21 MARCH 2012
The Strategic Cropping of Land Act 2011 (SCL Act) came into effect in January 2012, with the stated focus of achieving a balance between agriculture, mining and urban development.
For Coal Seam Gas and production projects which are on strategic cropping land (SCL) this will mean additional restrictions, assessment costs as they determine the extent to which a proposed project will impact on SCL and possible delays. Executive officers of these companies must inform themselves of the obligations under the SCL Act, as personal liability attaches to a failure of their company to comply with the legislation.
The SCL Act generally applies if a resource permit (any tenure, tenement or resource authority) is located within an area identified as SLC. It allows conditions to be imposed on either a resource permit or an environmental authority (EA), including that an EA for a resource activity cannot be issued until either:
- A SCL protection decision has been made; or
- A SCL compliance certificate has been given for the EA and the resource permit for the resource activity.
Trigger maps developed by DERM are a starting point for determining where strategic cropping land may exist.
Exceptional circumstances will need to be demonstrated before a CSG project can be carried out in a Protection Area where there will be a permanent impact on SCL.
You are a valued Kinneally Miley contact, for more information related to this Legal Update please contact us.
[contactsbox] [leftcolumn]Contact Partner: Tracey Miley
Direct Telephone : 07 3210 5780
Mobile Telephone : 0438 776 161
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