The local government of a permanently inhabited small island has the right to extract mineral resources and rock and sediments not registered as mineral resources in an immovable on such permanently inhabited small island without an extraction permit for the purpose of performance of the functions of the local government (§ 100 of the Earth’s Crust Act).
The list of permanently inhabited small islands is pointed out in §2 of the Permanently Inhabited Small Islands Act.
To receive the permit for extraction of mineral resources and rock and sediments not registered as mineral resources, the local government of a permanently inhabited small island submits an application, before extraction of mineral resources or rock or sediments not registered as mineral resources, to the Environmental Board in the environmental decisions information system KOTKAS.
The validity of the permit is up to five years, which may be extended for up to 5 years on the basis of a justified application. The Environmental Board decides on granting the permit within 90 days after receipt of the application. If the Environmental Board needs additional information from the person who has submitted the application, the term for the issue of a permit is extended by the time for obtaining the information.
The local government of a permanently inhabited small island submits a notice to the Environmental Board once a year describing the quantity and quality of the mineral resources extracted (§103 of the Earth's Crust Act).
The notice must be submitted by the 25th day of the month following the accounting year regardless of whether or not any mineral resources were extracted during the accounting period.
The holder of the permit is required to mark the place of extracting mineral resources and rock and sediments not registered as mineral resources.
After extracting the material on the basis of a permit, the land is reclaimed according to the reclamation conditions issued by the Environmental Board. The local government of a permanently inhabited small island shall compile a report on the reclamation of land. The Environmental Board declares the obligation to reclaim land to be performed on the basis of the report if land is reclaimed pursuant to the requirements.
Last updated: 01.12.2022
