4. Upon request from the responsible party, competent authorities may exempt closed underground coal mines and abandoned underground coal mines from the requirements of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article and Part 1, point 1.5, of Annex VIII where the responsible party demonstrates that those mines have been fully flooded for at least 10 years prior to the date of the request.
That request shall be accompanied by a report from the responsible party. That report shall demonstrate the stabilisation of the hydrogeological conditions as well as the absence of material amounts of methane emissions from the relevant coal mine. The competent authorities shall make that report publicly available in accordance with national law.