CHAPTER 4 STUDY RESULTS
4.1 Establishment and Administration of Current Environmental Funds of Mining
4.1.1 Environmental Funds of Mining Projects in Thailand
Up till the present, environmental funds of mining projects consisted of 3 funds established according to the Notifications of Department of Primary Industries and Mines namely Health Surveillance Fund, Community Development Fund Around Mining Areas, and Rehabilitation Fund of Mined areas. Thailand abolished the Minerals Act B.E. 2510 (1967) and replaced it with the Minerals Act B.E. 2560 (2017).
Under this law, pursuant to sections 24 (7) and 68 (9) on the placement of security for the purposes of rehabilitating the mined area and providing remedies to persons affected by the mining B.E. 2 5 6 2 (2019) effective January 16, 2019, it stipulated that mining operator must place security for the purpose of rehabilitating the mined area during mining. If it was found that the mining operator did not rehabilitate the mined area according to plan, Department of Primary Industries and Mines (DPIM) had the right
to use the security as operational expenses in place of the concession holder. Therefore, the Notification of DPIM in 2015 stipulating the establishment of the rehabilitation fund of the mined area was revoked. However, even if the fund was abolished, the mining operator would still be responsible for rehabilitating the mined area according to the measures to prevent and remedy environmental impact as approved by Department of Primary Industries and Mines or Expert Committee to Consider Environmental Impact Assessment Reports.
At present, there remained only 2 environmental funds of mining projects according to the Notifications of DPIM in 2016 namely Health Surveillance Fund and Community Development Fund Around Mining Areas. Based on the documents presented for clarification to the Ad-hoc Committee on Considering and Studying the Problem Solving of the Issuance of a Concession and its Environmental Impact from Mining on March 25, 2021 at Parliament Building, DPIM collected information of the number of mines from 7 Regional Offices of Primary Industries and Mines. According to the information, at the end of February 2021, it was found that 659 mining projects had environmental funds of mining projects, divided into 453 Health Surveillance Funds and 347 Community Development Funds Around Mining Areas. The evaluation of the minimum yearly capital contribution to Health Surveillance Funds and Community Development Funds Around Mining Areas equaled 167,558,671 baht and 245,386,339 baht a year respectively. It was revealed that Office of Primary Industries and Mines Region 6 had the highest minimum capital to contribute to both Funds, compared with other Regional Offices of Primary Industries and Mines (Table 4.1 and Figure 4.1 to Figure 4.2) with the total of 252 Funds. Table 4.1 revealed that although there were as many as 659 mining projects, the funds were not established in all areas.
As Health Surveillance Fund and Community Development Fund Around Mining Areas were officially determined by the Notifications of DPIM dated September 13, 2016, however, before 2016, there might be funds with healthcare features but the funds did not clearly determine the amount of capital, depending on the consideration of the EIA Report. In each period, there might be differences in the determination to establish funds and the amount of capital to contribute to the funds. There might be no determination on minimum criteria or the rate of mineral production.
Table 4.1 Amount of Capital Contributed to Environmental Funds of Mining Projects Divided by Regional Offices of Primary Industrie and Mines RankRegional Offices of Primary Industries and Mines No. of Mining Projects Mining Projects with Conditions to Set Up Funds Minimum of Capital a Year (Baht) Health Surveillance Funds
Community Development Funds Around Mining Areas Health Surveillance Funds Community Development Funds Around Mining Areas
Total 1 Office of Primary Industries and Mines Region 1
5437306,750,00015,000,00021,750,000 2 Office of Primary Industries and Mines Region 2
69605110,970,00024,500,00035,470,000 3 Office of Primary Industries and Mines Region 3
8847378,310,00018,250,00026,260,000 4 Office of Primary Industries and Mines Region 4
6141316,430,00015,500,00021,930,000 5 Office of Primary Industries and Mines Region 5
104735212,522,66826,228,67138,751,339
RankRegional Offices of Primary Industries and Mines No. of Mining Projects Mining Projects with Conditions to Set Up Funds Minimum of Capital a Year (Baht) Health Surveillance Funds
Community Development Funds Around Mining Areas Health Surveillance Funds Community Development Funds Around Mining Areas
Total 6 Office of Primary Industries and Mines Region 6
20914210824,590,00050,290,00075,510,000 7 Office of Primary Industries and Mines Region 7
7453388,250,00017,160,00025,410,000 Total65945334777,822,668167,558,671245,380,339 Source: Modified from the documents presented for clarification to the Ad-Hoc Committee on Considering and Studying the Problem Solving of the Issuance of a Concession and its Environmental Impact from Mining on March 25, 2021 by Department of Primary Industries and Mines (2021a). Note: 1. Information at the end of February 2021 2. Regional Office of Primary Industries and Mines is regional government agency supervising provinces, divided into 7 regions directly under Department of Primary Industries and Mines (DPIM), Ministry of Industry, and under the Governor as authoriz by Director-General of DPIM
Figure 4.1 Graph Showing the Number of Health Surveillance Funds and Community Development Funds around Mining Areas in 2021
Note: Information as per February 2021
ROPIM = Regional Offices of Primary Industries and Mines
Figure 4.2 Graph Showing Minimum Capital Required to be Contributed to Health Surveillance Funds and Community Development Funds around Mining Areas in 2021
Note: Information as per February 2021
ROPIM = Regional Offices of Primary Industries and Mines
37
60
47 41
73
142
53 30
51
37 31
52
108
38
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
ROPIM.1 ROPIM.2 ROPIM.3 ROPIM.4 ROPIM.5 ROPIM.6 ROPIM.7 Health Surveillance Funds
Community Development Funds Around Mining Areas
6,750,000 10,970,000 8,310,000 6,430,000 12,522,668 24,590,000 8,250,000
15,000,000 24,500,000 18,250,000 15,500,000 26,228,671 50,290,000 17,160,000
0 10,000,000 20,000,000 30,000,000 40,000,000 50,000,000 60,000,000
ROPIM.1 ROPIM.2 ROPIM.3 ROPIM.4 ROPIM.5 ROPIM.6 ROPIM.7 Health Surveillance Funds
Community Development Funds Around Mining Areas
Number
(Funds)
Amount
(baht)
4.1.2 Criteria of Establishment and Administration of Health