The environment
Water
Water extracted from coal seams in order to release gas is known as coal seam gas (CSG) water.
Significant quantities of CSG water are likely to be generated as a result of CSG production—also creating impacts from water extraction on other underground water users and on underground springs.
Read more about management of CSG water.
Salt and brine
Coal Seam Gas (CSG) water, as a by-product of CSG production, typically contains significant concentrations of salt.
Find out more about salt and brine management.
Land
Strategic Cropping Land
Queensland is the first state in Australia to introduce legislation that will protect the State’s best cropping land.
The legislation will strike a balance between the competing interests of the agriculture, resource and urban development industries in Queensland.
It will ensure the long-term productivity of Queensland’s food and fibre industries, as well as support economic growth for regional communities.
Projects such as open cut mining, coal seam gas, underground coal gasification, long-wall/underground mining, urban development and industrial development will all be assessed under the laws.
Read more about the Strategic Cropping Land legislation.
Rehabilitation
CSG operators are required to fully rehabilitate all areas of disturbance. To ensure that this will occur, financial assurance must be provided, and will be used for rehabilitation in the event that the company defaults on its environmental requirements. The financial assurance is not returned to the CSG operator until successful rehabilitation is completed.
Read more about Rehabilitation of land disturbance from coal seam gas activities (PDF, 102K)*.
Land Access
The Queensland Government is committed to finding a balance between the agricultural, resource and development industries. As a result, protecting landholders’ rights when activities are being undertaken on their land is a key priority.
Read more about Queensland’s land access laws.
National Parks
National parks are afforded a high level of protection from coal seam gas (CSG) activities. Under the current regulatory framework, CSG companies are not permitted to undertake activities within national parks. Further, only low impact activities such as conducting surveys and traversing are permitted within a 200 metre buffer of national parks.
Activities within a secondary buffer distance of between 200 to 800 metres are also strictly regulated and only limited petroleum activities are permitted to occur including gas wells, small gathering and flow lines and communication/power lines. Any disturbance to land within this secondary buffer must be managed so that activities occur in pre-existing cleared or disturbed areas.
Offsets Policy
The Offsets Policy establishes a framework for using environmental offsets in Queensland. Environmental impacts from development must first be avoided and if not avoidable then minimised. Environmental offsets may be used to counterbalance the loss of enviromental values.
An environmental offset is an action taken to counterbalance unavoidable, negative environmental impacts that result from an activity or a development. An offset may be located within or outside the geographic site of the impact.
Environmental offsets are only applicable when the impacts cannot be avoided or minimised, and if all other government environmental standards have been met.
An offset differs from mitigation in that it addresses remaining impacts, after attempts to reduce (or mitigate) the impact have been undertaken.
An example is offsetting vegetation loss by undertaking ongoing management actions near the impact site, to increase the quality and extent of vegetation.
Queensland has been using offsets for a number of years, and has several specific-issue offsets policies that indicate where environmental offsets are needed, and what form they should take.
DERM offsets
- Biodiversity offsets
- Vegetation management offsets
- Measuring ecological equivalence
- Offset mapping layers
- Offset payments
- Offset resources (factsheets, guidelines, templates etc)
- Legally secured offsets register (a register of all DERM secured offsets)
Other Queensland Government offset policies
Fish habitat offsets (Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries)
Air Quality
Any environmental nuisance issues relating to coal seam gas and liquefied natural gas activities such as noise, light and odour, are covered by environmental authority conditions.
Read more about how environmental authorities address noise, light and odour issues.
Well head safety
Coal seam gas operators must undergo regular gas well head audits. The government undertakes separate auditing activities to verify the industry reports on these audits.
The government has also undertaken a Coal Seam Gas Well Head Safety Program audit. Of the more than 2700 well heads tested in the audit, 98 per cent showed no reportable leak.
Read more about Queensland Government’s coal seam gas well head emissions detection and reporting.
Cultural Heritage
Queensland's cultural heritage legislation focuses on protecting aspects of our past that we want to keep, appreciate and enjoy today and to pass on to future generations.
Significant CSG projects will be required to prepare a Cultural Heritage Management Plan detailing how the project will be managed to avoid harm to Aboriginal cultural heritage and to the extent that harm can’t be avoided, to minimise harm to Aboriginal cultural heritage.
More information on cultural heritage.
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Last updated 7 December 2011