Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016

In this section—

appropriate

Authority or Authority means—

in the case of a matter referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of designated matter or operations under a mining production tenement—a Minister to whom the administration of the Mining Acts are committed; or

in the case of a matter referred to in paragraph (c) or (d) of the definition of designated matter or operations under a licence under the Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023—a

Minister to whom the administration of the Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023 is committed;

designated matter means—

an application for a mining production tenement; or

a proposed statement of environmental objectives under the Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000;

or

an application for a licence under the Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023;

or

a proposed statement of environmental objectives under the Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023;

relevant licence means—

a mining production tenement; or

a licence under the Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023.

The appropriate Authority may refer a designated matter to the Minister for advice and, if the designated matter is such that it is required by the regulations to be so referred to the Minister, the appropriate

Authority must refer the designated matter to the Minister for advice.

Copies of any submissions received under the Mining Acts or the Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023 (as the case may be) as a result of public consultation on the designated matter must be forwarded to the Minister for the purposes of subsection (2).

If, in the opinion of the Minister or of the appropriate Authority, operations to be conducted under a relevant licence are of major social, economic or environmental importance—

the

Minister or the Authority may determine that the operations are to be subject to the processes and procedures prescribed by Part 7

Division 2 Subdivision 4 with respect to the preparation of an EIS; and

in the case of such a determination, that Subdivision will then apply in relation to the preparation of an EIS, and a related Assessment

Report—

subject to the qualification that any reference under that Subdivision to the

Commission or the Chief Executive is to have effect as if it were a reference to the Minister or the Authority, depending on who has made the determination, but the EIS will cover matters determined by the

Minister after consultation with the Authority; and

subject to any other modifications as may be prescribed by the regulations.

The

Minister, after obtaining and considering a report of a prescribed kind on a designated matter referred for advice under this section and after considering the terms of any relevant EIS, must advise the appropriate Authority on the steps that should be taken (including, in relation to an application for a relevant licence, whether the application should or should not be granted or, as relevant, what conditions or requirements should be included in a relevant licence or a statement of environmental objectives) in order to recognise and address actual or potential adverse effects on the environment.

If the appropriate Authority does not agree with advice tendered under subsection (5), it must refer the matter to the Governor and the Governor will determine whether the Authority should adhere to the advice (after considering the terms of any relevant EIS).

The appropriate Authority may, with the concurrence of the Minister, determine that it is appropriate that proposed development associated with operations within the ambit of subsection (4)(a) also be assessed under this section and, if the Authority makes such a determination, the Authority may, by notice published in the

Gazette, combine the assessment of the proposed development with the assessment of the relevant operations and, in such a case—

the proposed development associated with the operations must also be considered under the relevant EIS; and

the

Minister may deal with the development under section 115 as if the development had been declared to be impact assessed development.