New bill to control private coal mines

Press, 16 June 1979, Page 6

New bill to control private coal mines

PA Wellington Prospecting and mining of privately owned coal will be regulated by the Minister of Inergy for the first time under the Ccal Mines Bill d.scussed in Parliament! y esterday. Under the bill, first in-1 troduced tn 1977. anyone who wants to mine coal ' whether it is owned by the: Crown or privately, wilii have to apply to the Minister for a licence Privately craned coal is I not subject to licensing at present. The Minister of Energy (Mr Birch) said during the second-reading debate on the bill yesterdav that through the licensing system the Minister would in future be; able to regulate the preduc-i tion of private coal. We alreadv controls State coal mines the 'tines Dfvfrion of the Ministry of Energy. *

i The bill consolidates and amends the Coai Mines Act, '1925. ' Mr Birch said that in future it had to be ensured that mineable blocks of coal were ! developed in an economic land orderly way. “In seeking these extra I powers particularly those over private coal, the Gov’eminent has been at pains ,to see that they extend no i further than is necessary,” he said. “The bill makes no change : m the ownership of private coal and does not interfere with the right of a private coal owner to make his own agreement with the coal miner on such things as royalties, rent, and compensa’ion ” Other aspects of the bill, I which has 156 pages and contains 26® clauses include a provision that agencies responsible for disposing of Crown land will have to determine whether it con-

tains coal and if so to report that to the Secretary of Energy. Also all private coal-min-ing operators will be rejquired to get mining rights from the Minister within five years of the act coming into force and coal-mine owners will be made more responsible for the safety of their mines. The manager of every coal .mine will have to give plans to the department each year setting out precisely his coal-mining plans for the year and in lesser detail his plans for the next four and nine-year periods. "By this means the Government will be able to see that New Zealand’s coal reserves are conserved and that the acceptable underground coal-recovery rates are achieved,” said Mr Birch. The second reading of the [bill was interrupted by the adjournment.