These conditions of approval are issued under the:
- Petroleum Onshore Act 1991 (PO Act) and issued Petroleum Exploration Licences (PELs), Petroleum Assessment Leases (PALs) and Petroleum Production Leases (PPLs). For PPLs, Development Approval is required under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 as these activities are State Significant Development (SSD).
- Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) and issued Development Approvals (DAs)
- Water Management Act 2000 (WM Act) and issued Water Access Licences (WALs) as well as enforcing onshore gas activities with no WALs where a WAL is required
- Water Act 1912 (Water Act) and issued Bore Licences but not including bores for groundwater monitoring or investigation under the Water Act
- Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) and issued Environment Protection Licences (EPLs)
The EPA is not responsible for:
- the issuing of DAs, PELs, PALs, PPLs, WALs or Bore Licences and related administration of these instruments
- WH&S issues (where the Resources Regulator is the lead regulator)
- rehabilitation security bonds
- pipelines that are off an EPL premises
Conditions of approval are issued by:
- the Division of Mining, Exploration and Geoscience within the Department of Regional NSW - for PALs, PELs and PPLs
- the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure - for SSDs
- the Natural Resources Access Regulator - for WALs when an application to explore, appraise or produce onshore gas is approved.
These conditions include strict controls which industry must comply with to:
- protect waters, land and air and reduce noise impacts
- manage waste
- manage the use of chemicals
- manage rehabilitation and biodiversity
- manage infrastructure and requirements for insurance and assurance
- require community consultation
Controls on gas activity
When an approval is issued, all onshore gas activities are required to hold an environment protection licence issued by the EPA.
Environment protection licences set out legally enforceable, site-specific conditions and controls which holders must comply with to prevent and minimise pollution and safeguard the community and the environment. Onshore gas activities must comply with legislation and regulations, codes of practice, petroleum title conditions, development approval conditions and other requirements.
Investigations
The EPA leads investigations of alleged breaches of relevant conditions, and works with technical and scientific experts where required and consults with other government agencies.
Enforcement
Failure to comply with environmental laws or approval and/or EPL conditions can result in the issue of clean-up and prevention notices, or enforcement action including formal warnings, official cautions, penalty notices, legally binding pollution reduction programs attached to an EPL and, for serious cases, enforceable undertakings or prosecutions.
The Regulatory Policy guides EPA decisions, ensuring its compliance and enforcement activities and actions are consistent, fair and credible.
The Prosecution Guidelines set out the factors the EPA takes into account in deciding whether, how and in what court to prosecute.
Courts can order the offender to undertake environmental improvement works under an environmental service order or can order the offender to publicise details of the conviction in media outlets. Courts can also impose significant penalties for non-compliance. For example:
- the maximum penalty for not operating control equipment in a proper and efficient manner is $2 million for a corporation or $500,000 for individuals, with further daily penalties for continuing offences
- the maximum penalty for failure to report a pollution incident that threatens or causes material harm to the environment is $4 million for corporations or $1 million for individuals, with further daily penalties for continuing offences.
Gas compliance statement
The Gas Compliance Statement (PDF 354KB) outlines
- the legislative changes that gave the EPA the powers to become the lead regulator for onshore gas activities in NSW
- how these changes have been implemented
- the EPA’s approach to compliance and enforcement of onshore gas activities
- how overlapping regulatory powers across various legislation are dealt with
- offence types, retrospectivity, confidential information, penalties and appeals
- reporting requirements and access to information
Recovering costs for regulating the gas industry
From 2022, annual fees paid by petroleum environment protection licence holders will include an additional charge linked to the number of wells in the licensed area on top of an annual base charge.
This is in response to the recommendation in the Final Report of the Independent Review of Coal Seam Gas Activities in NSW that the full cost to Government of the regulation and support of the gas industry be covered by industry. The cost recovery will be phased-in over three years and the fee level will be reviewed in 2024.
