Extraplanetary Mining Regulations
A resolution to increase the quality of the world's environment, at the expense of industry.
Category: Environmental Industry Affected: Mining Proposed by: Isaris
The World Assembly,
Recognizing that one planet's resources cannot sustain a species indefinitely,
Cognizant that nations may seek to exploit resources beyond the confines of their planet of origin,
Aware of the extremely complex nature of celestial mechanics,
Concerned for the environments of any nearby planets, as well as the survival of any sentient beings living upon them, and
Seeking to minimize the risks of such activities,
Hereby enacts the following:
- For the purposes of this resolution,
- an "astronomical body" is defined as a naturally occurring physical object that exists in space; and
- a "planet" is defined as an astronomical body orbiting a star that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity but not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion.
- Prior to exploiting the resources of any astronomical body that is not an inhabited planet, member states and private entities therein must submit to the Astronomic Science and Technical Research Organization (ASTRO) an environmental impact assessment of their planned project for review.
- Such an assessment must include any potential disruption of the astronomical body's orbit and the environmental risks of such a disruption to any other nearby astronomical bodies.
- Should an assessment—upon review by ASTRO—indicate potential environmental risks to a member nation or nations, any such nation may file an objection to the project. An objected project will be subjected to a temporary or total stay until such a time that the risks to the nation or nations have been determined by ASTRO to be sufficiently minimized.
- If a project is subjected to a total stay, the organizing nation or private entity may negotiate terms of compensation with the affected nation or nations to allow the project to move forward. The stay shall remain in effect until such a time that all parties have entered into a legally binding agreement. It shall be prohibited to move forward with a project subjected to such a stay while it remains in effect.
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Hello all. I've been working on this resolution for a little while on one of my regions' forums and I feel ready to bring it to the world. I'd been thinking about a resolution like this for awhile because of the increasing study of asteroids by space agencies in real life. NASA landed on its first asteroid last year and Japan's space agency in 2019. The idea that asteroids could be harvested for resources in the future is becoming far less ridiculous. However, this would cover other bodies too, not just asteroids. I also hope for this to be friendly to nations in space/sci-fi settings, so if it's problematic in that aspect, please let me know!
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