Further to our update in August on the Environmental Protection (Greentape Reduction) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2012 (Qld) amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) (EP Act), the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (DEHP) has released the proposed changes to the Environmental Protection Regulation 2008 (Qld) (EP Reg) as part of the Greentape Reduction Project. These changes can be found in detail here.

There are three key initiatives which form the basis of the changes. These are:

  1. Removing 29 Environmentally Relevant Activities from the EP Reg. These activities have all been identified by the DEHP as 'low risk' when assessed against considerations such as amenity issues, potential water contaminants and whether the general environmental duty is sufficient to control the ERA. It is said that deleting some of these activities will bring Queensland into line with other states, which currently do not regulate low-risk activities such as motor vehicle workshops. The DEHP has advised it will create materials, such as codes, to continue the environmental management should the proposed activities be removed from the regulation.
  2. Halving the fee for small sewage treatment plants. As these treatment plants are generally found in small tourist establishments, the DEHP states this will assist businesses such as caravan parks, which may be struggling in the current economic environment.
  3. Setting new fees for the new applications types in the amended EP Act. The DEHP proposes to set the fees to achieve cost recovery only on new applications types such as for amalgamated authorities, auditor applications and conversion applications.

The positive outcomes of these changes to businesses are savings in time and money through reduced regulation. The DEHP highlights this by noting approximately 10,000 current permit holders will no longer require permits (although the DEHP laments an expected loss of $6.77 million in revenue to government).

There is little information provided on the potential environmental impacts of the deregulation.

The DEHP is seeking feedback on the abovementioned changes. Submissions must be made in writing to the DEHP by 5:00 pm on 26 October 2012.

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