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British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium
"Moving mountains and goalposts –- how do you know when you've reached the goal?" : regulatory perspectives of mine reclamation success Moody, Anne; McConnachie, Jennifer
Abstract
The Mines Act (1969) and the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in BC (Code) governs standards for all types of mine reclamation in BC. The Code specifies a number of reclamation requirements, including; soil salvage, re-contouring of disturbed surfaces, erosion control, reestablishment of land capability and productive capacity, ecological risk assessment, and monitoring programs to document success. Regulators are often questioned about the changes in interpretation of the Code requirements (i.e. “moving goalposts”). As in most natural sciences, there are no hard and fast rules in reclamation. Each mine and reclamation plan is as unique as its geographic location (i.e. playing field). This means that the rules of the game (i.e. intent of the code) must be interpreted by the referees (i.e. inspectors) according to site and mine design specifics. As the game (i.e. knowledge of the reclamation process) evolves, so do the rules. The Ministry of Energy and Mine’s (MEM) current interpretation of the rules (i.e. reclamation guidelines) is aimed at ecological restoration. Our approach is informed by site conditions and allows proponents to develop their own game-plan, with guidance from MEM. Baseline ecological assessments and objectives for restoring the land to its pre-mining capability (i.e. the rules) enable proponents to place their project on an ecological restoration track for success. Proponents will be tasked with defining monitoring programs and measures for determining revegetation success (i.e. the team decides where the goalposts are placed). The referees oversee the game for fairness and determine when the goal line is crossed. This move toward a team effort in reclamation holds promise of greater certainty for all parties and will hopefully make finding the goal line easier.
Item Metadata
Title |
"Moving mountains and goalposts –- how do you know when you've reached the goal?" : regulatory perspectives of mine reclamation success
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Creator | |
Contributor | |
Date Issued |
2013
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Description |
The Mines Act (1969) and the Health, Safety and Reclamation Code for Mines in BC (Code) governs
standards for all types of mine reclamation in BC. The Code specifies a number of reclamation
requirements, including; soil salvage, re-contouring of disturbed surfaces, erosion control, reestablishment
of land capability and productive capacity, ecological risk assessment, and monitoring
programs to document success. Regulators are often questioned about the changes in interpretation of the
Code requirements (i.e. “moving goalposts”). As in most natural sciences, there are no hard and fast rules
in reclamation. Each mine and reclamation plan is as unique as its geographic location (i.e. playing field).
This means that the rules of the game (i.e. intent of the code) must be interpreted by the referees (i.e.
inspectors) according to site and mine design specifics. As the game (i.e. knowledge of the reclamation
process) evolves, so do the rules.
The Ministry of Energy and Mine’s (MEM) current interpretation of the rules (i.e. reclamation guidelines)
is aimed at ecological restoration. Our approach is informed by site conditions and allows proponents to
develop their own game-plan, with guidance from MEM. Baseline ecological assessments and objectives
for restoring the land to its pre-mining capability (i.e. the rules) enable proponents to place their project
on an ecological restoration track for success. Proponents will be tasked with defining monitoring
programs and measures for determining revegetation success (i.e. the team decides where the goalposts
are placed). The referees oversee the game for fairness and determine when the goal line is crossed. This
move toward a team effort in reclamation holds promise of greater certainty for all parties and will
hopefully make finding the goal line easier.
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Subject | |
Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2013-10-21
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0042651
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URI | |
Affiliation | |
Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
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Scholarly Level |
Other
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Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International