Environment law and policy tracker
Monday, 21 September 2015 3:59pm
A Footprint weekly snapshot for ISO 14001 system managers and environmental and carbon professionals.
Upcoming events:
- 16th global conference on environmental taxation
A September 23 to 24 conference in Sydney, featuring speakers including Chloe Munro (Clean Energy Regulator), Martijn Wilder (Baker & McKenzie) and Professor Ross Garnaut.
- Climate change – what is Australia's fair share of a global effort?
A September 30 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.
- Sustainable business in action
A September 30 seminar in Melbourne hosted by Sustainable Business Australia, featuring speakers including Rosemary Bissett (NAB), Peter Holt (Energetics) and John Thwaites (chair of ClimateWorks Australia).
- Preparing for the ISO14001: 2015 transition
A series of one-day seminars hosted by SAI Global, running through to December 15, in capital cities (Sydney, September 30; Melbourne, October 9; Brisbane October 19).
- ISO14001:2015 Awareness briefing
A seminar hosted by LRQA (Melbourne, October 5).
- 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).
- Investor Group on Climate Change 2015 summit
An October 5 to 6 conference in Melbourne, featuring speakers including Gillian Broadbent (CEFC), Emma Herd (IGCC) and Andrew Vesey (AGL), as well as video presentations by Rachel Kyte (World Bank), Christiana Figueres (UNFCCC) and Al Gore.
- ISO14001: 2015 training
A series of training courses – awareness briefing, update workshop, preparing for ISO14001: 2015 workshop, ISO14001: 2015 for auditors – offered in several locations by LRQA.
For other events, including the Energy Users Association annual conference, see the extensive Footprint what's on listings.
International:
- The International Standards Organisation has published
the long-awaited revision of the ISO14001 environmental management standard.
ISO has also released support material explaining aspects of the updated standard.
National:
- Australia has a new Energy and Resources Minister, Josh Frydenberg, and a new Minister for the Built Environment and Cities, Jamie Briggs.
Frydenberg was formerly Assistant Treasurer, and Briggs was Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt has retained his portfolio.
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'Hunt's influence grows').
- AGL will at next week's AGM face a shareholder resolution calling on it to rapidly move to a business model in line with limiting warming to less than 2C.
- AGL and seven other companies have issued a public statement stating it is good governance for company boards to help build a strong global response to climate change, and supporting Federal Government efforts to ensure Australia plays its fair part in limiting global warming to less than 2C.
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'Top companies send climate message to Canberra and peers').
- Comment closes today on the draft rule that would implement the Government's proposed 'safeguard mechanism', which would specify limits for facilities that emit more than 100,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas annually.
(See source material here and the Footprint article '140 top emitters learn their short-term fate').
- Environment Minister Greg Hunt has released a new method for earning carbon credits by improving the productivity of pasture-fed beef herds.
- The Federal Government has released a timetable for its proposed overhaul of NICNAS, the agency that assesses and regulates industrial chemicals.
(See source material here).
- Environment Minister Greg Hunt has approved the delisting of 15 species from various EPBC categories (extinct, threatened and vulnerable).
- Hunt has separately amended the EPBC list of migratory species.
- The House of Representatives inquiry into tax-deductible donations made to environment groups will hold public hearings in Melbourne today and tomorrow.
- Submissions are due by November 20 to a Senate inquiry into supertrawlers operating in Australian waters.
- The closing date for submissions to the Senate inquiry into marine plastic pollution has been extended to October 9.
- The Bob Brown Foundation has announced its 2015 environmentalists of the year.
The Foundation has named East Gippsland-based campaigner for native forests and wildlife, Jill Redwood, as environmentalist of the year, Amelia Telford as young environmentalist of the year, and Dominique Hes as winner of the Deni Green Award.
It has awarded its community environment prize to the Maules Creek and Gomeroi communities.
Queensland:
- The Queensland Government has proclaimed September 30 as the day on which two significant changes to the Environmental Protection Act 1994 will take effect.
From that date, new procedures for managing contaminated sites will apply, and the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection will also have the option of securing enforceable undertakings from those breaching the Act, according to an explanatory note.
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'Queensland sets date to activate environment law changes').
- Queensland's Minister for Energy and Water Supply, Mark Bailey, has introduced a bill to Parliament that would mandate the use of biofuels from July 1 next year.
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'Queensland to mandate biofuel use').
NSW:
- The NSW Government is seeking advice on why only six building environmental upgrade agreements (EUAs) have been signed in four years.
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'Dismal take-up of upgrade agreements: NSW seeks answers).
- Lord Mayor Clover Moore has named Beck Dawson as Sydney's chief resilience officer.
The creation of the new post follows Sydney's participation in the 100 Resilient Cities alliance, pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation.
Dawson's responsibilities will include developing a Resilient Sydney Strategy.
Dawson was formerly Investa's chief sustainability officer.
- The NSW Planning and Assessment Commission has recommended that the proposed remediation of the former Newcastle gasworks be called-in as a state significant development, as requested by site owner Jemena Gas Networks.
- NSW Environment Minister Mark Speakman has ordered a general review of the EPA's management of contaminated sites, in the wake of the discovery of polluted surface water and groundwater at a RAAF base.
Speakman has separately commissioned NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer Mary O'Kane to advise on the management of the contamination caused by the use of fire-fighting chemicals at the Williamtown RAAF base.
(See the Footprint article 'EPA handing of contaminated sites under review').
- 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:
- Environment Minister Lisa Neville has introduced the National Parks Amendment (No 99 Year Leases) Bill 2015.
The Bill would amend the National Parks Act 1975 to implement the Labor's election commitments to remove the ability to grant 99 year leases in national parks.
It will reduce the maximum term for a general lease from 99 years to 21 years and reduce the maximum term for a lease in Point Nepean and Mount Buffalo national parks and Arthurs Seat State Park from 99 years to 50 years.
- The Victorian Government has released a discussion paper on a proposed ban on sending e-waste to landfill.
- The Victorian Auditor-General has issued another critical audit report on the roll-out of smart meters, but a key department involved in the deployment has accused the Auditor-General of "systematic pessimism".
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'Auditor-General accused of pessimism on smart meters').
Tasmania:
- The Tasmanian EPA has determined that an open-cut coal mine proposed by the Cornwall Coal Company should be approved with conditions.
South Australia:
- South Australia's Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources has become the first state government agency approved by the Clean Energy Regulator to earn carbon credits.
The Regulator has authorised the department to earn credits from six projects in the River Murray Forest involving the planting of native species on cleared or partially-cleared land.
Subject to satisfying ERF auction participation criteria, the department could bid the credits into an auction. Alternatively, it could sell them privately to another organisation.
- Comment closes on October 18 on several consultation papers on the transition to a low-carbon economy issued by the South Australian Government.
Western Australia:
- State Parliament's Standing Committee On Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review has released the report of its inquiry into the Planning and Development (Development Assessment Panels) Regulations 2011.
The Regulations introduced development assessment panels (DAPs) as decision-making bodies for determining certain applications for planning approvals.
During the time that the Committee was investigating the regulations, the Government introduced the Planning and Development (Development Assessment Panels) Amendment Regulations 2015.
- The Department of Environment Regulation has proposed new standard procedures for assessing applications for works approval and licences.
The department is proposing a single application form that would be used for both works approval and licence applications, and successful applicants would receive approval and/or a licence based on a standard template.
The templates would be augmented with additional requirements drawn from a conditions library that is under development by the department.
(See source material here and the Footprint article 'WA overhauls licence application procedure').
Jobs and appointments:
