P.R. Laws tit. 28, § 110
It is hereby declared that it is the public policy of the Commonwealth to exploit and utilize the mineral resources of Puerto Rico for the benefit of their legitimate owner, the Puerto Rican People, constituted by the present and future generations.
The utilization of these nonrenewable resources must be planned with the utmost care so that it contributes to the integral and permanent development of the country and of the regions where such resources exist.
The Government shall make the efforts required to guarantee that industries able to use these resources as raw materials are established in Puerto Rico. Hence a more intense industrial activity and a greater economic production would be attained for the country. Notwithstanding the preceding, the extraction of metallic minerals using open pit or strip mining techniques or any other method that significantly alters the natural characteristics existing in the mining zone is hereby prohibited.
Likewise, it is hereby established that the public policy of the Commonwealth is to exploit its minerals in a manner compatible with the conservation of the other resources and the protection of environmental values. To this end we declare that the norms and regulations relating to the environmental quality in force in Puerto Rico may not be the object of negotiation or transaction in any contract concerning the exploitation of mineral deposits. It is likewise declared that it is the public policy of the Commonwealth to impose upon the mining enterprises the obligation to employ the most advanced techniques that science may develop for the prevention of damages and of the environmental hardships their operations may entail.
To attain that these mineral resources contribute to the integral development of the People of Puerto Rico, the Government of the Commonwealth shall examine the options which permit their exploitation and the flow of capital and the necessary technology therefor.
History
—Aug. 18, 1933, No. 9, p. 32, added as § 1 on Oct. 29, 1975, No. 10, p. 766, § 1; June 30, 1995, No. 73, § 1.