Regulating Coal Safety: New Legislation in Wales to Address Risks Created by Disused Coal Tips
The Senedd have introduced a new bill to regulate Coal Tip Safety in Wales, which is a devolved matter.
Mining plays a prevalent role in Welsh history and regional identity. However, growing efforts to source renewable energy, as well as a decline in demand, has meant that many coal mines are out of use. There are 2,573 disused coal tips in Wales and a further 20,000 across the UK1.
Storms such as Storm Dennis in 2020 saw extreme rainfall causing landslides, which destabilises these coal tips and risks damage to homes2. The Aberfan Disaster in 1966, prominent in Welsh history, was caused by a coal tip slipping down a hillside and is a painful reminder for many in Wales of the need for regulation of disused mines.
Following calls from campaign groups3, the Senedd invited the Law Commission to propose reforms surrounding disused coal tips. The Law Commission published their report4 in 2022, concluding that the current legislative frameworks fell short in regulating disused coal tips.
On 9 December 2024, the Senedd introduced the Disused Mine and Quarry Tips (Wales) Bill (“The Bill”) to address the reforms proposed in the 2022 report. The Bill seeks to provide greater protection for human welfare, which may be threatened by unstable coal tips. The Bill establishes a new regulatory body, The Disused Tips Authority (the authority) to oversee such matters and creates obligations for landowners to “carry out operations” and for the authority to “carry out operations itself” to stabilise sites posing a risk5. Importantly, the Bill introduces regulatory offences to support the regime.
The obligation now falls on landowners to ensure that any disused coal tip on their land is sufficiently stable to minimise risks posed to homeowners in Wales. The bill allows prosecutions to be brought by the newly created authority which will give rise to a series of new regulatory cases brought before Welsh courts.
However, such prosecutions are not exclusive to Welsh landowners. The Mining Remediation Authority (formerly, The Coal Authority) oversees the regulation of disused coal tips nationwide. The provisions set out in Part 2 of the Mines and Quarries (Tips) Act 1969, as amended by the Mines Regulations 2014, create obligations for landowners similar to the Bill introduced by the Senedd.
The jurisdictional issues therefore will bear significance when determining which legislation the landowner is bound to follow, as well as which regulatory body will conduct any subsequent investigation, or indeed prosecution.
Blackfords LLP have specialist regulatory lawyers with offices in both England and Wales. Our offices, based in Cardiff, London, Croydon and Woking, each have expertise required to support landowners facing investigation by either the Mining Remediation Authority, or indeed the newly created Disused Tips Authority.
If you require assistance with such a matter, please contact our offices on 03330 150 150.
