312 • Marine Minerals: Exploring Our New Ocean Frontier 



Law). No specific provisions (Gravel and Gathering 

 Law). 



Maximum permit area: 35,000 ares (Mining Law);" 

 no specific provisions (Quarry Law, Gravel Gathering 

 Law). 



Permits are exclusive (Mining Law, Quarry Law).^^ 



Conditions 



Factors which are considered in deciding on the issu- 

 ance of permits are: health and sanitary considerations, 

 unreasonable interference with other industrial uses, and 

 compliance with public welfare. 



Factors which are considered in regulating mining 

 activity are: whether a firm is part of an association, 

 exclusivity, fishing rights, location (minimum distance 

 from shore and minimum water depth), conflicting uses, 

 prohibited areas (seaweed "plantations" and drag net 

 areas), buffer zones (sometimes greater than 500m be- 

 tween zones), mining methods (must be sand pump or 

 clam shell), quantity, duration of license, uses, and mar- 

 ket area.^' 



Activities 



Activity is limited to sand and gravel, 94 percent of 

 which occurs in Kyushu and offshore the Seto Opera- 

 tions. ^° There is also some iron sand mining in the 

 Prefecture of Shimane. 



Netherlands^^ 



Laws 



• The Netherlands recently expanded its territorial 

 sea to 12 miles. A law for sand and gravel extrac- 

 tion within this area exists. By 1988 or 1989, this 

 law will be extended to the continental shelf, based 

 on the provisions of the 1958 Geneva Convention. 



• The Netherlands Continental Shelf Act applies only 

 to oil and gas. 



• The Netherlands has no declared EEZ, because the 

 government does not consider the EEZ to be cus- 

 tomary international law yet. 



**3.5 square kilometers. 



"Ikeda, op. cit. 



"T. Usami, K. Tsurusaki, T. Hirota, et al. , "Seafloor Sand Mining in Ja- 

 pan," in "Proceedings of Marine Technology '79— Ocean Energy", Marine 

 Technology Society, Washington, DC, pp. 176-189. 



"Ibid. 



"This information was obtained through interviews with Mr. Wim J. Van 

 Teeffelen, Assistant Attache for Science and Technology, Royal Netherlands 

 Embassy, and Mr. Henk Van Hoom from the Ministry of Transportation and 

 Waterworks, Directorate for the North Sea. 



Jurisdiction 



• Territorial waters: The central government has 

 jurisdiction since provinces in the Netherlands have 

 little power. The Ministry of Transport and Pub- 

 lic Works issues permits for mining within the 12- 

 mile zone. 



• Continental shelf: The central government has 

 jurisdiction. The Department of Treasury issues 

 permits. 



Permit Process 



Exploration and exploitation: If a company wishes 

 to extract sand, it approaches the appropriate govern- 

 ment agency with its request. As long as a company does 

 not violate any of the informal conditions and criteria, 

 it is granted a permit. Since few companies are inter- 

 ested and potential mining areas are plentiful, compa- 

 nies do not have to bid competitively for mining permits. 



Terms 



• Exploration: [Details on duration, exclusivity and 

 sampling rights, size, and fees are unknown. 



• Exploitation: Royalities must be paid. [Details on 

 rates, duration, exclusivity, size, and fees are 

 unknown.] 



Conditions 



Currently, informal policy criteria guide the agency's 

 decisions to issue permits. In the Netherlands, one learns 

 from childhood about the importance of preserving the 

 coastal and ocean environment. The most important 

 consideration is distance from the coasdine of the pro- 

 posed activity (must be no closer than 20 km to the 

 coast); since the Netherlands is 2/3 below sea level, it 

 is crucial to prevent coastal erosion. Some areas, such 

 as the Waddensea area in the north, are off limits even 

 though a great deal of sand is available, for environ- 

 mental reasons (wetlands, seals, and nursery grounds 

 for North Sea fish). Conflicts with pipelines, the envi- 

 ronment, and fisheries are also considered; these con- 

 flicts are rare, however, because activity is limited. A 

 third consideration is the type of technology the com- 

 pany proposes to use. (i.e. , thin layer dredging or deep 

 hole dredging; the former is currently preferred) 



The Ministry of Transport and Public Works is cur- 

 rently working to formalize these policy criteria, which 

 center around environmental concerns. The Ministry 

 is examining the environmental consequences of min- 

 ing in different areas. This will guide the choice of fu- 

 ture mining sites and types of technologies. 



