EIS processes
- General requirements for mining or petroleum/gas projects
- Requirement for an environmental impact statement (EIS)
- The EIS process
- Applicable fees
General requirements for mining or petroleum/gas projects
Every mining or petroleum/gas project requires both a tenure from the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation that gives access to the land, and an environmental authority from the Department of Environment and Resource Management (DERM) that regulates the environmental management of the project.
Before a mining or petroleum/gas project can be given an environmental authority, the Environmental Protection Act 1994 requires that the project’s likely environmental impacts should be assessed and measures proposed to avoid or minimise any adverse impacts. A low impact mining project that can comply with a Code of Environmental Compliance is subject to the minimum level of assessment and may be given an environmental authority with standard conditions.
Applicants for non-code compliant projects must submit an environmental management plan (EM plan) that identifies the environmental values that could be affected by their project and assesses the potential adverse and beneficial impacts on those values. The EM plan must also propose environmental protection commitments to protect or enhance the environmental values. The EM plan assists DERM’s development of conditions for the draft environmental authority. For these medium sized projects, it is only at the draft environmental authority stage that the public has the opportunity to review and object to the application and/or the draft environmental authority and its proposed conditions.
Requirement for an environmental impact statement (EIS)
Major mining and petroleum projects can be required to undergo an environmental impact statement (EIS) process preceding, and additional to, the draft environmental authority stage. DERM has published trigger criteria (PDF, 173K)* for mining projects that would usually be required to undertake an EIS under the Environmental Protection Act. The most common trigger is the mining of two million tonnes a year of coal or ore.
Links are provided on this page to information about projects currently required to complete an EIS process under the Environmental Protection Act, and to information about projects whose EIS process has concluded.
The EIS process
The EIS process should identify the same environmental values and propose the same environmental protection commitments that would be found in the EM plan, but an EIS typically goes into greater detail. The EIS is used by the proponent to develop an EM plan.
The EIS process also allows a greater level of public scrutiny. At an early stage, terms of reference are developed that provide the minimum expectations for the scope of the EIS. DERM publishes generic terms of reference (Word, 579K)‡ to assist the development of project-specific draft terms of reference. The draft terms of reference are made available for a minimum period of 30 business days so that stakeholders and any member of the public can review the document and comment on what values, impacts and commitments should be considered in the EIS.
When the proponent has produced the EIS, it too is made available for a minimum period of 30 business days for stakeholders and the public to review the document, and to submit comments on the quality of the proponent’s assessment and commitments. In this way, everyone can have added confidence that best efforts have been made to identify all significant impacts and propose all reasonable and practicable measures to protect the environment before DERM develops the draft environmental authority.
Public notices are used to advertise the start of the public review period for each terms of reference or EIS. Public notices are placed on the DERM web site and in the Courier-Mail and newspapers circulating in the area of the proposed project site. Some people are also notified by mail, including: people who hold land on, or adjacent to, a proposed tenure; a registered native title body corporate or claimant, or a representative Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander body; and the relevant local government authority.
The EIS process under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 can only be used for mining or petroleum/gas projects. It cannot be used solely for making a decision under the Sustainable Planning Act 2009, such as for an environmentally relevant activity (see the Environmental Protection Regulation for definitions of environmentally relevant activities). However, in certain circumstances an EIS can be required under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 or the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 whether or not the proposed project is related to mining or petroleum or gas. The Department of Infrastructure and Planning can provide information on those EIS processes.
Applicable fees
From 1 January 2011, a proponent for a project preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 must pay a fee.
The fees apply to all projects involving an EIS process, including an approved application for a voluntary EIS.
This fee is in addition to the fee that must be paid at the time of lodging an application for an environmental authority (mining activities). The applicant for a project under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 must pay the application fee and the first annual return fee at the time of making an application.
All proponents preparing an EIS must also pay a fee of $120,000 at the time of submitting the draft terms of reference.
If a proponent has paid the fee, but has not submitted an EIS, and the proponent provides a written statement saying they do not intend to submit an EIS, the fee will be refunded. This refund however, will not include the fee for assessing the draft terms of reference ($30,000).
If the project proponent is seeking approval to undertake a voluntary EIS prior to making an application for an environmental authority, the application to undertake a voluntary EIS must be accompanied by a fee of $500.
A notice by the proponent of an EIS for an amendment must be accompanied by a fee of $10,000. However, an amendment of an EIS will be exempt from the fee if the amendment is being made by the proponent in response to submissions under section 56(2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1994.
These fees may be subject to an annual Consumer Price Index adjustment. Please call 13 74 68 (13 QGOV) or email <palm@derm.qld.gov.au> to confirm the latest fees.
* Requires Adobe Reader
‡ Requires Microsoft Office files viewer
Last updated 23 December 2010