The Federal Government has released the Draft significant
impact guidelines – Coal seam gas and large coal mining
developments: impacts on water resources (Draft
Guidelines).
The Draft Guidelines aim to provide proponents with greater
certainty in relation to the application of the new water trigger
under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation
Act 1999 (EPBC Act) to current and future
coal seam gas (CSG) and coal mining
developments.
Background
On 21 June 2013, the EPBC Act was amended to include a new
matter of national environmental significance in relation to CSG
and large coal mining developments, known as the 'water
trigger'.
As a result, CSG development or large coal mining development
that has, will have, or is likely to have a significant impact on
water resources will now generally require referral to (and
potentially approval from) the Federal Environment Minister under
the EPBC Act. The water trigger aims to provide direct
