A draft Construction Noise Guideline has been released by the NSW Environment Protection Authority for public consultation. Private and public construction proponents, contractors, engineers and other stakeholders are encouraged to make a submission on the draft guideline by 15 March 2021. Read more

The High Court has upheld an appeal against New Acland Coal’s applications to extend the New Acland open-cut coal mine. The applications must now be determined afresh as a result of apprehended bias in the Land Court of Queensland. Read more

A number of provisions of the Environmental Protection Amendment Act 2020 (WA) came into operation on 3 February 2021, following proclamation on 2 February 2021. We briefly touch on some of the noteworthy changes. Read more

The importance of a robust and fit-for-purpose greenhouse gas emissions assessment during environmental impact assessment under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) was recently highlighted by appeals against the EPA's assessment of the Pilbara Energy Generation Power Station project. Read more

The Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Bill 2020 has been introduced into the Commonwealth Parliament to create a national register of industrial chemicals and make recommendations as to their risk management. Read more

The NSW Government proposes to introduce industry-specific environmental assessment requirements, new assessment guidelines and an environmental impact statement certification regime for State significant projects. Public submissions on the proposed reforms will close on 12 February 2021. Read more

On 14 December 2020, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources released the consultation paper, "Enhancing Australia's Decommissioning Framework". The paper is the third step in a reform process and follows a Discussion Paper published in October 2018, a process of consultation and stakeholder formal submissions into early 2019. Implementation of the framework is expected to occur in 2021. We have outlined the key components of the proposed Enhanced Framework. Read more

Our prediction: The legal landscape is shifting away from being a roadblock to investment and towards facilitating upward momentum in the development space. Read more