A new NSW bill enables the state government to monetise biodiversity and carbon sequestration actions in national parks that go beyond business-as-usual.
Mining companies, environmentalists, planners and local governments have all told a NSW parliamentary inquiry that the state's biodiversity offsets scheme is seriously flawed.
The NSW Nature Conservation Council has rebuked the state government for suspending proposed changes to its biodiversity offsets regime, accusing it of caving-in to developers.
Developers in NSW that want to transfer their biodiversity offset liabilities to the state government will have to ask for a quote for the service, under proposed changes.
Taxpayers will have to make up the shortfall, after project proponents paid insufficient money into the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Fund to buy required offsets.
The spiralling costs of biodiversity offsets in NSW is often a problem for proponents of clean energy projects in the state, according to the Clean Energy Council.
A NSW parliamentary inquiry has warned the koala could be extinct in the state before 2050, and has recommended tighter controls on environmental offsetting, including an end to special treatment for mining companies.
The scientists that assess the water impacts of coal mines have warned governments that revisions to a proposed mine expansion in Sydney's water catchment haven't overcome their concerns about environmental damage.