Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF)

Transcription

1 Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum Department of Mines and Petroleum Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) Frequently Asked Questions 1

2 Contents Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) Registration...1 Do I need to register for the MRF/how do I register for the MRF?... 1 I do not have or have lost my MRF registration letter, what should I do?... 1 The verification codes from my MRF registration letter have expired/are not working... 1 Why have I been sent documentation regarding the MRF?... 1 How can I check or update my contact information in MTO?... 1 Why aren t all of my tenements are listed in my registration?... 1 I registered my tenements without any issues but some or all of them have disappeared from view in the Environmental and Regulatory System 2 (EARS2)... 2 My tenements are all registered to the same address but I have received multiple registration letters for the MRF... 2 The MRF registration online system will not accept my address... 2 I have recently taken ownership of a tenement but the changes have not taken effect in MTO. Can I still obtain an MRF registration letter?... 2 I am a part owner of a tenement; does the joint holder have to register too?... 2 I am a part owner of a tenement and my partner has reported data but it is different to the data I have. Whose data does the MRF use?... 2 Who is responsible for the data reported?... 2 MRF Reporting Process...2 Is it compulsory for me to report?... 2 My tenements are under State Agreement. Do I still have to report through the MRF?... 2 How often do I need to report for the MRF?... 3 What is the assessment date?... 3 What is the Levy Period?... 3 What data do I need to report?... 3 My land has been rehabilitated. Do I need to report?... 3 One or more of my tenements have no disturbance... 3 My tenement contains some historical disturbances that I have inherited. Do I have to report these?... 3 Where should I get my disturbance data from?... 4 I have dead tenements, can I opt them into the MRF?... 4 I have sold some of the tenements that are displayed on my MRF report. Am I responsible for reporting on them?... 4 I have missed the June 30 deadline, what happens now?... 4 There was an error in my report. What do I do to correct it?... 4 I have received a request for further information and/or records in relation to an MRF desktop audit. What does it mean and what do I have to do?... 4 Will disturbance data from MRF reports be made publically available?... 4 I received a letter notifying me that DMP has initiated an MRF assessment on my behalf. What does it mean and what do I have to do?... 5 Does my MRF levy count towards my expenditure report requirement (Form 5)?

3 Issuing of the assessment notice...5 I did not receive an assessment notice?... 5 What is the nominated party?... 5 Where can I change the nominated party?... 5 Where will my MRF assessment notice be sent?... 5 How do I pay my MRF levy?... 6 Can I pay a portion of the levy if my partner/s have not reported or paid?... 6 Can I make a partial payment for my MRF levy?... 6 Unconditional Performance Bonds...6 My UPB was not retired in the first year of the MRF/ I have had a UPB applied since the first year of the MRF. How do I go about getting the UPB retired?... 6 MRF Technical Questions...6 I can see my MRF details but I cannot edit them... 6 The system is not accepting my Mine Activity Reference name when I enter disturbance data... 6 I am trying to fill out the disturbance data and I cannot find Land under rehabilitation that has been disturbed by exploration operations

4 Mining Rehabilitation Fund (MRF) Registration Do I need to register for the MRF/how do I register for the MRF? If you own a tenement that falls under the Mining Act 1978 (Mining Act) you are required to register for the MRF and supply an MRF report by 30 June each year (the close of the levy period). Where a tenement is jointly held, all tenement holders must complete a separate registration and MRF report. The majority of tenement holders will have registered for the MRF in the first levy period ( ). However you will need to register for the MRF if any of the following circumstances apply: If you have acquired mining tenure in the state for the first time If you previously registered for the MRF but have since lodged an Application to Amend (Form 30) either your legal name and/or registered address with the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP) If you previously registered for the MRF but have since transferred the ownership of at least one tenement to a new legal entity If you previously registered for the MRF but have since changed your tenement management company. If the above circumstances apply then a registration letter will be sent to the tenement holder address in Mineral Titles Online (MTO). The registration letter contains two unique security verification codes and instructions for tenement holders to register online for the MRF. To complete your online registration, go to the website: and enter the two codes provided in your registration letter. If you have not received the MRF registration letter and believe that you should have, please us at MRFenquiry@dmp.wa.gov.au and provide us with your name, company name, address and tenement numbers. We may contact you to confirm that you are the tenement holder or have permission to act on the tenement holders behalf in regards to the MRF. I do not have or have lost my MRF registration letter, what should I do? Please us at MRFenquiry@dmp.wa.gov.au and provide us with your name, company name, tenement numbers and the address(es) that the tenements are registered to. We may contact you to confirm that you are the tenement holder or have permission to act on the tenement holders behalf in regards to the MRF. If we are unable to confirm the above then we will re-send the registration letter to the tenement holder address in MTO. The verification codes from my MRF registration letter have expired/are not working The codes will expire if you have made changes to the company address details and/or ownership of your tenements in MTO since the letters and codes were issued. Please us at MRFenquiry@dmp.wa.gov.au and provide us with your name, company name, address and tenement numbers. We may contact you to confirm that you are the tenement holder or have permission to act on the tenement holders behalf in regards to the MRF. Once we confirm this we will you a new registration letter. If we are unable to confirm that you are the tenement holder or have permission from the tenement holder to act on their behalf in regards to the MRF, then a duplicate copy will be sent to the registered tenement address in MTO. Why have I been sent documentation regarding the MRF? According to MTO, you are a legal holder of a mining authorisation as set out in the Mining Act (referred to in this document and for the purposes of the MRF as tenement holder ). If this is no longer the case, contact details can be updated through a Form 30 (Application to Amend) and Form 99 (Statutory Declaration), lodged either using MTO or at a DMP office. These forms can be found on DMPs website: If you hold a tenement, you have been sent the documentation to inform you of your obligations under the MRF. How can I check or update my contact information in MTO? You can log into the MTO system through the DMP website: Contact details within MTO can be updated through a Form 30 (Application to Amend) and Form 99 (Statutory Declaration), lodged either using MTO or at a DMP office. Why aren t all of my tenements are listed in my registration? MRF reports have been grouped using tenement holder names and corresponding addresses as recorded in MTO. If you have received multiple letters, or think one or more tenements are missing from the group, it may be because the company names and addresses in MTO are different. If this is the case, before changing the data in MTO, please us at MRFenquiry@dmp.wa.gov.au and provide us with your name, company name and relevant tenement numbers, so we can confirm if this is the issue. We may contact you to validate that you are the tenement holder, or that you have permission from the tenement holder to carry out matters relating to the MRF. 1

5 If we are unable to confirm the above then we will re-send the registration letter to the tenement holder address in MTO. I registered my tenements without any issues but some or all of them have disappeared from view in the Environmental and Regulatory System 2 (EARS2) If you change or modify the registered addresses of your tenement(s) in MTO after completing the registration process but before you begin the report for the MRF, your tenements will no longer be visible when you log in to EARS2. If this is the case, please us stating that the tenement address has been modified/changed, and we will generate new verification codes for you. You will then have to complete the registration process again. My tenements are all registered to the same address but I have received multiple registration letters for the MRF Please ensure that the addresses for all tenements are identical. If you have received multiple registration letters, even though all of your tenements are registered to the same address, you will need to log into MTO and check the addresses of each tenement carefully. The main reason this occurs is simple spelling mistakes and/ or grammatically errors in the address(es) for example: an extra character, the use of the ampersand instead of and, or an extra space at the end of a line. If you find an error, you will need to fill in a Form 30 (Application to Amend) and Form 99 (Statutory Declaration), lodged either using MTO or at a DMP office. Once these forms have been lodged and addresses for all tenements are consistent, the full list of tenements should appear automatically under the EARS2 login associated with the correct address. The MRF registration online system will not accept my address Please ensure your address does not contain a space character directly before or after your entry. If you still experience problems please MRFenquiry@dmp.wa.gov.au with a screenshot of the error that is appearing. We will investigate the matter and contact you via phone or when we have resolved the issue. I have recently taken ownership of a tenement but the changes have not taken effect in MTO. Can I still obtain an MRF registration letter? MRF registration letters are only provided to tenement holders as listed in MTO. If you are waiting for tenements to be transferred you will not be able to obtain a registration letter until the transfer is complete. If you are transferring a tenement to someone else, you will be responsible for reporting disturbance on that tenement until the transfer is complete and visible in MTO. If you are a new tenement holder then you need to be aware that it is your legal obligation to report for the MRF by the prescribed day of 30 June each year. I am a part owner of a tenement; does the joint holder have to register too? Yes. Even if you report data for a jointly owned tenement, your report will not be processed and you will not be sent an assessment notice for the designated levy amount until all co-owners of the tenement(s) report their data. I am a part owner of a tenement and my partner has reported data but it is different to the data I have. Whose data does the MRF use? The system will take the last set of data that is in the MRF report at the close of the levy period. However, all tenement holders are responsible for the accuracy of disturbance data provided in the MRF report. DMP recommends that all tenement holders agree on the data to be reported prior to completing your MRF report. In addition, only one assessment notice (containing the complete levy amount) will be sent to the nominated party and a copy sent to all other tenement holders. Payment must be received in full and quoting the correct information as directed on the assessment notice. If data is not reported or full payment is not received by the due date, you may incur a penalty. Who is responsible for the data reported? The registered tenement holder(s) as listed in MTO is responsible for the accuracy of all disturbance data in the MRF report. Please note that under section 31 of The Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 2012 (MRF Act) penalties can be imposed for providing false and misleading information. You must retain records to substantiate the data you have provided. These records will need to be retained for at least two years after the close of the levy period. MRF Reporting Process Is it compulsory for me to participate? All tenement holders are required to report for the MRF prior to the close of the levy period each year. My tenements are under State Agreement. Do I still have to report through the MRF? If you hold a tenement that is a Mineral Lease State Agreement then you are not required to report for the MRF. 2

6 If you hold a tenement that was originally granted under the Mining Act and was then converted to a State Agreement tenement then you will need to contact the Department of State Development (DSD) and ask that confirmation to be sent to the MRF team: MRFenquiries@dmp.wa.gov.au listing the tenements that are subject to State Agreement. Once received the MRF team will remove the MRF report from DMPs Environmental Regulatory System 2 (EARS2). Please note that until the MRF team receives the from DSD confirming that the respective tenements are subject to State Agreement the tenement holder is still legally required to complete the MRF report. How often do I need to report for the MRF? Data for the MRF needs to be reported on or before the close of the levy period, which is 30 June each year. What is the assessment date? The assessment date is the date that you collected the disturbance data. The assessment date must fall within the levy period that you are reporting for. What is the Levy Period? The levy period is the financial year, 1 July to 30 June each year. What data do I need to report? You are providing data on all disturbances present on your tenement on the assessment date within the period of 1 July to 30 June. This means that disturbance data for the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 will be required by 1 July All exploration and mining disturbances present on the selected assessment date will need to be reported for each individual tenement. Multiple types of disturbances can be reported for an individual tenement and the same Mine Activity Reference and disturbance can be reported across more than one tenement. This is to take account of the circumstances where disturbances like roads or pipelines cross the boundaries of multiple tenements. When entering data, the Mine Activity Reference Name is the name you give the disturbance. Disturbances should be titled the same way as they appear in your approval documents and Annual Environmental Reports (AERs). The Mine Activity Reference name cannot be used more than once for an individual tenement as it needs to be unique and identifying for that specific disturbance. My land has been rehabilitated. Do I need to report? If a tenement holder wishes to report mining disturbances in the land under rehabilitation category, (category E) it must be consistent with the definition below: When completion criteria within the Mine Closure Plan (Closure Plan) or closure obligations within your Mining Proposal have been fully met and monitoring of rehabilitation has commenced. Rehabilitated land, in relation to all activities except prospecting and exploration, means land on which all rehabilitation has been completed, in accordance with the approved Closure Plan (completion criteria in an approved Closure Plan/and or closure obligations in a Mining Proposal). Fully rehabilitated land that is signed off by DMP is considered undisturbed for the purposes of the MRF. For exploration and prospecting disturbances DMP sign off is not required. The tenement holder is able to declare that there is no assessment information to report if they have completed all rehabilitation activities as per their Program of Works approval/s. One or more of my tenements have no disturbance. If there is no disturbance on a tenement because no work has been undertaken on the current life of the tenement, or all rehabilitation has been completed and signed off on by a DMP Environmental Officer (if the disturbances were mining activities), you must still complete an MRF report each year prior to the close of the levy period. If there is no disturbance on one or more of your tenements you can select There is no assessment information to report on this tenement checkbox. If none of your tenement(s) have disturbance to report then the Rehabilitation Liability Estimate (RLE) will fall below the threshold specified in the Regulations, and no levy will be payable. You will receive an stating that you have no levy to pay. My tenement contains some historical disturbances that I have inherited. Do I have to report these? If there has been a break in tenure between the current tenement and the historical disturbance, you will not need to report the historical disturbance. If you pegged out a new tenement the disturbances created on the previous tenement do not need to be reported. However if you were the previous tenement holder of the last tenement (even if you were only a part owner) i.e. your Exploration license was converted to a Mining Lease, then you are responsible for the previous disturbances. 3

7 In addition, if you have re-disturbed historical work which was created on a previous tenement, the disturbance is now your responsibility and you will need to report for the MRF. If the tenement has been converted, sold or transferred, you are required to report on the disturbance as it is a feature and obligation of the current tenement. The only exception to this is if DMP has declared the historical disturbances on your tenement to be an abandoned mine site. Breaks in tenure are recorded in MTO against the relevant tenement number. Where should I get my disturbance data from? The data the tenement holder needs to provide is collated from a self-assessment of their tenement(s). The tenement holder is responsible for ensuring the data reported is accurate. Disturbance data values must be recorded to a minimum of two decimal places (in hectares). The tenement holder must have evidence to support the information provided in the MRF report. Please note that under Section 31 of the MRF Act, penalties of up $20,000 can be imposed for providing false and misleading information. You may be able to use evidence provided to support your Annual Environmental Report (AER) as evidence for your MRF report. I have dead tenements, can I opt them into the MRF? No. The MRF is only applicable to live tenements. If you have UPBs attached to dead tenements please MRFenquiry@ dmp.wa.gov.au, and we will advise you of the process for UPB retirement on dead tenements. I have sold some of the tenements that are displayed on my MRF report. Am I responsible for reporting on them? The MRF utilises the information stored in MTO. If these tenements are listed under you or your company in MTO, you are legally responsible for them and the data provided in relation to them. To update the information in MTO, you will need to lodge a Form 30 Application to Amend and Form 99 Statutory Declaration, using MTO or at a DMP office. What happens if I report prior to the close of the levy period? Your report will not be processed until after the close of the levy period each year. Tenement holders have the ability to edit data reported until the close of the levy period being reported upon. I have missed the June 30 deadline, what happens now? If you fail to report by the June 30, you may be subject to a penalty of up to $ under Section 15 (2) of the MRF Act. Once June 30 has passed and no report has been provided, it is then at the discretion of DMP to complete the MRF report on your behalf, under Section 16 of the MRF Act. Section 16 does not limit the manner to which DMP may make an assessment. DMP may determine the levy payable on this basis, at any point after June 30. Once DMP has reported on your behalf, you may be required to pay both the MRF levy calculated and the penalty for failure to report. There was an error in my report. What do I do to correct it? If you have made an error in your report you are able to edit to the report up until the close of the levy period each year. After the close of the levy period, you will be required to provide a written application to have data changed in relation to your MRF report. If you have made an error, please MRFenquiry@dmp. wa.gov.au with the details of the requested change. I have received a request for further information and/ or records in relation to an MRF desktop audit. What does it mean and what do I have to do? MRF reports are subject to desktop auditing by DMP Officers. A number of tools are used to audit disturbance data reported through the MRF, including aerial imagery, environmental approvals, Annual Environmental Reports (AER) and previous MRF reports. If you are requested to provide information and/or records in relation to an MRF report you must provide a response in the format and by the time specified in the communication. In some cases these queries are an official direction issued under Section 29 of the MRF Act, which if not complied with may result in court proceedings and a penalty of up to $20,000. Will disturbance data from MRF reports be made publically available? Please note that all disturbance data reported through the MRF will be made public annually on our website. 4

8 Members of the public are able to report any discrepancies that they note in the published data by ing and by stipulating the MRF Reference ID, tenement number/s and alleged discrepancy. I received a letter notifying me that DMP has initiated an MRF assessment on my behalf. What does it mean and what do I have to do? It is important that DMP obtains accurate disturbance data and types from all tenements in the State. It is therefore necessary, and within DMPs power as per section 16 (2) (a) of the MRF Act, to determine and report disturbance data on behalf of tenement holders who fail to report by the close of the levy period each year. When DMP initiates an assessment on the tenement holders behalf and the RLE falls below the $ threshold there will be no monies owed and an confirmation to that affect will be sent to the respective tenement holder who failed to report, as well as any joint tenement holders. If the RLE is above $50 000, the assessment notice with the subsequent levy amount due will be sent to the tenement holders, as well as any joint tenement holders. One full payment of the levy amount is required. If a tenement holder or joint tenement holder wishes to object then as per Section 20 of the MRF Act, they may do so on the grounds set out in subsection (1) of Section 20 of the MRF Act. If you wish to object, please note that an objection must be made in writing within 28 days of the date of assessment. Under Section 20 of the MRF Act, any objections must be made in writing and sent to MRFenquiry@dmp.wa.gov.au and must include the following: Identification of the person making the objection, Details of the grounds on which the objection is being made, and Attachment of the original assessment to which the objection relates to. The objection will not be considered unless all points are addressed. Does my MRF levy count towards my expenditure report requirement (Form 5)? Yes, Regulation 96C of the Mining Act would allow any payment into the MRF to be reported on the Operations report - Expenditure on Mining tenement (Form 5) within the administration/overheads/land access/native title costs part of the form. This, in total, cannot exceed 20 percent of the minimum expenditure commitment, or the total expenditure incurred on activities, whichever is greater. Issuing of the assessment notice There are three reasons listed below as to why you may not have received an assessment notice: 1. If you have not completed your report we are unable to process the report. When you log into the MRF section of EARS2, your MRF report should be in the submitted box as opposed to the Not Started/In Progress box at the top of the screen. 2. An containing the assessment notice is sent to the nominated party addresses provided as part of the MRF report process. Copies of the assessment notice can be sent to other parties, and the nominated party can be changed by all registered tenement holders. 3. If each of your tenements results in an RLE of less than $50,000, you will not have received an assessment notice attachment to your . Instead, your will indicate that your levy is under the RLE threshold and therefore no payment is required. What is the nominated party? The nominated party is a tenement holder or agent nominated under section 37A(2) and 37A(3) of the MRF Act as the party to receive the original assessment notice and /or reassessment/adjustment notice. The nominated party is recorded for each unique partnership arrangement. All other parties may receive copies of the assessment notice. All tenement holders are jointly responsible for full payment of the MRF. At the close of the levy period, DMP will default a nominated party if no party has been supplied by the tenement holder/s. Where can I change the nominated party? The Nominated Party may be modified within the MRF report in step 4 or by going to your EARS2 home page>mrf>mrf Nominated Party>Search. Where will my MRF assessment notice be sent? The MRF assessment notice is sent as an to the nominated addresses and all tenement holders entered as part of the report process. 5

9 How do I pay my MRF levy? The instructions on how to pay the MRF levy are included in the assessment notice that is ed to the nominated party address/es. Please pay by electronic funds transfer (EFT) to the BSB and account number specified in the assessment notice. Please use the Customer Reference Number provided in the assessment notice to enable reconciliation of the payment. Can I pay a portion of the levy if my partner/s have not reported or paid? No. If you are a co-owner (joint venture party) of a tenement, all owners will have received registration letters and all owners will have to report. Only then will the levy be calculated and an assessment notice sent out to all tenement holders, or the nominated party. A nominated party can be stipulated in step 4 for of the MRF report (levy details heading). Can I make a partial payment for my MRF levy? No. The assessment notice must to be paid in full by the due date to avoid incurring penalties for late payment. Unconditional Performance Bonds My UPB was not retired in the first year of the MRF/ I have had a UPB applied since the first year of the MRF. How do I go about getting the UPB retired? Whilst the majority of UPBs have been retired through the MRF, the application of personal sureties and UPBs are discretionary decisions made under delegation from the Minister for Mines and Petroleum. As stated in the policy - Administration of mining securities for mine site regulated by the DMP, regardless of whether a relevant levy payment is required to be made under the MRF or not, DMP will impose UPBs on tenements where it considers that there is a high risk of the rehabilitation liability reverting to the State. If you believe that this risk has been mitigated or reduced since the UPB was retained or applied then you should contact the Environmental Officer in your respective region, as per the Inspectorate Allocations Map available on DMPs website under Contact us > Environment to discuss retirement of the UPB. MRF Technical Questions I can see my MRF details but I cannot edit them. You may edit data up until the close of the levy period each year. To edit the data, click on the EDIT button to reopen the report and allow you to make changes. If you have not lodged your report and still cannot see the edit button, using the tabs at the top of the screen go to Levy > MRF Reporting > Summary. You should see a screen with two large boxes, the top one labelled Not Started/In Progress and the bottom one labelled Submitted. In the top box, click on the blue icon on the far left, next to one of the lines of data. You need to click on the blue icon to be able to edit. If you click on the double window button next to it, you will only see a summary of your application. You will not be able to edit it. The system is not accepting my Mine Activity Reference name when I enter disturbance data. The Mine Activity Reference needs to be unique for the tenement and it should mean something to you. The same Mine Activity Reference and disturbance can be reported across more than one tenement. This is to take account of the circumstances where a disturbance crosses the boundaries of multiple tenements. The system will not allow you to use the same Mine Activity Reference name more than once on an individual tenement. I am trying to fill out the disturbance data and I cannot find Land under rehabilitation that has been disturbed by exploration operations. This is not in the drop down option for a disturbance type. You will need to enter a Mine Activity Reference and a type of disturbance prior to rehabilitation. In the right hand column of the disturbance you can then enter the amount of land under rehabilitation. I am having trouble managing my account. For information on how to manage your EARS2 accounts for the MRF please refer to the MRF Verification Code Registration Step by Step Guide document, which can be found at: If you still experience problems please contact the MRF team by ing MRFenquiry@dmp.wa.gov.au or call us on

10 Government of Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum Mineral House, 100 Plain Street East Perth, Western Australia 6006 Tel: Fax: MRFenquiry@dmp.wa.gov.au DMPMAR15_