chang Jing-sen for his oversight and guidance, as well as the MOEA and other concerned ministries and agencies for the dedicated efforts, Premier Lai instructed the MOEA, Council of Indigenous Peoples and other related agencies to move quickly in responding to Minister Chang's directives that the MOEA supervise the development of the mining industry, all supervisory bodies of targeted businesses clearly incorporate Indigenous Peoples Basic Law regulations into respective development plans, and environmental impact assessment mechanisms be taken into account.
The MOEA indicated that the Mining Act has undergone 16 rounds of revision since its initial enactment on May 26, 1930. The most recent package of amendments was promulgated on November 30, 2016. Additionally, the Executive Yuan approved draft amendments covering Article 6 and Article 72-1 of the act on February 21 of this year, and submitted it to the Legislative Yuan for review. Following growing public attention to issues such as the conservation of public land and natural resources, sustainable development, indigenous rights, information transparency and public participation, the current round of revisions was undertaken to reflect these concerns and take into account improved technologies for resource extraction, as well as overall economic and environmental conditions both at home and abroad.