Environment law and policy tracker

Tuesday, 16 August 2016 2:40pm

Law and policy changes in all jurisdictions, and a round-up of jobs, grants, awards and seminars.

Upcoming events
Jurisdictional round-up (national, states and territories)
Jobs and appointments

** Featured vacancy ** Western Australia's Department of Environment Regulation is seeking a senior manager, policy coordination.

Upcoming events:

Climate change: The challenge out to 2050 - Tim Flannery An August 19 seminar at the University of Wollongong, hosted by the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences.
National biofuels symposium An August 23 to 25 conference in Brisbane, hosted by the Biofuels Association of Australia.
Energy options for our region An August 24 to 25 conference in Perth, hosted by the Australian Institute of Energy.
Sustainability in public works An August 24 to 26 conference in Melbourne, hosted by the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia.
Victorian energy forum An August 24 seminar in Melbourne, hosted by the Energy Users Association of Australia.
Health, safety, environment and community conference An August 29 to 20 conference in the Hunter Valley, hosted by the NSW Mining Council.
Disruption and the energy industry An August 30 conference in Sydney, hosted by Informa.
Power industry – challenges ahead A September 6 seminar by Dr Paul Simshauser, director-general of Queensland's Department of Energy and Water Supply.
Smart lighting summit A September 6 to 7 conference in Melbourne.

For other events, including a conference in Brisbane on HVAC, see the extensive Footprint what's on listings.

National:

The Clean Energy Regulator has announced the fourth ERF auction will be held on November 16 and 17.
The Regulator has also issued a paper on direct purchasing of abatement from large-scale projects, which would by-pass ERF auction processes (related article for subscribers only).
Woodside Energy has applied for a hazardous waste export permit to send up to 600 tonnes of spent absorbent from its Karratha gas plan to Switzerland for recovery operations.
Carbon capture and storage projects involving Glencore, Shell and AGL are among the beneficiaries of $23 million in new grant funding announced by the Federal Government (related article for subscribers only).
Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg has declared a Queensland farmer's land clearing would undergo EPBC Act review, despite the farmer's refusal to make an EPBC referral (related article for subscribers only).
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has released its annual 'electricity statement of energy opportunities' which, for the first time, details the implications of cutting emissions 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030 (related article for subscribers only).
All NGER reporters must submit their emissions and energy reports by midnight, October 31.
Award nominations invited: Nominations close on August 31 for the Energy Efficiency Council's national energy efficiency awards.
Award nominations invited: Nominations for the independent Banksia foundation awards close on August 26.

Queensland:

A new report for the Queensland Government estimates meeting 2025 Reef water quality targets would cost $8.2 billion, largely because of the expense of cutting sediment levels in catchment run-off (related article for subscribers only).
Ahead of a vote on legislation to reinstate controls on vegetation clearing lifted by the former Newman Government, Environment Minister Steven Miles has instructed the state's Species Technical Committee to investigate the role of land clearing in the decline of native wildlife.
Comment is due by September 2 on the Palaszczuk Government's climate change discussion paper.

NSW:

The EPA has gazetted an exemption from waste tracking requirements for the transport of specified "household problem wastes" to approved community recycling centres.
The Department of Industry has abandoned prosecutions of Korean coal miner KEPCO and engineering group WorleyParsons for allegedly providing false information, and has instead accepted enforceable undertakings (related article for subscribers only).
NSW will shortly release a draft bill to implement its container deposit scheme (related article for subscribers only).
Comment closes on September 16 on draft documents on the assessment and approval of wind farms (related article for subscribers only).

Victoria:

Comment closes on August 31 on a discussion paper on its proposed renewable energy auction scheme (related article for subscribers only).
Comment closes on August 22 on proposed changes to the general exemption order that would affect signatories to power purchase agreements and those supplying energy to facilities such as shopping centres and apartment blocks.

South Australia:

Grant opportunity: The Green Industries Office is offering subsidised resource productivity assessments, with up to 50% of assessment costs covered. Applications close October 31.
Grant opportunity: The office is also offering food and beverage implementation grants of up to $300,000 to subsidise trade waste reduction initiatives.
A bill to establish Green Industries SA as a statutory agency is currently before the state Parliament (related article for subscribers only).
Nominations close on September 5 for the women in waste leadership award, which provides up to $5,000 for travel, accommodation and conference costs. The award honours the memory of the late Pam Keating.
Entries close on September 9 for the inaugural SA Climate Leaders Awards.

Western Australia:

The EPA has recommended that Vimy Resource Ltd's proposed Mulga Rock uranium mine in the eastern Goldfields can proceed, subject to conditions.
At the request of Environment Minister Albert Jacob, the EPA is consulting on the size of the Kwinana industrial buffer taking into account current and future land uses in the Mandogalup area.
Comment closes August 26 on proposed changes to the Waste Avoidance and Resource Recovery Regulations 2008 to strengthen record-keeping requirements (related article for subscribers only).

Jobs and appointments:

The Productivity Commission is seeking an assistant commissioner to head its water inquiry team, after taking on new responsibilities to monitor to progress in implementing the National Water Initiative and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff is seeking a Sydney-based environmental consultant.
JLL is seeking a Sydney-based sustainability engineer – building services.
SouthTech is recruiting on behalf of a refinery for a Brisbane-based environmental engineer.
Xecutive Recruitment is hiring on behalf of a "top-tier meat processing company" for a Rockhampton-based environmental officer.
Mako Mining Pty Ltd is seeking an EHS coordinator for a FIFO role on the Forrestania nickel project (WA).
Ivory Group is recruiting on behalf of a consultancy for a Sydney-based environmental scientist.
Hays is recruiting on behalf of a client with national operations for an energy efficiency engineer, initially responsible for scoping, tendering and delivering energy and greenhouse projects across Victoria (three months, scope for extension).
EPA Victoria is seeking a program coordinator for its Yarra and Bay plan.