Community involvement in mining and petroleum lease approvals
EIS under the Environmental Protection Act 1994
A resource company will complete an environmental impact statement (EIS) under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 if it has volunteered to do so, or the chief executive of the department has required one be completed.
A resource company may apply to prepare a voluntary EIS. The chief executive will approve this application if they consider an EIS is appropriate for the project.
The chief executive may decide an EIS is required for a project if the project requires a site-specific environmental authority and the project has not already undergone an EIS process under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971.
When considering whether or not to require a project proponent to undertake an EIS, the chief executive must consider the ‘standard criteria’. The standard criteria includes considerations such as:
- Best practice environmental management for activities under an environmental authority
- The public interest
- Any relevant site management plan, and
- The character, resilience and values of the environment in the area.
Community participation in Environmental Protection Act 1994 EIS process
Who are affected and interested persons?
Affected persons includes the landholders whose land will be used for the project and other landholders potentially affected by the project.
Interested persons are any person the resource company thinks will be interested in being notified, such as an unincorporated community or environmental body connected to the local area.
Submission on EIS
When the terms of reference are finalised, the resource company prepares the EIS. If the chief executive of the department considers the EIS addresses the terms of reference, then the resource company must publicly notify the EIS by placing a notice on a website, and directly notifying any affected and interested people. The department also publishes this notice online at Public Notices and Consultations.
Any person may make a submission on the EIS. The period for submissions must be at least 30 business days.
If you decide to make a submission on the EIS, it must be ‘properly made’. This means the submission must:
- be written
- signed by the writer(s)
- state the name and address of each writer
- be made to the chief executive
- be received on or before the last day of the submission period.
The chief executive must consider the submissions made on the EIS when preparing a final report on the EIS. This final report assesses the resource company’s EIS, and can include conditions which must be attached to any environmental authority (EA) granted for the project.
Individuals who make a submission on the EIS are able to later object to the approval of an EA for a mining project in the Land Court, or appeal to the Land Court about a decision to approve an EA for a petroleum project.
In some circumstances, making a submission on the EIS may be the only opportunity for the public to make a submission about a proposed project on environmental grounds. This is because there is no ability to make a submission on the environmental authority if:
- the project’s EIS has been completed
- the project’s environmental risks of the activities have not changed since they were assessed in the EIS
- the way the activities will be carried out has changed, the change is unlikely to attract a submission
or on a proposed progressive rehabilitation and closure plan (PRC plan) for a mining project if:
- since the proposed PRC plan provided with the EIS was notified, neither of the following has changed:
- a post-mining land use or non-use management area
- the day by which rehabilitation of land to a stable condition will be achieved.
Related information
For further information please visit the EIS process webpage.