Legislative Yuan Committee Passes Initial Review of Soil and Stone Extraction Act Amendment; Life Imprisonment Possible for Fatal Illegal Mining

(Central News Agency, Taipei, June 3) The Economics Committee of the Legislative Yuan today passed the initial review of a draft amendment to the Soil and Stone Extraction Act. For those who extract soil and stone without permission, the maximum fine will be raised to NT$25 million. For those acting with the intent to profit, the penalty is up to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of up to NT$50 million. If the act causes death, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment and a fine of up to NT$100 million.

To curb large-scale illegal mining, which severely damages the environmental landscape and endangers public safety, the Executive Yuan passed a draft amendment to Article 36 of the Soil and Stone Extraction Act on May 7. The Economics Committee of the Legislative Yuan conducted a line-by-line review today.

Key points of this amendment include raising the maximum fine to NT$10 million, adjusting the timing of confiscation to the time of the ruling, and changing the penalty for failing to comply with the deadline for site restoration and facility removal from a daily recurring fine to a per-occurrence fine. More importantly, it adds criminal penalties for unauthorized extraction of soil and stone for profit, with aggravated penalties for causing disasters, death, or serious injury. Vehicles or other machinery used in the crime will be confiscated regardless of ownership.

Legislators from both the ruling and opposition parties considered the administrative penalties in the Executive Yuan's version too lenient. After discussions in the review committee, the fine ceiling in the Executive Yuan's version was raised proportionally.

The initial review stipulates that those who extract soil and stone without permission shall be fined between NT$1 million and NT$25 million, and the vehicles or other machinery used by the offender may be confiscated. Offenders must complete site restoration and facility removal within a set deadline. Failure to do so will result in a fine of NT$100,000 to NT$2.5 million, levied per occurrence.

For profit-seeking offenders, the initial review stipulates up to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of up to NT$50 million. If the act causes a disaster, the penalty is 1 to 7 years imprisonment and a fine of up to NT$60 million. If it causes death, the penalty is life imprisonment or more than 7 years imprisonment, and a fine of up to NT$100 million. If it causes serious injury, the penalty is 3 to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to NT$80 million.

Regarding land for which a soil and stone extraction permit is sought that is located on indigenous land, the committee passed a motion by DPP Legislator Wu Li-hua. The initial review stipulates that if the land is on indigenous land or public land within a certain range around an indigenous tribe, the applicant must follow the provisions of Article 21 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law.

Furthermore, the committee also passed another motion by Wu Li-hua, adding three exclusion clauses to Article 13: 1. Extraction by indigenous peoples according to Article 19, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law; 2. Extraction needed for the construction or renovation of traditional indigenous slate houses or underground houses, churches, institutions, schools, meeting places, or public facilities; 3. Extraction needed for indigenous tribes to implement autonomous disaster prevention and relief, environmental beautification, and maintenance. (Editor: Zhai Sijia) 1150603