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Guiding Principles
- The remediation of orphaned/abandoned mine sites must be based on concern for public health and safety, respect for ecological integrity, and sustainable development;
- All work currently ongoing with respect to inventory building and remediation must continue to be based on sound science and good communication among all parties;
- Work toward eliminating future abandonments must continue, including the tightening of regulatory approaches;
- Implement the "polluter pays" principle;
- Targeted end-use and reclamation standards must be acceptable to local communities;
- Although the objective must be comprehensive reclamation of all sites, the approach must be cost-effective and based on an acceptable method of prioritizing sites;
- Transparency and disclosure must be present in all decision-making processes;
- Encompass the notion of "fairness" in all endeavours.
Objectives:
A national multi-stakeholder advisory committee be formed and funded to address the following issues/initiatives:
- Develop capacity for a national inventory of active, closed and orphaned/abandoned mine sites based on compatible inventories in each province and territory, and including an acceptable system for categorization and priority ranking
- Develop a plan to foster community involvement in decision-making about closure and reclamation standards, and to ensure that targeted end-use and reclamation standards are acceptable to local communities
- Evaluate the efficacy of various approaches, including "Good Samaritan" (indemnification) legislation, permit blocking, non-compliance registries, and allocative liability versus joint and several liability
- Evaluate models and mechanisms to pay for the remediation of orphaned/abandoned sites, including insurance options and contingency funds
- Develop a plan for shared responsibility and stewardship when ownership cannot be established
- Develop a plan to foster transparency and disclosure in all process
- Engage other relevant federal, provincial and territorial departments and ministries
- Secure appropriate funding for the above, at a level to be determined by IGWG and other stakeholders, to ensure delivery of the Initiative.
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