Queensland's new environmental licensing regime: implications for environmentally relevant activities

Key Points:

A new environmental licensing regime will be introduced in Queensland on 31 March 2013, which will have widespread implications for operators of environmentally relevant activities. Operators proposing to carry out new environmentally relevant activities from this date will need to apply for an environmental authority under the new regime.

On 31 March 2013, a new environmental licensing regime will be introduced in Queensland with the commencement of a range of legislative amendments that form part of the Queensland Government's Greentape Reduction project.

One of the primary objectives of these amendments is to introduce a single approvals process applying to all environmentally relevant activities, ranging from activities as diverse as poultry farming and chemical storage to large-scale coal and petroleum projects (ERAs).