Subsoil Use Waste. Ecologists vs Geologists

The New Reality of Rock Mass Management

The introduction of the term "subsoil use waste" into legislation has significantly changed the landscape of environmental regulation for mining enterprises. For a long time, there were discussions in the industry about the status of overburden rocks, and the appearance of relevant amendments to the Subsoil Law was supposed to simplify the work. However, in practice, a complex intersection zone of two regulatory frameworks emerged: environmental (Federal Law No. 89 "On Production and Consumption Waste") and geological (Law of the Russian Federation "On Subsoil"). In his presentation, Anton Turtanov analyzes in detail how these changes affect the daily work of enterprises and why the same volume of rock may require double accounting.

Algorithm for Determining Waste Status

Using a logic diagram as an example, the speaker shows that any rock extracted during mining is by default recognized as subsoil use waste. However, the further fate of this material depends on several critical factors that determine whether it will acquire a second status — production and consumption waste.

Overburden and Host Rocks

A special path is provided for overburden. It remains exclusively subsoil use waste (which exempts the enterprise from part of the environmental reporting and payment for negative environmental impact) only under strict compliance with a number of conditions:

• Placement location: the rock must be stored strictly within the boundaries of the provided subsoil plot. Going beyond these boundaries automatically assigns it the status of production waste.
• Project documentation: the use of overburden must be initially included in the technical projects for field development. If there is no such indication, the material is recognized as unsuitable for use and moves into the category of production waste.
• Targeted application: the legislator has limited the options for using overburden to a closed list of seven items (mainly for internal mining operations and reclamation). Any deviation from this list entails a change in status.
• Compliance with deadlines and volumes: violation of the usage schedules recorded in the technical project, or the expiration of the license also leads to the emergence of a double status.

Tailings and Other Waste

The speaker pays special attention to waste that is not overburden rock (tailings, drill cuttings). The legislation establishes stricter frameworks for them. By default, they immediately receive a double status: both as subsoil use waste and as production and consumption waste. The possibilities for their use are extremely limited: for hazard class V waste, only four application methods are provided, and for the remaining classes — only one (use for mining).

Managing Double Accounting Risks

Understanding this complex classification system is critical for enterprises. An error in identifying the waste status leads to violations in environmental reporting, incorrect calculation of limits, and fines for failure to pay for negative environmental impact. As the speaker emphasizes, to ensure the sustainable operation of the company, it is necessary to synchronize compliance with the requirements of both types of legislation, carefully controlling the movement of every ton of extracted rock in accordance with approved technical projects.

What you will learn from this webinar:

• In what cases is overburden rock recognized as production waste and requires environmental payments?
• How does the storage location of the extracted rock affect its legal status?
• What restrictions exist for the use of tailings and drill cuttings?
• How to properly reflect subsoil use waste in the technical and environmental documentation of the enterprise?
• What violations of the technical project automatically change the status of rocks?