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This Code provides for the management, use and preservation of the lithosphere, which is defined as that part of the crust of the earth under the topsoil. The ownership of the lithosphere is vested in the State. The vast majority of provisions of this Act deal with the regulation and licensing of mining and geological exploration activities within the lithosphere. All such use, however, must comply with the general obligation to protect the air, land, forests, water and other environmental resources against adverse impacts, and to restore land disturbed by such activities (art. 18). Other specific provisions dealing with environmental aspects require protection against pollution by underground storage of oil, gas, wastes and other substances (art. 36), and the liability of users for activities that pollute the lithosphere (art. 49).
