ABSTRACT
The mining activity in the Jiu Valley has an important impact both on environmental and socio-economic terms. The main problem is identifying the correct and significant impacts of the mining activity, defining how to mitigate and monitor the process associated to the coal extraction. Romania, a country without a very strict environmental legislation in the past, has made important efforts in focusing, identifying and possibly resolving the environmental problems associated to the mining activity, particularly the coal mining in the Jiu Valley. The paper also presents some west European regulations adapted to the specific conditions in a country with a transitory state of the economy.
