21 March, 2013
National protection for water resources an important step in the right direction
Important changes to Australia’s national environmental law will be debated in parliament today, aimed at providing federal protection for water resources threatened by coal seam gas and large coal mines.
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC) has welcomed the introduction to parliament of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment Bill 2013, but warned that the risk of federal environmental powers being transferred to the states remains unresolved.
“If adopted, these changes will empower the federal government to protect our rivers, wetlands and groundwater from destructive coal and coal seam gas development,” said Pepe Clarke, Chief Executive Officer of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.
“However, we are deeply concerned that the benefits of this important reform will be lost if federal environmental powers are transferred to the states.”
Under existing law, the federal government can transfer its approval powers to the states through bilateral agreements, effectively removing federal protection for nationally important environmental values.
“If the federal government is serious about protecting our precious water resources and the natural environment, it must seize this opportunity to remove those provisions that enable federal approval powers to be transferred.
“Further amendments are required to remove loopholes in the new water protection provisions, and to extend their application to developments which have not yet received final approval of their water management plans, including the Maules Creek coal mine near Narrabri and the coal seam gas field at Gloucester.
“Given that these two developments are likely to have significant impacts on water resources, it is common sense that these be assessed under the new laws,” Mr Clarke said.
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Coal and gas
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