National Mineral Policy 2006 - Department of Mines

MOEF is required in the case of renewals, the same should be granted without havingto go through the whole process of submitting a fresh proposal. [3.33]• Compensatory afforestation charges are prescribed by the state governments. Thesecharges vary widely across the states, and the criteria for fixing such charges arearbitrary. In order to have uniformity of approach, it has been suggested thatcompensatory afforestation charges be fixed by the Central government based on theforest area and topography of each state. Further, the compensatory afforestationcharges should be staggered over the entire lease period and collected on yearly basis.It is suggested that there should be no differentiation in the stipulation ofcompensatory afforestation charges in the leases of low-value and high-valueminerals. [3.34]• The State Forest Departments of some of the states have issued instruction that formovement of minerals in the forest area, mining companies have to obtain a TransportPermit from the forest authorities by paying an additional royalty for specified majorand minor minerals. The mining industry is already burdened with various forestlevies, from NPV to compensatory afforestation charges. Any additional levies fortransportation in the forest area can have an adverse effect on the viability of miningoperations. [3.35]• At present, the processing takes place at multiple levels, which has made the forestclearance process extremely time consuming. In order to avoid unnecessary delays inthe processing of applications for diversion of forest land for mining, it is alsosuggested that the levels at the state government be reduced to three, i.e. DistrictForest Officer, Nodal Officer, and Secretary, State Forest Department. [3.36]Environment (Protection) Act (EPA), 1986• The time frame proposed in the draft notification of the MOEF of May 2006 worksout to 232 days, even after excluding the time required for preparation of EMP andthe final report. This proposed time frame is too long and is well beyond theinternational norm of up to 6 months (180 days) for granting environment clearances.There is scope for reducing this time frame. [3.44]207