User:Zerda/Pollution Control Act

Mining causes pollution. Pollution hinders growing of flax, and likely other things. I'm putting this draft together to try and balance several priorities:

Goals

• People shouldn't have their camp polluted. This is no fun and should be prevented.
• Laws should not be created with loopholes that allow claiming or locking out of significant areas of Egypt. A law stating "mines may not be built within 100 coords of a compound" would likely keep camps from being polluted, but would also be ripe for abuse by someone willing to make dozens of empty compounds.
• Mining should be as easy as possible when doing so doesn't pollute somebody's camp.

Limitations

A lot of things are hard to legislate in hard-coded limits without opening a can of worms in opportunities to abuse the system. It's unreasonable to expect a single law to solve all potential problems. This law intends to limit the most egregious cases without creating loopholes. If and when other problems occur, they can be dealt with by common courtesy, group action, and further more specific laws.

I feel that this proposed law gives a good compromise between providing additional protection to people that may be mined near without opening major loopholes or placing overly strong coded restrictions on mining. This does not attempt to stop all abuses, but further abuses may be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Proposed Law Summary

1. All mines within 100 coords from the nearest water source (defined as somewhere that jugs may be filled with water) shall be considered "limited mines" for the purpose of this law. All other mines are exempt from this law.

The idea here is that mines way out in the desert are not restricted, since they are unlikely to be near somebody's camp. Also, nobody benefits from making fake camps near valuable ore veins.

2. The first (real-life) day following passage of this law is deemed a "mining day." Following every "mining day" are five "recovery days" and then the cycle repeats beginning with another "mining day"

The idea of a 6-day cycle is so that the day shifts across the week, allowing people with varied schedules reasonably equal chances. While teppy-time would gradually shift this on its own, this way it shifts significantly more quickly and even a once-a-week player gets a mining day once every six or so play sessions.

3. Limited mines may only be mined on a mining day. On recovery days, previously-mined ore and gems may be taken from limited mines but no one may work a limited mine.

The idea here is one day of mining which spews out pollution and then five days for the pollution to dissipate. Since even heavy pollution seems to dissipate in approximately two or three days of non-use, this means even in the worst areas pollution is at a safe level half of the time.

Proposed Law Text

Preamble:

The people of Egypt wish to have clean soil and water for farming. This is at risk of being threatened by reckless mining. At the same time, the benefits metal can provide to Egypt are great. This law intends to keep both possible without creating new opportunities for abuse. This law does not override common courtesy, and future litigation may address other abuses as they appear.

The intent is to allow farming and industry to coexist even in the face of abuse without permanently taking anything away from anyone.

Law:

1. All mines within 100 coords of a water source (defined as a location that jugs may be filled with water) shall be considered "limited mines" for the purpose of this law. All other mines are exempt from this law.

2. The first (real-life) day following passage of this law is deemed a "mining day." Following every "mining day" are five real-life "recovery days," after which the cycle repeats beginning with another "mining day".

3. "Limited mines" may only be worked on a "mining day." On "recovery days," previously-mined ore and gems may be removed from "limited mines," but no one may work a "limited mine."