The SEPP lays down the discipline concerning Mining, Petroleum Production and Extractive Industries. Under Part 2 it distinguishes developments into permissible without consents, permissible with consents, prohibited developments, coal seam gas developments prohibited in certain exclusion zones, exempt developments of minimal environmental impact and complying developments. Under permissible developments without consent fall for instance (b) rehabilitation, by or on behalf of a public authority, of an abandoned mine site and (e) the construction, maintenance or use (in each case, outside an environmentally sensitive area of State significance) of any pollution control works or pollution control equipment required as a result of the variation of a licence under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997. Part 3 lists the matters to be taken into consideration by the consent authority when evaluating a development application. These, among various elements, include: minimum and non-bias mining standards (e.g. any interference with an aquifer caused by the development must not exceed the respective water table, water pressure and water quality requirements specified by the Aquifer Interference Policy for each relevant water source), compatibility of proposed development with other land uses, natural resource management and environmental management aspects (any impact on significant water resources, including surface and groundwater resources, on threatened species and biodiversity is avoided or minimised, and that greenhouse gas emissions are minimised), that resource recovery processes and policies are in place, and if the consent should be issued subject to conditions aimed at ensuring the rehabilitation of land affected by the development (e.g. preparation of a waste management plan, of a land rehabilitation plan, and/or of a soil remediation plan) Part 4A concerns mining and petroleum development on strategic agricultural land. The application, as prescribed by Clause 50A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, must accompanied by a gateway certificate, or a site verification certificate that certifies that the land on which the proposed development is to be carried out is not biophysical strategic agricultural land; the SEPP adds to the discipline that in both processes the consent authority must refer the application to the Minister for Regional Water for advice regarding the impact of the proposed development on water resources. Division 4 of the SEPP requires that the Gateway Panel in evaluating the application for Gateway Certificate must consider that the proposed development will not significantly reduce the agricultural productivity of any biophysical strategic agricultural land, based on a consideration of any impacts on the land through surface area disturbance and subsidence, any impacts on soil fertility, effective rooting depth or soil drainage, increases in land surface micro-relief, soil salinity, rock outcrop, slope and surface rockiness or significant changes to soil pH, any impacts on highly productive groundwater, any fragmentation of agricultural land uses, any reduction in the area of biophysical strategic agricultural land. In addition the SEPP specifies that when the development application is in relation to critical industry cluster land the consent authority must evaluate that that the proposed development will not have a significant impact on the relevant critical industry considering impacts on the land through surface area disturbance and subsidence, reduced access to, or impacts on, water resources and agricultural resources, reduced access to support services and infrastructure, reduced access to transport routes, the loss of scenic and landscape values.
أستراليا · 2007-02-16