Water, stewardship and global supply chains
Water Stewardship Australia briefings in Sydney (September 14), Canberra (September 15) and Melbourne (September 16).
Global trends in responsible investment
A September 16 one-hour webinar hosted by the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change and ASRIA.
EERS reporting – advanced session
A September 16 one-hour webinar on the Emissions and Energy Reporting System (EERS) hosted by the Clean Energy Regulator.
Emissions Reduction Fund auctions – understanding the basics
A September 17 one-hour webinar hosted by the Clean Energy Regulator.
Foundation, advanced and specialist levels in water stewardship
A September 18 to 20 training course in Brisbane, hosted by the International Water Centre, with participants able to attend either one, two or three days.
Contaminated sites and how they should be managed
A September 18 workshop in Melbourne, hosted by the Australian Environment Business Network.
How to prepare a best practice sustainability report
A two-day workshop hosted by the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility in Brisbane (September 23-24) and Melbourne (October 13 and 14).
Preparing for the ISO14001: 2015 transition
A series of one-day seminars hosted by SAI Global, running through to December 15, in capital cities (Perth, September 25; Sydney, September 30; Melbourne, October 9; Brisbane October 19).
ISO14001: 2015 training
A series of various training courses – awareness briefing, update workshop, preparing for ISO14001: 2015 workshop, ISO14001: 2015 for auditors – offered in several locations by LRQA.
Climate change – what is Australia's fair share of a global effort?
A Grattan Institute evening forum in Sydney featuring Sid Marris of the Minerals Council, Olivia Kember of the Climate Institute and Tony Wood of the Grattan Institute.
For other events, including seminars on 'sustainable business in action' and the IGCC climate change summit, see the extensive Footprintwhat's on listings.
Resources:
The video of a recent one-hour webinar on the Australian market for green and climate bonds is now available.
The webinar features Justine Leigh-Bell and Rob Fowler of the Climate Bonds Initiative and David Jenkins of NAB.
National:
The Senate today passed the Water Amendment Bill 2015.
The bill amends the Water Act 2007 to impose a statutory limit of 1500 gigalitres on Commonwealth purchases of surface water across the Murray-Darling Basin.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt on Friday gazetted an amendment to the method that allows companies to earn carbon credits from industrial electricity and fuel efficiency projects.
The variation ensures that the definition of biomass under the method is consistent with the recently-amended RET scheme and amends procedures for calculating decay factors.
The Clean Energy Regulator has issued a guide to using the ERF 'land and sea transport' method to earn carbon credits.
A review of NOPSEMA, which regulates the offshore oil and gas industry, has concluded the agency is complying with requirements specified by Environment Minister Greg Hunt for assessing offshore projects.
But the review by consultancy ERM goes beyond its terms of reference to advise that while NOPSEMA is satisfying its obligations as a regulator, it is not transparent enough in its dealings with interest groups.
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'Offshore oil and gas regulator effective, but not transparent').
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is seeking expressions of interest for a share of $100 million (involving individual grants of up to $30 million) for solar PV projects with a minimum generating capacity of 5MW.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has announced a complementary $250 million large-scale solar financing program, which will support projects with loan requirements of $15 million or more, targeted at unlocking additional private-sector investment into the large-scale solar sector.
The combined total of $350 million is likely to support between four and 10 large-scale solar farms.
The CEFC has separately announced an agreement with not-for-profit community housing provider SGCH to commit up to $60 million in long-term senior debt to support the construction of more than 200 new energy-efficient homes and upgrades of some of its existing properties.
CEFC chief executive Oliver Yates noted that lowest-income households spend about 7% of their disposable income on energy, compared to 2.6% for highest-income households.
Comment closes on Wednesday and next Monday on the various documents that would implement the Government's proposed 'safeguard mechanism', which would apply to facilities that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas annually.
(See source material here and the CE Daily article '140 top emitters learn their short-term fate').
Transcript is now available from an August 26 hearing of a Senate committee inquiry into stormwater resources. The inquiry will report on October 14.
The House of Representatives inquiry into tax-deductible donations made to environment groups will hold three more public hearings this month – in Canberra (September 18) and Melbourne (September 21 and 22).
Submissions are now available to the Senate inquiry into a Government bill that would remove the rights of organisations to appeal EPBC Act decisions, unless they are immediately affected by them.
Businesses wanting to bid into the second ERF auction, to be held on November 4 and 5, must apply to the Clean Energy Regulator to have their projects registered by September 18.
(See source material here and the CE Daily article 'Regulator to hold second ERF auction in November').
Queensland:
The State Government has gazetted the Water and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2015.
An explanatory note says it provides for the commencement of provisions in the Water and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 2015 that are consistent with Government policy and are connected to certain provisions of the Water Reform and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014 that also took effect last Friday.
An explanatory note describes the provisions of the Act that commenced on Friday.
The Water and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation (No. 2) 2015 also nominates Adani Infrastructure Pty Ltd as an entity that can hold a water licence without it attaching to land.
The State Government has released a statement of proposals for a revised Great Artesian Basin water resource plan.
Submissions on the proposals are due by November 2015.
The Queensland Government and the waste management industry, including the Waste Recycling Industry Association Queensland, have established a taskforce to conduct Operation Tora, designed to stamp out unlicensed waste management operators in the state.
The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection is funding a pilot program for the recycling of power tool batteries.
The pilot scheme will run from this month until next June, with power tool batteries weighing under 500 grams returnable to 18 outlets in the Brisbane City Council area.
NSW Environment Minister Mark Speakman has announced finalists in the state's Green Globe environment awards.
Comment closes on October 14 on changes proposed by the Department of Planning & Environment to the 'pre-gateway process for reviewing planning proposals that a council has refused or failed to consider.
See source material here and here.
The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal has released issues papers for its reviews of prices charged by Sydney Water, Hunter Water and WaterNSW>
The Country Women's Association of NSW and State dairy industry body Dairy Connect have signed on to agreed principles of land gas, which details principles for land access for gas operations in the state.
The move follows the March 2014 signing of the principles by Santos, AGL, NSW Farmers, Cotton Australia and the NSW Irrigators Council.
The EPA has fined scrap metal company Sell and Parker $8,000 for emitting an offensive odour from its Kings Park facility.
The fine followed a complaint to the EPA, which conducted an odour survey at the site the next day.
The EPA received 53 complaints about the site in 2014 and it also breached its licence condition in November of that year.
Grant opportunity: Local government authorities have until September 22 to apply for EPA grants of up to $1.3 million for projects that boost kerbside collection of organic waste.
Grant opportunity: Expressions of interest close on September 28 for funding through the Saving our Species (SoS) Partnership Grants program.
Funded by the NSW Environmental Trust, the program will provide grants of between $300,000 and $1 million for partnerships between government, the community, non-government organisations and industry that protect and conserve threatened species.
Grant opportunity: Organisations have until September 30 to apply for Environmental Trust 'love food, hate waste' grants of up to $70,000 for projects that educate specific groups about organic waste.
Grant opportunity: Waste facility operators have until October 9 to apply for round two of the Resource Recovery Facility Expansion and Enhancement Program, dollar-for-dollar matching grants of up to $1 million.
Victoria:
The Essential Services Commission has released its latest annual performance report on the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target scheme.
EPA Victoria has fined Viva Energy Australia $7,381 for breaching licence limits on sulfur dioxide emissions from its Geelong refinery and has announced it will undertake an "environmental management and compliance assessment" of the site.
The EPA has issued a bulletin encouraging workers to report any petrol or diesel smells or discoloured soils they encounter if they are working in service pits or on underground pipes.
The Victorian Government has launched a review of the Local Government Act 1989.
Opposition to a livestock saleyard development has been stirred up by misinformation, and there are "no credible reasons" why it should not proceed, a Planning Panel has concluded.
In a bluntly-worded report, a Victorian planning panel has recommended that a site 10 kilometres from Ballarat is suitable as the new location for Victoria's largest sheep and cattle exchange.
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'Community views inflamed by misinformation').
South Australia:
The South Australian Government has established a low-carbon expert panel comprising Dr John Hewson, Dr Frank Jotzo (ANU) and Anna Skarbek (ClimateWorks Australia) who will advise on emissions targets for the state and the economic pathways for reaching them.
It has also released several consultation papers on the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Comment on the papers closes on October 18.
Western Australia:
Environment Minister Albert Jacob has issued final ministerial conditions for a 'waste to energy' facility in Kwinana proposed by Kwinana WTE Project Co Pty Ltd.
The WA Department of Environment Regulation (DER) has issued long-awaited draft guidance on separation distances, which specifies minimum recommended separation distances between industrial facilities and sensitive land uses.
(See source material here and the CE Daily article 'WA regulator issues new advice on buffer zones').
Comment closes on September 25 on a draft Heritage Bill released by Environment Minister Albert Jacob.
The Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) is seeking a senior environmental officer (intelligence) to identify environmental compliance priorities.
