Section 79 in Haryana Minor Mineral Concession, Stocking, Transportation of Minerals and Prevention of Illegal Mining Rules, 2012
79. Restoration and Rehabilitation works to remain the first charge on the Fund.
(1)The expenditure on restoration and rehabilitation of the mining sites shall remain the first charge on the fund;(2)Every mineral concession holder, before undertaking the restoration and rehabilitation works as part of his progressive mine closure plan, shall get his estimates of expenditure on such works duly approved from the Director or an officer authorised by him and submit the utilisation certificate duly certified by a registered Chartered Accountant. The mineral concession holder shall be entitled to get the expended amount re-imbursed out of the Fund to the extent of actual expenditure subject to such re-imbursement being limited to the amount contributed by him. Any expenditure incurred over and above this limit shall have to be borne by the mineral concession holder from his own account.Explanatory Note : Notwithstanding the expenditure incurred by a mineral concession holder on the measures taken for the progressive mine closure plan, the occasion for undertaking the complete restoration and rehabilitation works in respect of any mining area arises only when a mine reaches the closure stage or so declared by the department. It is likely that the mining operations would have been undertaken by multiple concession holders before reaching the stage of closure of a mine. As such, it becomes imperative that the comprehensive measures for restoration and rehabilitation of a mining site are taken up only upon closure of such mine. The responsibility for execution of such plan shall rest with the mineral concession holder operating such area at the time of its closure. Since the contribution to the fund is also made by each of the lessees/ contractors who have operated the area during the intervening period, the financial burden of restoration and rehabilitation measures shall not be borne by the last contractor/ lessee alone.(3)A mineral concession holder operating the mine at the time of its final closure shall be responsible for execution of the restoration and rehabilitation works as per the final mine closure plan. He shall prepare and submit the estimates for implementation of the final restoration and rehabilitation plan to the Director, for approval of the estimates;(4)The Director, shall approve such estimates, with or without any modifications, and re-imburse the expenditure actually incurred on the site by the implementation agency in a phased manner out of the Fund. The amount so re-imbursed shall not exceed the total amount received from the mineral concession holders in respect of that site less the expenditure already incurred earlier.(5)The Director may require the mineral concession holder to engage an independent agency for implementation of the restoration and rehabilitation works and evolve a system of monitoring the deliverables through an independent agency.
