!!!Bergrecht
Mining Law: The legal position of the mining industry in Austria
derives from early history. The royal mining privilege of the early
Middle Ages concerned the Bergzehent (mining tithe), the handing over
of a tenth of the metals mined to the king. Later in the Middle Ages,
this privilege turned into the royal right to the actual use of the
mines. Later, the legal principle of Bergfreiheit (freedom of mining)
developed, which is still applied today. The oldest such document is
the Bergbrief of Schladming (1308), which referred to Lower Austria,
Upper Austria, Styria, Carinthia and parts of Salzburg. Schwaz and
Rattenberg (Tyrol), Gmuend (Carinthia) and Murau (Styria) also possess
old Bergbrief documents. To many mines (Bleiberg, Huettenberg, etc.)
the Bergordnung (mining order) of Bamberg (1550) was applied until
1954. Maximilian I and Ferdinand I issued extensive mining
regulations. The general Austrian mining law was issued in 1854, was
revised in 1954 and followed the 1975 Mining Act. This still forms the
basis for Austrian mining law. It regulates the extraction of free,
federal and estate inherent mineral raw materials and in some cases
their processing where it is connected to the extraction. The mining
authorities of first instance used to be the Berghauptmannschaften.
They were responsible for public administration in mining affairs and
have offices in Vienna, Graz, Leoben, Klagenfurt, Salzburg and
Innsbruck.
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Today, Austrian Mining Law is governed by the Mineralrohstoffgesetz
(Mineral Raw Materials Act) of 1999. This law regulates the
prospecting and mining of all mineral raw materials and contains
detailed regulations concerning mining licenses, operating plans,
mining installations, supervision etc. Since 1999 magnesite, limestone
with a CaCO<SUB>3</SUB> content of at least 95 % and diabase, as
long as they are solid rock, and quartz sand with an SiO<SUB>2</SUB>
content of at least 80 %, illite clay and other swelling clays in
unconsolidated deposit form, have been counted among bergfreie mineral
raw materials. Workers protection has sine 1999 been entrusted to the
Labour Inspectorates. The administrative structure has been completely
remodelled by the Mineral Raw Materials Act of 1999. Open-cast mining
of grundeigene mineral raw materials is supervised by the District
Administration (first instance), appeals from whose decisions are
brought before the Provincial Governor as the second and last
instance. All other forms of mineral raw material mining are subject
to the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs (Mining Authority). In the
course of licensing procedures, abutting owners, the competent local
authority and the provincial government have the right to be heard as
parties and may also seek relief from public courts. In addition,
there are detailed provisions governing areas where mining is
prohibited, as well as protected areas. The law also governs the
exploration and investigation of geological structures to be used for
storing liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons (petroleum and natural gas). It
furthermore regulates the technological aspects of the use of
geothermal energy involving shafts, tunnels or boreholes of a depth in
excess of 300 m. Further provisions deal with the introduction of
materials into subterranean cavities and their storage in such
cavities and the utilisation of mining structure of closed pits.
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