1Citation
These regulations are the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Regulations 2013.
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Bill homepageThese regulations are the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Regulations 2013.
These regulations come into operation as follows —
regulations 1 and 2 — on the day on which these regulations are published in the Gazette;
the rest of the regulations — on the day on which the Mining Rehabilitation Fund Act 2012 section 37 comes into operation.
In these regulations —
area, of a mining authorisation, means the area of land to which the mining authorisation relates;
assessment day, in relation to a mining authorisation and a year, means the day in that year that is nominated by the holder of the mining authorisation under regulation 5(1) in assessment information given to the CEO for that year;
earthworks —
means any operations to move or shape land; and
includes the following —
excavating or filling;
forming embankments or slopes;
operations to control wind or water erosion of land;
battering, contouring, reshaping, ripping, capping or rock armouring land;
EMA notice has the meaning given in the Mining Act 1978 section 103AF(1);
exploration operations means operations under a mining authorisation that are —
directly related to exploration or prospecting for minerals; and
the subject of a programme of work or an EMA notice;
land under rehabilitation, in relation to a mining authorisation, means land —
on which earthworks have been completed in accordance with the closure obligations that apply to the mining authorisation (whether under a condition of the mining authorisation, a programme of work, a mining proposal, an EMA notice or otherwise); and
that is not rehabilitated land;
member means a member of the Panel;
minerals‑in‑brine means potash, halite or magnesium salt that is dissolved in brine;
mining proposal, in relation to a mining authorisation that is a mining lease granted under the Mining Act 1978, means —
a mining proposal that accompanied the application for the mining lease under section 74(1)(ca) of that Act; or
a mining proposal for which there is approval as described in section 82A(2)(b) of that Act;
Panel means the Mining Rehabilitation Advisory Panel established by section 33(1) of the Act;
programme of work, in relation to a mining authorisation, means a programme of work that is approved, or with which the holder of the authorisation is required to comply, under the Mining Act 1978 or a programme of work that is otherwise lodged with the department in connection with the mining authorisation;
rehabilitated land, in relation to a mining authorisation, means land on which rehabilitation has been completed in accordance with the closure obligations that apply to the mining authorisation (whether under a condition of the mining authorisation, a programme of work, a mining proposal, an EMA notice or otherwise);
rehabilitation liability category means a category specified in column 2 of the Table to Schedule 1 clause 1;
rehabilitation work has the meaning given in section 10(1) of the Act;
year means a period of 12 months ending on 30 June.
[Regulation 3 amended: SL 2021/63 r. 4; SL 2025/156 r. 6.]
For the purposes of section 13 of the Act, the amount of levy payable in respect of a mining authorisation in a year is the amount worked out in accordance with the following formula —
RLE × FCR
where —
FCR is the fund contribution rate of 1%;
RLE is the rehabilitation liability estimate for the mining authorisation for the year worked out under subregulation (2).
For the purposes of subregulation (1), the rehabilitation liability estimate for a mining authorisation for a year is the amount obtained by —
for each rehabilitation liability category —
working out the total area of land (expressed in hectares and rounded to at least 2 decimal places) in the area of the mining authorisation that was in that category on the assessment day in that year for the mining authorisation; and
multiplying the figure worked out under subparagraph (i) by the unit rate that applies to that category;
and
adding together all of the amounts worked out under paragraph (a).
Despite subregulation (1), if the rehabilitation liability estimate worked out under subregulation (2) is $50 000 or less, the amount of levy payable in respect of the mining authorisation in the year is nil.
The rehabilitation liability categories of land in the area of a mining authorisation, and the unit rates applying to those rehabilitation liability categories, are determined in accordance with Schedule 1.
For the purposes of section 15(1) of the Act, the assessment information for a mining authorisation for a year is, for each rehabilitation liability category, the total area of land (expressed in hectares and rounded to at least 2 decimal places) in the area of the mining authorisation that was in that category on a day in that year that is nominated by the holder of the mining authorisation.
For the purposes of section 15(2) of the Act, assessment information must be given to the CEO on or before 30 June each year.
For the purposes of section 17(2)(d) of the Act, an assessment notice must specify details of how the levy amount was worked out under regulation 4.
For the purposes of section 19(2)(e) of the Act, a reassessment notice must specify these matters —
details of how the levy amount as reassessed was worked out under regulation 4; and
details of how any penalty amount, or the amount of any refund, was worked out.
For the purposes of section 26(1) of the Act, the prescribed rate is 20% per annum.
For the purposes of section 33(3)(a) of the Act, the following matters relating to the administration of the Act are prescribed —
the identification of land that is suitable to be declared to be an abandoned mine site under section 9 of the Act;
the scope and prioritisation of proposed projects for rehabilitation work, including the following —
the development and review of general criteria for the prioritisation of those projects;
the CEO’s programme for the carrying out of those projects;
the scope and priority of individual projects;
the appropriate level of expenditure on proposed or existing projects for rehabilitation work;
the administration of the Fund;
matters to be included in financial reports relating to the Fund (other than any financial report required under the Financial Management Act 2006);
the level of the fund contribution rate for the purposes of regulation 4(1).
The Panel is to consist of 5 members appointed by the CEO in writing.
The members are to be persons who, in the opinion of the CEO, have skills, expertise or experience relating to at least one of the following —
the management of mining operations;
land rehabilitation practices;
environmental matters;
financial matters;
legal matters;
natural resource planning and management.
Before appointing a person as a member, the CEO must publish on a website maintained by the department a notice calling for expressions of interest in appointment as a member.
The CEO must consider expressions of interest lodged in accordance with the notice but may appoint a person as a member whether or not the person has lodged an expression of interest.
The CEO must give the Minister written notice of the appointment of a member.
The CEO must ensure that notice of the appointment of a member is published in the Gazette.
The CEO must designate one of the members to be the chairperson and another to be the deputy chairperson of the Panel.
If the chairperson is unable to act because of sickness, absence or another cause, or if there is no chairperson, the deputy chairperson is to act in the chairperson’s place.
An act or omission of the deputy chairperson acting in the chairperson’s place cannot be questioned on the ground that the occasion to act in the chairperson’s place had not arisen or had ceased.
Subject to regulation 13(1), a member holds office for the term, not exceeding 3 years, that is specified in the instrument of appointment for the member.
A member is eligible for reappointment.
A member whose term of office expires without a person having been appointed to fill the vacancy continues in office (unless the person’s office becomes vacant under regulation 13(1)) until whichever of the following occurs first —
a person is appointed to fill the vacancy;
a period of 3 months elapses after the expiry of the term of office.
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