Upon privatisation of the coal industry in 1994 the Coal Authority was set up to take over a number of British Coal’s responsibilities; however these did not include the physical extraction of coal. It is the statutory responsibility of the Coal Authority to licence and monitor the extraction of coal by private operators. These Licence areas relate to any granted licence for the working of coal since the creation of The Coal Authority in October 1994.
Any activity which intersects, disturbs or enters any of the Coal Authority’s coal interests requires our prior written authorisation. The following activities require a Licence or Agreement from the Coal Authority:
- the mining of coal
- exploration for coal or deep drilling through coal for other purposes (e.g. water abstraction)
- underground coal gasification
- digging and carrying away of coal during non-coal mining related activities (incidental coal)
- exploration and exploitation of coal methane