【作者】 曹霞；

【导师】 周珂；

【作者基本信息】 中国人民大学 ， 环境资源法， 2008， 博士

【摘要】 小矿是小型矿山的简称,包括小型矿山和小矿山(含零星个体采矿)。它因规模小、启动资金需求量小、技术要求低、收益快,因而在发展中国家普遍存在。小矿在充分利用矿产资源,为各国增收创汇,特别是在缓解贫困方面做出了积极的贡献,成为推动各国矿业、国民经济和社会发展不可或缺的部门。然而,小矿在发展过程中暴露出很多问题,如资源浪费、环境污染、安全事故频发,这是与可持续发展的理念和要求相背离的。这些问题日益受到国际社会的高度重视。我国的小矿由来已久,随着国家的改革开放和在“有水快流”政策的影响下,它(当时被称为乡镇矿山)异军突起,飞速发展,显示出前所未有的强大生命力。多年来,它为缓解我国矿产品供需矛盾,改善农村经济结构,促进乡镇企业和地方经济发展,帮助农民扩大就业门路、脱贫致富,推动小城镇建设发挥了重要作用。但与此同时,一系列的严重问题也相伴而来,各种小矿鱼龙混杂、开采技术落后、无序竞争、私挖乱采、破坏资源、污染环境、事故频发。这些问题不仅影响到国家正常的矿业秩序,也成为制约小矿自身可持续发展的瓶颈。我国从20世纪90年代末开始对各类小矿,特别是对小煤矿进行大规模治理整顿,先后经历了“关井压产”和“资源整合”两个重要整顿阶段,开展了一系列与此相关的活动。前一阶段以治小、散、乱为主,后一阶段则侧重矿产资源规划布局的调整。经过十余年的整顿,小矿几度关停,到2005年我国各类矿山数目由1995年的28万余个减少到12万余个,小煤矿的数量也由7.6万个减少到2.5万个。按照国土资源部等12部门的联合部署,到2010年小煤矿要减到1万个左右,到2015年基本退出煤炭行业。随着国家的三令五申,小矿的绝对数目在有计划地减少,但被关停的小矿屡关屡开、死灰复燃的事件却频频曝光,由此引发的矿难亦不绝于耳。这些小矿为什么久关不闭?小矿主为什么置矿工的生命而不顾顶风作业?这背后真正的原因是什么?从中央到地方各级政府对小矿的规制为什么会失灵?失灵的症结又在哪里?资源整合是否简单地等同于关闭小矿?这一连串的问题是我国当前资源整合过程中亟待解决的重大现实问题,它们不仅关系到我国整顿矿业秩序的成败,而且事关小矿及其矿区的可持续发展乃至全社会的稳定。本文就这些问题从法律规制角度展开研究,以期为我国对矿产资源开发活动进行理性的、规范化的整合提供法律依据,也为合法小矿的可持续发展寻求一条依法开采、依法治矿的有效途径。国外对小矿法律规制的研究已有30多年的历史,成果较多。而国内同类研究则断断续续、比较分散。其中深究小矿的负面影响,探讨如何关闭、取缔小矿的成果不在少数,而客观地评价小矿,研究如何规范、促进其发展的成果却屈指可数。本文以可持续发展为视角,试图从法律角度分析我国现阶段在小矿规制方面存在的问题与症结,探讨我国小矿存在和发展的规律性与必要性,然后通过对国外小矿法律规制的考察与比较,廓清小矿法律规制的内在特征,在此基础上提出构建和完善我国小矿法律规制体系的建议。论文除导论和结论外共分六章:第一章从“小矿”的概念界定入手,介绍与评价国内外现存的关于“小矿”的各种概念,并对与“小矿”相关的几个概念——小小矿/手工小矿、非正规矿、(中)小企业进行辨析,之后,给出了本文对“小矿”下的定义:“小矿是以谋生或营利为目的,采用简单的或基本的采掘设备与技术,在有限的矿藏范围内从事某种矿产品采选活动的小规模、劳动密集型的矿山企业。其中包括开采规模达到国家规定的小型矿山标准的小型矿山企业和开采规模在小型矿山上限1/10以下的小矿山企业(含零星个体采矿)。小矿是采矿业最基本的构成部门。”该定义厘清了小矿的概念及其法律含义,为解决小矿问题提供了准确的切入点。第二章探讨国内外小矿的地位和作用以及存在的主要问题。无论国际还是国内小矿在各国国民经济中都占有非常重要的位置,是为国家增收创汇、缓解贫困、推动地方经济发展的一支生力军。但它存在的问题亦十分突出。虽然国内外略有差异,但无序开采、浪费资源、破坏环境、安全事故频发等一系列的问题是小矿共同存在的问题。究其原因,本文认为,一方面,除资源禀赋条件外,小矿的存在源于贫穷,低投入、粗放型运作又使其回归到贫穷原点,以致小矿不得不在恶性循环中重演着“公地悲剧”。而另一方面,政府不公允的政策与制度缺陷在很大程度上进一步加剧了小矿问题的严重性。鉴于此,本文提出,小矿问题的解决不能简单地运用矿业知识、环保或安全标准进行“一刀切”式的“关闭”或“取缔”,而应当从可持续发展的战略高度出发,把环境问题、安全问题与社会经济问题结合起来考虑,统筹兼顾,从而使小矿问题得以根治。第三章在可持续发展的大背景下探讨小矿法律规制的理论支点与依据以及小矿可持续发展的实现形式。可持续发展思想的人本理念强调,要把满足贫困和弱势群体的基本需要放在优先地位。我国基于国情、又从世界可持续发展思想中孕育而生的科学发展观也同样强调以人为本、全面协调的可持续发展。本文认为,可持续发展的首要目标应当是在尽可能保护环境和资源的条件下,优先消除贫困,最大限度地满足贫弱群体的基本需求。小矿虽然问题很多,但作为一种有效的减贫载体,它自身需要实现可持续发展,同时,它又是促进整个矿业以及社会经济可持续发展的重要组成部分。所以,政府规制小矿的目的就是要以社会福利最大化为目标,根据国家有关的矿业政策、法律、法规与法律制度,对小矿的准入、生产经营活动、税收、环境管理、安全健康及劳动用工等状况进行干预与监管,帮助小矿除弊兴利,实现对矿产资源的永续利用、矿区环境的可持续发展和矿区生活的永久保障。第四章对我国小矿法律规制的历程、特征和存在的问题进行概述和分析。总体上,我国在小矿法律规制上政策弹性大,稳定性差,鼓励、扶持不足,限制、责备有余;立法分散庞杂,法律层次低,权宜性明显;管理体制复杂、多变,权限模糊,缺乏协调;监管手段单一、效率低下。本文认为,这些缺陷和不足与我国在矿业政策上长期以大矿利益为重,忽视小矿的地位和作用关系密切,这也是导致我国小矿发展过快、过滥,开发无序,环境破坏严重,安全事故多发,屡禁不止的一个重要原因,十分有必要尽快完善小矿立法,改革小矿管理体制。第五章考察国外小矿法律规制的过程与特点,总结出国外小矿法律制度的基本原则与逐步形成的法律制度以及小矿管理制度的发展趋势,结合哥伦比亚规制小煤矿的个案研究,归纳出国外小矿规制实践对我国的启示。本文认为,国外小矿法律规制有很多宝贵经验值得我国借鉴,其中两点尤为重要:一是在政策上充分肯定小矿在促进国家经济发展与缓解贫困方面的重要作用,把小矿的发展战略融入到整个农村复兴和农民增收战略当中。二是在立法中明确小矿的法律地位,相应的法律制度与管理制度的设计以促进小矿发展为本,把规范与促进发展有机结合起来。第六章首先对我国小矿问题进行深度剖析,继而对小矿的存废问题进行理性探讨。本文认为,在很大程度上国家长期“重大矿、轻小矿,重封堵、轻疏导,重经济、轻社会”的政策导向和管理手段是导致我国小矿问题久而不绝、治而低效的重要原因之一。我国仍处于社会主义初级阶段,“三农”问题十分突出,而我国矿产资源又以小型矿床居多,这种国情、民情、矿情决定了我国在现阶段留存少量合法小矿的必要性。基于以上认识,本文认为,完善我国小矿法律规制的路径应当是:在可持续发展观和科学发展观的指导下,政策先行,正确评价小矿的地位和作用;完善立法,优先制定小矿专门法律;设立独立、权威的小矿专门管理机构,转变管理理念,实现以人为本的多元服务型管理模式;充分发挥社会力量,挖掘外部资源,扩大国际合作,形成共管共促格局,全方位推进小矿的可持续发展。本文的创新点主要包括:1)从法律规制角度对我国的小矿问题进行了较为全面的梳理与分析,填补了我国在这一领域研究的空白。2)立足于可持续发展观,提出我国小矿的法律规制应当注重环境效益和经济、社会效益的协调发展,应当把规制小矿与减贫战略与建设我国社会主义新农村战略结合起来。从这个战略高度出发,规制就不再是资源整合的目的,而成为促进小矿健康、有序发展的手段。这一观点的提出对于避免我国目前为整顿而整顿、不计后果地对所有小矿实行关闭的“一刀切”做法,实行统筹规划、疏堵结合有着重要的现实意义。3)对我国的小矿进行了现实且较为科学的概念界定与法律含义分析,为依法规制小矿提供了法律依据。4)基于我国在今后较长一段时间内小矿还有必要继续存在的客观现实,建议修订我国现有的《矿产资源法》,在其中设小矿专章,并对小矿的立法指导思想、立法原则与法律制度提出了完善建议。这些立法建议将有助于充实与丰富我国小矿法律规制理论的内容。5)本文提出设立独立、权威的国家小矿管理机构,并根据我国行政区划特点设立直属于中央的地方小矿管理机构,为小矿提供一站式服务与实施统一监管。6)本文提出政府应当加大对涉及小矿的行业协会或社团的鼓励与扶持力度,充分挖掘外部资源,促进全社会参与规范小矿的行动,从而降低政府监管成本,提高监管效率。更多还原

【Abstract】 SSM is a short form for the small-scale mine, which is popularly found in developing countries due to its small scale, less start-up capital, low technical requirements and quick recovery. Small-scaled mines and artisanal mines are two major forms of mines engaging in small-scale mining. These SSMs have contributed tremendously for these countries in exploiting natural resources, generating revenues and foreign exchange earnings, and in alleviating poverty, which has made them an indispensable component part in the promotion of these countries’mining and socio-economic development. However, their contributions often come with serious problems such as waste of resources, environmental pollution and repeated mine accidents. This is thoroughly incompatible with the concept of sustainable development that emphasizes balanced environmental and socio-economic development, and thus has become an increasing concern of the international community. SSMs have a long history in China, but they (referred as Township and Village Mines in the past) boomed with unprecedented great vitality with China’s open-door and reform policy in late 1970s and under the influence of a“rigorous policy”that encouraged large, medium and small-scale mines to simultaneously realize the maximum of production. For years, these SSMs have played a vital role in easing minerals shortage of the country; improving rural economic structures, promoting township and village enterprises and local economy; creating alternative livelihoods and income for farmers and strengthening the development of minor cities across rural areas. But meanwhile, their operations are fraught with issues, mainly including illegal operations, backward mining technology, disorderly competitions, irrational locations, resources waste, environmental damage and poor safety records. These issues have not only affected the normal national mining order, but also hindered the possibility for sustained development on the SSM’s side.For this very reason China has began to launch large-scale campaigns across the country from late 90s of the 20th century in an attempt to rectify those small-scale mines, especially small-scale coal mines (township and village coal mines—TVCMs) with the above problems. Closure and consolidation are two important programs of the campaigns coupled with a whole train of rectifying events. The former aims at overcoming small-scale, scattering and disorder of TVCMs for the purpose of combating the over-production of coal, and the latter at consolidating mineral resources in line with the country’s planned layouts for mineral resources. During these two programs, tens of thousands of SSMs were closed, and by the end of 2005, the number of SSMs throughout the country decreased from 280,000 in 1995 to 120,000, and TVCMs from 76,000 to 25,000. According to the deployment of the Ministry of Land Resources and other 11 ministries and commissions at central level, the number of TVCMs will be cut down to around 10,000 by the end of 2010, and they will be eventually withdrawn from the coal industry by the end of 2015. With the enjoinment of the country, TVCMs have been closed in a planned way, however, reopening occurrences of the closed TVCMs and subsequent mine accidents are continually exposed in the press. Why do these closed TVCMs insist on reopening?Why do the miners do this without taking account of the workers’lives? What underlies these reopening occurrences? Why has regulation at both central and local levels failed and what are the reasons concerned? Is consolidation simply equal to the closure of SSMs? These questions are utterly important and require prompt answers since they not only relate to the success of the country’s rectification and consolidation programs, but relate to the sustainable development of SSMs and their communities as well as social stability. This thesis attempts to address all the above questions from the perspective of legal regulation with a purpose to provide legal basis for China’s consolidation mineral resources with SSMs as a key sector with more reasonable and standardized regulation, and to provide an effective way for those legal SSMs to sustainably exploit and manage mineral resources by law.The research on SSM regulation abroad is over 30 years long with plenty of academic achievements. But domestically, the similar research has been sporadic and segmented. More literature studies the negative sides of SSMs, or rather, how to ban and close these SSMs, but very few concerns with how to regulate SSMs so as to strengthen their growth. This thesis, in the context of sustainable development, seeks to analyze issues and constraints facing China’s present SSM regulation from a legal perspective, to discuss the rule and necessity of the existence and development of these SSMs. After a thorough overview and contrast of SSM regulation experiences in foreign countries, developing countries in particular, the thesis identifies and clarifies inherent characteristics for regulating SSMs. Based upon the above study, the thesis concludes with a number of options and recommendations for improved policy and regulatory frameworks for sustained SSM development in China.The thesis includes six main chapters:Chapter One begins with the definition of SSMs by reviewing and evaluating existing definitions of SSMs both in China and abroad, and by comparing a few of definitions with respect to SSMs such as artisanal mines, informal mines, (medium-and ) small-scale enterprises, and then follows up with the author’s definition of SSMs:“Small-scale mines are those small-scaled and labour-intensive mining enterprises that, for livelihood or commercial purposes, conduct mining operations in mineral-limited areas by applying simple or rudimentary mining equipment and technology. They include small-scaled mines with a production capacity that conforms to the national small-scale criteria, and artisanal mines with a capacity below 1/10 of the upper limit of the criteria for the former, all of which constitute a fundamentally component part of the mining industry.”This definition streamlines and clarifies the connotations of SSMs and their legal implications, providing a valuable entry point to exploring solutions for SSM issues.Chapter Two explores the status and role of SSMs domestically and internationally. SSMs have all been playing a pivotal role in national economy and have become a vital force in contributing to national revenues, foreign exchange earnings, alleviating poverty and promoting local economic development. However, the problems faced by these SSMs are conspicuous, mainly including disorderly mining operations, waste of resources, significant environmental damage and poor safety standards. Though varying slightly, they are fairly common in both China and other developing countries. The author holds that, on the one hand, these problems are attributable to poverty apart from limited mineral reserves. Poverty drives low-income people to work in SSMs that are operating in an extensive mode with low inputs, thus failing to make a big fortune to feed their hungry workers who are once again forced back to poverty. In a vicious circle from poverty to predatory exploitation of natural resources, back to poverty, these SSMs are repeating“common tragedies”on end. On the other hand, government’s biased policy toward SSMs and regulatory deficiencies, to a great extent, exacerbate the severity of SSM problems. For these two reasons, the author insists that it is by no means a panacea for SSM problems by simply banning and closing them in a“fit-all”method against mining expertise, environmental and safety standards. Desirably, their environmental and safety problems should be handled by concurrently taking into consideration socio-economic issues from a strategic perspective of sustainable development.Chapter Three discusses theoretically the supporting points and bases for regulating SSMs in the context of sustainable development followed by a further discussion on how to achieve sustainable development for SSMs. The“people-first”principle in the theory of sustainable development insists that top priority be given to the basic needs of the poor and the weak. Further, China’s Outlook of Scientific Development, which is bred from global sustainable development on a basis of China’s national conditions, also upholds“people-centered”sustained development with coordinating environmental sustainability with socio-economic sustainability. Supported by these two thoughts, the author contends that the ultimate goal of sustainable development should be to eradicate poverty and to meet to the maximum the basic needs of the poor and the weak while preserving and maintaining environmental and resources integrity with utmost efforts of human beings. Being an effective poverty-alleviating tool, SSMs, fraught with problems though, require sustained development on their own; and meanwhile, they are a component part in promoting sustainable development of the whole mining industry, society and national economy. Therefore, the purpose of government’s regulation is, aiming at maximized social benefits, to intervene, regulate and supervise SSM operations in accordance with national mining policy and relevant laws and regulations in terms of licensing, production and marketing, taxation, environmental management, health and safety, and labour recruitment with an attempt to overcome their demerits and bring their active roles into full play, thus helping SSMs to realize sustained use of mineral resources, and to maintain environmental sustainability and sustainable livelihoods.Chapter Four summarizes and analyzes China’s SSM regulatory history, its features and the issues in existence. Generally speaking, China’s SSM regulation is characterized by:Highly unsteady and incoherent policies with more restrictions and reproaches than encouragement and assistance;Numerous, jumbled and segmented SSM regulations featured with a low degree of legal effect but a high degree of expedience;Complicated and changeable institutional arrangements with unclearly defined responsibilities, poor coordination between departments at various levels, and simplistic methods of management and low effectiveness.The author thinks that all these deficiencies largely relate to the fact that China has long attached great importance to large-and-medium-scale mines without due attention to the status and role of SSMs,which has constituted one of the important reasons for blind and reckless development of SSMs, and the failure and ineffectiveness to close those with poor environmental, safety and health records. Hence, it is urgently necessary to speed up the improvement of SSM legislation and the reform of SSM management system.Chapter Five provides an overview of foreign countries’SSM regulation, based on which basic principles and legal systems as well as the trends of institutional arrangements are summarized. Then after the study of the Colombian case, the thesis generalizes a number of lessons learnt from foreign SSM regulation practice, among which two are of great importance for China: one relates to the fact that almost all the foreign countries affirm positively the pivotal role of SSMs in strengthening national economy and alleviating poverty, and proactively integrate SSM development into rural reconstruction strategy and farmers’income increase strategy. The other is that these countries clarify the status of SSMs in their legislation with appropriate legal systems and management systems oriented toward SSM development, thus coordinating regulation with SSM growth promotion.Chapter Six seeks to get into the bottom of China’s SSM issues, based upon which a rational reflection on the existence of SSMs is thoroughly discussed. The author contends that the epidemic failure and ineffectiveness to crack down SSM chaos in China are largely imputed to the government’s long-term partial mining policy and inflexible management mode that value large-scale mines but ignore SSMs, pay more attention to closure and suppression than mediation and direction, and give precedence to economic development over social impacts. Given that China is a country still in its primary stage of socialism with highly protruding issues concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers, and that the majority of mineral deposits are small-scaled, it is imperative that China have a small number of legalized SSMs for some years to come. In view of this standing, the author puts forward some options for improving China’s SSM regulatory frameworks:Under the guidance of the outlooks of Sustainable Development and Scientific Development, to revise relevant policy and identify and affirm objectively the status and role of SSMs;To improve SSM legislation by urgently drafting a separate chapter in the national mining law;To establish an independent and authoritative SSM management agency to provide comprehensive and“one-stop”services to SSMs on the“people-centered”basis;To encourage extensive public involvement, explore external resources and broaden international cooperation, and fostering an atmosphere to concertedly regulating and strengthening SSMs. The contributions of this thesis mainly include:From the legal perspective, the thesis has presented a thorough review and an analysis of China’s SSM regulation, bridging the gap of the research in this field.Based on sustainable development, the thesis has insisted that the regulation of China’s SSMs should coordinate environmental benefits with socio-economic benefits, and should also integrate it into the strategies of poverty alleviation and the construction of a New Socialist Countryside. From this point of view, the abovementioned consolidation campaigns ought to be regarded as more of a tool to promote orderly and formal mining operations of SSMs than an exclusive goal, which will be of immediate significance in avoiding regulating SSMs on a“fit-all closure”basis, and in conducting overall planning for the regulation by combining both direction and suppression methods.The thesis has tried to appropriately define China’s SSMs with an analysis of legal connotations this definition conveys, providing an important basis for regulating SSMs by law.Given the fact that it is necessary for China to have a small number of SSMs for years to come, the thesis has proposed that the Mineral Resources Law be urgently revised and a separate chapter concerning SSMs be added into it. More recommendations on the improvement of corresponding legislation principles and legal systems have also been presented. All these suggestions for SSM legislation will enrich China’s theory of regulating SSMs by law.The thesis has proposed that an independent and authoritative administrative agency be established and local administrative offices be concurrently set up responsible directly to the central agency, both of which are expected to practice unified regulation over SSMs and offer“one-stop”services for them.The thesis has suggested that it is necessary for the Government to foster extensive public involvement in regulating SSMs by strengthening the encouragement and support of SSM related associations and societies, exploring external resources, and thus improving regulatory effectiveness and reducing the costs of the government’s regulation.更多还原