On 23 September, a meeting of the Extraordinary Committee on Energy and Natural Resources was held at the Sejm, during which the Undersecretary of State, Chief National Geologist, M. Brodziński presented an update on concessions granted, and the system for protecting strategic energy mineral deposits envisaged in the upcoming “White Paper on Mineral Deposit Protection”.
The Deputy Minister reported the overall number of licences by type of activity and mineral. As of 16 September 2015, 625 licences granted by the Minister of the Environment were in force. The Chief National Geologist noted that the key guiding principles for the Minister of the Environment in the licensing process are: equal treatment and compliance with legal regulations, including the Code of Administrative Procedure. He also noted that, in the event that multiple competitive applications are received, the quantity and scope of the proposed geological works constitute the decisive factor in decision making.
As regards hydrocarbon deposits, the Chief National Geologist informed that 8 applications for qualification procedure had been submitted so far (4 to be processed under interim regulations stipulated in the Act amending the Geological and Mining Law of 11th June 2014, 4 to be processed under the amended Geological and Mining Law). One qualification procedure has already been completed.
The Deputy Minister also announced that the Polish Geological Survey is currently working to prepare the necessary documentation required to enable the Minister of the Environment to announce tenders for hydrocarbon deposit concessions. It is worth noting that, in view of the new legal provisions concerning hydrocarbons, the concession authority will be responsible for preparing a range of documents, including the opinions or consents of the heads of communes (mayors or a city presidents).
However, the audience of the Committee meeting was most interested in an update on the long-awaited “White Paper on Mineral Deposit Protection”.
The Undersecretary of State underlined that the need for such a document was due to the fact that the issue regarding the security of the strategic mineral deposits had been neglected for many years. This led to the idea to develop a document that would cover deposits whose existence had already been documented, but which remained undeveloped. These will include deposits of energy resources, i.e. hard coal, lignite, hydrocarbons, ores and potassium and magnesium salts. The Chief National Geologist did not, however, preclude the possibility that the document will also cover aggregates and chemicals deposits.
According to the Chief National Geologist the “White Paper on Mineral Deposit Protection” would not address all questions concerning resource policy, within the broad meaning of that term. The primary objective of the document will be to protect deposits whose existence has been proven in the geological documentations but are not produced, so as to ensure that other investments do not preclude their future exploitation.
The document will be public and will constitute a starting point for the definition, consultation and legitimation (by way of amending the Geological and Mining Law) of the criteria and definitions used for classifying deposits into specific categories.
Minister Brodziński noted that a preliminary list of deposits, limited to approx. 50 items, was one of the steps in preparing the “White Paper on Mineral Deposit Protection”. Currently, there are around 14,000 undeveloped deposits, of which the Polish Geological Survey selected approx. 250. According to the Minister this number is still too high and should be reduced.
The “White Paper on Mineral Deposit Protection” is intended to put forward certain legislative solutions for discussion and will not be a document presenting the government’s official policy but rather a particular concept that the government intends to support.
The financing of such protection still remains an open issue, and Chief National Geologist noted that no public financing was expected in this case but rather transfers from, for example, investors were envisaged.
The document is currently being drafted by the Department of Geology and Geological Licences in cooperation with the Polish Geological Institute (PIG-PIB) and legal experts. In parallel, legal experts are working to define the methods for protecting strategic deposits at the legislative level.
At the date of preparation of this article (i.e. 19 October 2015), the “White Paper on Mineral Deposit Protection” had not yet been published by the Minister of the Environment.