The impacts of EIA procedure on the mining sector in the permit process of mining operating activities & Turkey analysis

Abstract

Mining operations are activities that require large investments with high risks at all stages and have a long process of return on the investment. In addition to the production and investment criteria, environmental criteria also have an impact on making the decision on whether to carry out these activities or not. Accordingly, the decision to whether to carry out the mining projects or not is made based on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). All the legislation and application issues that are determined in Turkey regarding the EIA also have resulted in the number of times EIA procedure is required from the mining sector to be quite a lot compared to the other sectors. The frequency of EIA being requested from the mining sector does not only create a bureaucracy that is only applied to the mining sector, but also creates investment losses in this sector. The result clearly shows that tens of mining enterprises lose a significant amount of their investments because of the EIA. In other words, this has happened due to EIA process times being lengthened out and process completion time being unpredictable because of reasons that emerge from the assessment during the process of EIA in Turkey. These circumstances also cause the investors who want to invest in the mining sector to back down on the investments they were planning to make.The answers that are given to the survey questionnaire which was asked to the mining enterprises in order to see how long it takes to be granted the EIA and the other permits that are taken under rules to be completed within three months during the EIA process in the mining sector in Turkey, show that the other permits (like the “Land ownership Permit” and “Business License and Work Permit”) are usually given to the mining enterprises within 3–34 months time during the EIA process in Turkey. In order to shorten this license assessment process; the procedures that request the opinions of other institutions during the EIA procedure after the application was made and even after the EIA license is granted, need to be abolished. Furthermore, through a Commission that could be established within the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (MENR) that constitutes of the representatives of EIA and other units the opinions of which are requested will make the EIA and other permits to be granted, managed and the decisions during the permit process to be made faster.