EHP’s New Regulatory Strategy

EHP’s New Regulatory Strategy

The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) has released a new Regulatory Strategy. This strategy sets out how EHP will carry out its role as the state’s environment and heritage regulator.

The new strategy is a significant change to the department’s approach to regulation, and all clients and their advisors are encouraged to read it. There is also a short video to help explain the changes.

I note a wholesale move towards “A light-handed regulatory model”.  I shall be analyzing and unpacking the implications of this in future posts to this blog.

My letter to the Deputy Premier

Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning
The Honourable Jeff Seeney

cc: The Premier, The Honourable Rob Cavallucci and the Honourable Andrew Powell

Dear Mr Seeney,

Thank you for welcoming the release of the Abbot Point Cumulative Impact Assessment by North Queensland Bulk Ports.

You say that that proposed port expansion was unlikely to affect the integrity of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.

Have you taken into consideration the accumulative impacts of the combustion of fossil fuels?

The terms of reference of the report are limited to the cumulative impacts of Port operations. 

The Cumulative Environmental Impact Assessment process is clearly wide ranging and involve 15 detailed studies in the following areas:

·       Shipping;

·       Marine Water Quality;

·       Dredge Plume Modelling

·       Operational Noise;

·       Groundwater;

·       Dust;

·       Underwater Noise;

·       Visual Amenity;

·       Lighting;

·       Coastal Hydrodynamics;

·       Species & Habitat Assessment;

·       Wetland Hydrology & Water Quality

·       Climate Change;

·       Fishing;

·       Joint Offsets Strategy

The report identifies mechanisms to reduce and offset greenhouse gas emissions from the port and ensure port design has accounted for possible climate change effects such as sea level rise. 

The report does not consider greenhouse gas and particulate emissions of transport of coal over vast distances using bunker C fuel oil or combustion of thermal coal.

regards,

Rowan Barber

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Deputy Premier, Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning
The Honourable Jeff Seeney

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Report puts lie to green scare tactics

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney today welcomed the release of the Abbot Point Cumulative Impact Assessment by North Queensland Bulk Ports, which draws a line through an environmental scare campaign run by Labor and the Greens. 

The assessment was a proactive study undertaken for the proponents of future port expansion and looked at the possible impacts of development across the marine and terrestrial environments involving 16 separate environmental studies. 

It found that proposed port expansion was unlikely to affect the integrity of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. 

Mr Seeney said the assessment showed that well-managed development could co-exist with a healthy environment. 

“It illustrates that we can have bulk export ports and they can operate with no threat to the Great Barrier Reef,” Mr Seeney said. 

“This assessment should put an end to the scare campaigns run by extremist groups whose real agenda is to shut the coal ports and the coal industry as a whole. 

“Too often they cry wolf, claiming that any proposed new development will wipe-out entire marine or terrestrial species and threaten the existence of the reef itself. 

“This report puts the lie to those claims. 

“In the case of Abbot Point it says that impacts on the marine environment are manageable, that significant impacts on the terrestrial environment are unlikely and that mitigation and management measures would substantially reduce any potential impacts. 

Mr Seeney said the assessment had been peer reviewed by leading scientists and experts, leaving no room for extremists to distort its findings. 

“It highlights that we can have both economic development while protecting the environment because we will insist on world’s best practices and world’s best standards,” he said. 

[ENDS] 24 October 2012

Media Contact: John Wiseman –             0409 791 281      

Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental Impact Assessment

The predominant issue arising from the proposed Qld Greentape reduction legislation was a roller coasting blame game between the Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney and the Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke over Alpha Coal.

This week’s Sustainable Business Weekly focuses on proposed changes to the Environmental impact assessment processes.

Earlier this week the blame game escalated between the Qld Premier and Federal Minister Tony Burke over the approval of Hancock Coal’s Alpha Coal Mine.  By the end of the week, the Deputy Premier was claiming to have reached consensus.

Chris McGrath, a Senior Lecturer at University of Queensland observed that by the new Queensland Premier and Deputy Premier do not seem to understand their own State Government approval processes.

The Queensland Premier and Deputy Premier are suggested in their initial media statements that the mine is approved at a state level and that the Commonwealth approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act) is all that is required for the mine to proceed.

Those suggestions turned out to be wrong and the state level approvals of the mine are probably 12-18 months away, which makes the pressure being placed on the Commonwealth Minister to make a decision within 30 days and claims of Commonwealth “green-tape” holding up the project simply false.

At a state level the Coordinator-General’s report was released on 29 May 2012 recommending that the mine be approved subject to conditions. The Coordinator-General is a powerful bureaucrat appointed under Queensland legislation to facilitate large-scale developments in the state.

The idea that the Coordinator-General’s report gives approval of the mine comes directly from the Deputy Premier’s original media release on 29 May:

Alpha Coal Project given go-ahead.  The Newman Government has given the green light to what will be one of Australia’s biggest mines, the $6.4 billion Alpha Coal Project in Queensland’s Galilee Basin. Queensland’s Coordinator-General has provided conditional approval for the mine – the first in the untapped coal rich Galilee Basin.

The Queensland Premier made the point on the 5 June 2012 on the 7.30 Report:

Well, let’s be very clear. The approval that the Queensland Government has granted is for the mine at Alpha and for a railway line down to the coast at Abbot Point and the rail loop but not the port itself.

The Premier went on to ask:

What we want to know is: will the Minister approve the project in the 30 day period provided for under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act of the federal government? That’s all the Minister has to do. Approve the project subject to conditions. Let’s get the jobs for Queensland and Australia and get on with it.

The Deputy Premier and Premier were fundamentally mistaken about the approval process because the Coordinator-General’s report does not decide whether the project is approved at a state level (although in practice it is a big step towards the approvals being granted).

In a subsequent media statement, on the 7 June 2012 the Deputy Premier backed away from the Premier’s original position, stating:

“Queensland today provided a detailed response to the Federal Environment Minister on matters he has raised over the past week in relation to the Alpha Coal project’s conditional approval.

It was also agreed that there was a different understanding and interpretation of the current bilateral environmental approval process between the parties.

There is a joint commitment to the future of the bilateral agreement and Queensland will respond within the next ten days to the Commonwealth’s notice that it may suspend the bilateral approvals process.

It was agreed both parties would work to find a way forward on the bilateral process within that period.”

Queensland’s New Environment Minister does not believe in anthropogenic climate change!

Queensland's environment minister has confirmed he doubts the role of humans in causing climate change, but says he believes society should act to curb pollution and find renewable power sources.

Premier Campbell Newman backed his minister, Andrew Powell, saying it was “refreshing” to have someone in charge of the portfolio who was prepared to tell the truth.

Mr Powell also confirmed his doubts about the degree to which humans were influencing climate change, after he made comments to that effect on ABC Radio this week.

“Is the climate changing? Yes it is,” Mr Powell told reporters during a media conference.

“Am I 100 per cent convinced of the human population's role in that? No I'm not.

“Are we polluting the environment? Yes we are. Are we using a non-renewable energy source? Yes we are. Do we need to address both of those factors? Yes we do.”

Fast Track

Fast tracking Significant Projects

The Qld Government has started the fast tracking of significant projects and has granted significant project status to the Yarwun coal export terminal in Gladstone. This is a new paradigm with a Co-ordinator General with the unprecedented ability to fast track development.

The Qld Coordinator-General has also given the green light to Rio Tinto’s $1.45 billion South of the Embley bauxite mining extension on Cape York, but the project still needs Federal Government approval. 

Environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society say that the Qld Government's approval of a bauxite mine expansion on Cape York is at-odds with the World Heritage process. Environmental activists have slammed the change, saying it reduces the amount of time given to considering environmental impact or community input.

The project is still subject to Federal Government approval. Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke says he is concerned about the impact of extra shipping on the Great Barrier Reef & wants to make sure there is a proper environmental assessment.

The Qld Government has called on Mr Burke to detail how long he intended to delay the process and make a decision.

The following consultations provide an opportunity for the public to comment or make a submission on significant project proponents' environmental impact statements (EIS) and other initiatives:

·       Arrow LNG Plant                  28 May

·       Central Qld Rail Project        4 June

·       GasFields Commission        25 May

·       Nathan Dam and Pipelines   5 June

·       North Surat-Collingwood Coal Project            28 May

·       North Surat-Taroom Coal Project       28 May

·       Wongai Project                    12 June

Red Tape

One may recall that late last year, Federal Labor received the final report of Dr Allan Hawke’s review of the EPBC Act.  Amongst other things, this report recommended divesting responsibilities to the State Governments, with the action (RHETORIC) of cutting red tape & increasing certainty for business.  

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney says the cutting down the red tape will mean Qld can take full advantage of the resources boom.

Divesting of Coal Fired Power

The Qld Government has withdrawn its financial support for the Cloncurry Photo Voltaic Solar Farm to achieve savings for the state’s taxpayers of about $5.6 million.  Large-scale solar farms are proven technology and the Qld State Government believes it is up to the private sector to decide whether to invest in, build and operate such projects in Qld.

Should Premier Newman sell Stanwell Corporation and CS Energy to the private sector, for the same reasons that AGL has bought Loy Yang A in Victoria?

The purchase of Loy Yang A will make AGL the equal largest generator of electricity in the Australia.  Up until recently, AGL have pursued a strategy of developing the nation’s lowest carbon intensity in its energy assets, this purchase nearly triples its intensity.

Loy Yang A will act as a “cash cow” for the company, despite the introduction of a carbon price.  AGL propose to use the substantial cash flows to help fund its renewables investment, which it estimates at around $4-$5 billion to meet its share of the renewable energy target. It expects to meet 60-80% that capital cost itself. When one considers the transition from fossil fuels to renewables – taking the cash from an older asset like Stanwell & Tarong Power Stations & reinvesting it in renewable makes sense.

Government supports Surat Basin resource sector growth

The Minister for Natural Resources & Mines: Andrew Cripps has outlined the Qld Government’s plans to support economic growth in the Surat Basin Energy Resources Province.

The Qld Government are looking to the significant thermal coal and coal seam gas (CSG) resources in the Surat Basin to play a critical role in reining in Queensland’s $2.8b budget deficit and reducing the state’s unemployment to 4%.

Conversion of that CSG into liquefied natural gas (LNG) to export from Gladstone is set to make Qld one of the principal suppliers of LNG to the Asia-Pacific region. By 2018 Qld will be the third largest LNG exporter in the world.

Mr Cripps believes the State Government’s role is to strike a policy balance in regions like the Surat Basin that supports growth in the coal & gas sector, protects the environment and respects other land uses like agriculture.

The Minister emphasised however, that rapid growth in the Surat Basin, particularly in CSG production, is not without its challenges.

“There is a need for CSG companies particularly to show a commitment to improving their relationship with the agricultural sector and securing the trust of the broader community,” he said.

The Qld Government’s newly established Gasfields Land and Water Commission will play a key role in ensuring CSG companies earn their social licence to operate by respecting landholders and the environment.

Mr Cripps said the introduction of Statutory Regional Plans, especially on the Darling Downs, should also ensure that controversy is replaced by clear planning.