El medio ambiente en la minería

EL MEDIO AMBIENTE EN LA MINEAIA 198 At the locallevel- where there are regional and sub-regional local effeets on air, water and Jand resources which are projeet speeific and which depend on the local vulnerability of tbese resources. VulnerabiJity can be measured according to both the use of these resources direetIy by man, and their indireet value as natural ecosystems which have a less tangible effeet on our quality oflife. These less tangible effeets, sometimes called amenity, cannot be measured in economic terms but are just as impor- tanl ':'," .. '. ' ,. ,,,,' ,. Govemments legislate at aU three of these levels, in terms of both projeet planning - should the mining take place and how should it be dciigned; and operational regulations to proteet air, water, land, landscape and ecological resources. .' , ';:: ¡' .,... ~~'\ ,.,' J. .• • In England we. ,aIso, have a, consi,derable emphasis on land use planning, because ,as a, densely populated country we have had to address land use conflictswith some urgetlcy. Not all countries experience these conflicts lo the same eXteI'lt, but most would benefit from an eletnent of land use planning, designating areas where mining could be acceptable, and those areas where jt definitely would noto 7.:' 8uch planning can heJp to head off many conflicts before they occur,and can renect national priorities. In Europe, environmental impact assessment teeh– niques are being appJied to this land use planning process, and this may be an area for future legislation. Future trends in intemational environmentallegislation wiIl probably show mo~eemp~asis on global issues, reconciling pollution production with where ¡tS éffec~,áretelt. We already ha\Ít regulations to curb the direct exportátion ofhazardoíis ~astes, to prevent jloiíüÍion of coastal waters and club emissions of sulphur to the atmosphere. It is Jikety that the Earth 8ummit in Rio will concentr~te on issues such as these, which have direet intemational implica– tions. .rÍ> ~ Ho~eve~:~iegislation tends to be reactive, once it is realised that we have polHit~f9~.r ówn backyard. Legislation to protCft other people's b~p~ards is usualIy slóWer, and is very difficult to achieve due lo economic aJid 'political self-interest. Pro-active legislation to prevent pollution ofany backyald before it happens is almost unheard of, but must be the goal of all the civilized world. A second obServation 1would like to make relates to the principie described earli'er,in.this:~minar: The Polluter Pays. 111is principIe is the comerstone of European environmentallegislation,and rightly so. However, as a principIe it creates a few problems when it is looked at in an international contexto