Miners facing tougher groundwater rules in Qld

PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland government is weighing new legislation that will subject resource companies wanting to use groundwater to tougher assessments of environmental impacts.

Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles tabled the Environmental Protection (Underground Water Management) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 in Parliament on Wednesday.

He said that the new laws would give the environment department greater power to scrutinise mining companies.

“Under the new laws, the environment department will have stronger, clearer powers to assess the potential environmental impacts of groundwater extraction as part of the environmental authority (EA) process,” Miles said.

“That will mean a rigorous scientific assessment of the impact of mining projects on groundwater will be required before an environmental approval is issued for new mining projects.”

The Minister pointed out that mining activities could have significant impacts on groundwater, which was why the government would require scrutiny of groundwater extraction, through the EA process, which would be open for public comment.

“This maintains proper environmental scrutiny of groundwater extraction impacts. Community objections will be allowed as part of the environmental approval stage, instead of the current objection process used in water licences,” he added.

The new laws will apply to new EA applications received by the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection for resource activities that include groundwater extraction under the new right to take.

Existing holders of a water licence, administered by the Department of Natural Resources and Mines (DNRM), would continue to operate under that water licence.

Companies which have applied for, or been granted an EA, but have not yet secured a water licence, will still have to seek a licence from the DNRM. The process involves an environmental assessment of groundwater impacts, subject to public scrutiny and third party appeals.

Miles said the new laws would also strengthen protection for farmers and other rural landholders by improving the existing 'make good obligations' under the Water Act.

“The new laws will help landholders who are affected by gassy bores. Gassy bores can damage farm equipment, can interrupt the flow of water from a bore or can leave water in a condition where it is not fit for use on the farm,” Miles said.

“The Bill clarifies that make good obligations arise where underground water rights are the likely cause of impairment, even if there is an uncertainty. Companies would also be required to cover the costs of any alternative dispute resolution process and allow a cooling-off period for make good agreements.

“The laws will also require resource companies to pay a landholder’s costs in engaging a hydrogeologist for the purposes of negotiating a make good agreement,” he said.

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) noted that the proposed changes to the legislation were reflective of legislation catching up with industry practice and mandating what already occurred on the ground.

“It should be no surprise that Queensland’s Environment Minister is looking to update the Environmental Protection Act to better reflect the reality of how the resource industry accesses groundwater and interacts with our local stakeholders,” QRC CEO Michael Roche said.

“The Bill sets out a clear path for new resource projects to apply for access to groundwater as part of an integrated environmental impact statement. Once the detail is filled in, the Bill offers the promise of a clear streamlining of the regulatory process for resource projects and their community stakeholders alike.”

Roche said that the industry welcomed the opportunity to better integrate groundwater assessment into the environmental impact assessment process.

However, he noted that for Queensland’s coal seam gas and coal mining sectors, many of these groundwater issues were already regulated by the Commonwealth government under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

“The changes proposed in this Bill will further increase the duplication with these increasingly redundant commonwealth groundwater laws. QRC hopes that Minister Miles and his department will continue to work closely with the commonwealth in administering these duplicative assessments.”

Roche further called for a transitional process that “properly and fairly” handled the situation of advanced mining projects that have already come through rigorous environmental-impact processes.

“The transitional process outlined in the Bill is difficult to support if it creates a new risk of open-ended court appeals or an opportunity for activists to try to reopen approvals that were granted in the past. Recent history has shown that Judicial Review is a sure recipe for further disruption and delay.

“The harsh reality is that regulatory surprises cause uncertainty and cost jobs. Queensland simply can’t afford an unworkable transitional process for these important new groundwater laws.”