This NELA webinar, presented by Professor Alex Gardner and Laura Hamblin, on 29 July 2021, provided an overview of a cooperative research centre project concerned with mapping the regulation of mine closures.
The project (15 March – 24 December 2021) has three stages in mapping the Australian regulation of mine closure, focusing on Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and the Commonwealth:
In relation to key concepts, goals and institutions, the webinar explains the current regulatory frameworks found in legislation for mining, environmental protection, water resources and land use planning.
The experience with the current regulatory frameworks & potential reforms is analysed.
Throughout the drafting of stages 1 & 2 of the report, five key points have been identified:
Queensland and Victoria’s legislative regimes have greater statutory detail, whilst Western Australia relies more heavily on guidelines and policy.
Queensland and Western Australia use a pooled monetary fund as a form of financial security for rehabilitation. Victoria uses a system of bonds.
Queensland and Victoria have dedicated administrative bodies which manage mine closure, whilst Western Australia does not.
All three states require mine closure plans to be updated at periodic intervals.
Whilst mining tenement holders must meet both state and federal regulatory requirements, when mines are in the closure phase soft law including industry standards is often used as the reference point as it is able to evolve more rapidly.
