📋 Tender Overview
At yesterdays extraordinary session, the National Assembly adopted the proposal of the Act on Amendments and Supplements to the Mining Act. With the amendment, the deadline for filing an application for the extension of mining rights has been extended from six to twelve months, it is possible to carry out professional examinations in mining and it is possible to strengthen the implementation of inspection controls over the legal exploitation of mineral resources.Mining has a long and rich tradition in our country, which has adapted to new challenges over the years. Today, traditional mining is mostly replaced by activity in many quarries. Due to these changes, it is necessary to update the legislation in this area. The amendment to the law solves three key issues.
First, the proposed amendment extends the deadline for submitting an application for the extension of mining rights from six to twelve months before the expiry of the mining right. This will ensure greater efficiency and timeliness of the implementation of these procedures, as it will be possible to determine in time whether the conditions for extension are met or whether the procedures for abandoning exploitation and remediation will be carried out. In this way, we also want to avoid the last situation, when due to a large number of applications for the extension of mining rights, filed just before their expiration, it was not possible to process them and it was necessary to act with an intervention law.
Secondly, the amendment enables professional exams in mining to be held. The Ministry currently has more than 20 applications pending for these examinations, which cannot be carried out, as the current law stipulates that the commission consists of eight (8) members, of which six (6) are mining inspectors, while they are currently at the inspectorate only four (4) mining inspectors employed. The amendment therefore reduces the number of members of the commission for professional examinations in mining to five (5). Of these, the deputy president and three members are mining inspectors, but they can also be persons who manage and make decisions in administrative procedures in the field of mining in the ministry responsible for mining. In this way, we will avoid situations where it would not be possible to form a commission for professional exams. At the same time, it is also determined what data can be contained in the record of persons who have passed the professional exam, and the legal basis for the processing of personal data contained in the record is provided.
Thirdly, in the light of last years floods and the increased need to control the legal and illegal exploitation of mineral resources, it is imperative to strengthen inspection control. Since, under the current legal arrangement, the mining inspection cannot attract new employees to its ranks, in order to increase the possibility of employment of additional mining inspectors, the employment criteria regarding the level of education have been slightly lowered, namely:
for the mining inspector who supervises the implementation of underground mining works in the exploitation of mineral resources, we are lowering the criterion from at least a university education under the old system to at least a second-level education in accordance with the law governing higher education, and at the mining inspector, who supervises the implementation of mining works in the exploitation of mineral resources on the surface, from at least a university education according to the old system to an education of at least the first degree level in accordance with the law governing higher education.
The amendment to the Mining Act will contribute to a more efficient operation of the mining activity and to a faster solution to the current challenges we are facing. With an improved legal basis, we will ensure greater legal certainty, simplify procedures and strengthen control in this important area, which, despite changes, remains key to our economy and environmental protection.
