Notice from the Walloon Government concerning applications for an exclusive licence to exploit gaseous hydrocarbons (‘South-Charleroi licence’)

(2020/C 372/05)

This notice applies to the area corresponding to three of the former pits of ‘Charbonnages de Monceau-Fontaine’: former pit No 19 ‘Bas Long Prés’ in Marchienne-au-Pont, former pit No 23 ‘Cerisier’ in Marcinelle and former pit No 24 ‘Fiestaux’ in Couillet. It concerns the exploitation of mine gas contained in the voids left by previous mining activity.

The boundaries are defined as follows using the Lambert 72 coordinates system:

Points X [m] Y [m] 1 152 132 123 126 2 153 955 122 474 3 153 921 122 280 4 154 572 121 753 5 155 653 121 550 6 157 064 120 821 7 157 880 120 633 8 158 403 119 595 9 158 748 119 047 10 158 722 117 155 11 157 045 116 198 12 157 039 117 804 13 156 324 119 247 14 155 331 119 142 15 154 554 118 607 16 154 038 118 602 17 154 165 116 909 18 153 485 116 828 19 152 995 117 176 20 152 916 117 161 21 151 972 117 375 22 152 174 118 454 23 151 575 118 552 24 151 320 119 581 25 152 025 119 902 26 152 066 119 947 27 150 788 120 206 28 149 003 119 572 29 148 285 119 971 30 147 939 123 371

Gas prospection and exploitation is governed by Royal Decree No 83 of 28 November 1939 on the prospection and exploitation of bituminous rock, oil and fuel gases.

The Walloon Minister for the Environment, Nature, Forestry, the Countryside and Animal Welfare invites parties interested in the aforementioned prospection and exploitation to submit an application for a licence within 90 days of publication of this notice, in accordance with the instructions below.

The conditions for submitting an application are specified in Article 6 of the Walloon Government Decree of 19 March 2009 laying down the format and procedure for examining applications for licences to prospect for and exploit oil and fuel gases, and amending the Walloon Government Decree of 4 July 2002 establishing the list of projects subject to an impact assessment and of classified installations and activities. An exploitation programme shall be enclosed with all applications.

Submission of applications and criteria for awarding rights

Initial applicants and competing applicants must prove that they comply with the requirements for obtaining the licence, defined in Article 6(2) and (3) of the above-mentioned Decree of 19 March 2009.

Applications must be sent by registered letter to the Minister for the Environment, Nature, Forestry, the Countryside and Animal Welfare at the following address:

rue d’Harscamp 22 5000 Namur BELGIUM

The Walloon Government will make its decision on the basis of the following objective and non-discriminatory criteria:

a) the applicant’s technical and financial capacity;

b) the way in which the applicant proposes to prospect, to explore and/or to bring into production the geographical area in question;

c) if several applications have equal merit as regards technical and financial capacity and the prospecting or exploitation programme, the following criteria will be applied: 1. the quality of the preliminary studies carried out for the purpose of drawing up the work programme; 2. the efficiency and competence demonstrated by the applicant in connection with any other authorisations, in particular as regards environmental protection; 3. the proximity of any other zone already prospected or exploited by the applicant; 4. the expected benefits for the development of the Walloon Region and the technological activities being carried out there.

Standard specifications

Standard specifications containing the minimum conditions and requirements for carrying out and ceasing the activities in question may be consulted on the website of the Public Service of Wallonia – Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment: http://environnement.wallonie.be

For additional information, please contact the Public Service of Wallonia – Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment – Avenue Prince de Liège 15 – 5100 Jambes, Belgium, specifically the Industrial, Geological and Mining Risks Directorate (Tel. +32 81336136; Email: risques.environnement@spw.wallonie.be).