Environmental Protection Act 1994

The Act affects every person carrying on an ERA, a resource activity, or a Chapter 4 activity in Queensland; companies and their executive officers and related persons; rehabilitation auditors; environmental practitioners and suitably qualified persons; insolvency practitioners (administrators, receivers, and liquidators) acting in respect of corporate environmental authority holders; contaminated land owners and former owners; downstream water and air users affected by emissions; and the broader community participating in EIS submissions and reviews.

Environmental duties. Chapter 7 Part 1 imposes a general environmental duty to take all reasonable and practicable measures to prevent or minimise environmental harm (Division 1), a duty to restore the environment (Division 1A), and a duty to notify the administering authority of environmental harm (Division 2).

Authorisation. Chapter 5 is the long authorisation regime. A person carrying on an ERA needs an environmental authority. Part 2 sets the application stage. Part 3 sets the information stage. Part 4 sets the notification stage. Part 5 contains the decision stage including special rules for mining lease applications, conditions, and PRCP schedules. Part 6 covers amendments by the administering authority and Part 7 covers amendments by application, with assessment level decisions and minor versus major amendment processes. Part 8 covers amalgamation and de-amalgamation. Part 9 covers transfers. Part 10 covers surrender and final rehabilitation. Part 11 covers cancellation and suspension by the administering authority and Part 11A covers suspension by application. Part 12 audits PRCP schedules. Part 13 covers plans of operations. Part 14 covers estimated rehabilitation costs (ERC), financial assurance, and claims, and Part 14A creates temporary authorities for emergencies. Part 15 contains general provisions including holder requirements for PRC plans, annual notices, fees, returns, eligibility criteria compliance, and public interest evaluations.

Environmental impact statements. Chapter 3 Part 1 covers the EIS process from terms of reference (Division 2), through submissions (Division 3), notification (Division 4), assessment report (Division 5), and completion (Division 6). Part 2 deals with voluntary EIS preparation; Part 3 deals with decisions about whether an EIS may be required.

Environmental evaluations and TEPs. Chapter 7 Part 2 sets up environmental audits and environmental investigations and the steps after receipt. Part 3 deals with TEPs including financial assurances and cancellation. Part 4 deals with voluntary TEPs. Part 4A creates temporary emissions licences.

Contaminated land. Chapter 7 Part 8 establishes the inclusion of land in relevant land registers, contaminated land investigation documents, and miscellaneous provisions.

Environmental enforcement orders. Chapter 7 Part 5 is the operative regulatory tool. Section 358 enables the administering authority to issue an EPO to a person to secure compliance with requirements, conditions, or duties. Section 360 sets the form. Contravention of an EPO, wilful or otherwise, is an offence under section 361. Section 363A and following extend the EPO regime to related persons of companies under the Chain of Responsibility amendments. Section 363AB defines who is a related person, with criteria covering executive officers, controllers, persons in a position to influence the company's environmental compliance, and persons who can benefit financially. Cost recovery notices sit in Division 3.

Investigative and emergency powers. Chapter 9 confers powers on authorised persons to enter places and vehicles (Part 2), to use other enforcement powers (Part 3), and to use emergency powers (Part 4). Part 5 sets out offences arising in the conduct of investigations. Part 5A allows obtaining of criminal history reports. Part 6 contains general provisions.

Legal process. Chapter 10 covers evidence (Part 1), executive officer liability (Part 2), unlawfulness of particular acts (Part 2A), legal proceedings (Part 3), restraint orders (Part 4), and enforceable undertakings (Part 5).

Internal review and appeal. Chapter 11 Part 3 governs internal review (Division 2), appeals (Division 3), and stays (Division 4). The Land Court is the principal appeal forum for many decisions; for some, the Planning and Environment Court has jurisdiction.

Administrative tools. Chapter 12 contains guidelines (Part 1), codes of practice (Part 1A), provisions about applications and submissions (Part 2), suitably qualified persons (Part 3), auditors (Part 3A) including approval, amendment, suspension and cancellation, and complaints, entry to land for compliance (Part 4), validation (Part 4A), protocols and standards (Part 4B), confidentiality of information (Part 4C), exchange of information (Part 4D), and the regulation power (Part 5).

Chapter 8 contains the offence regime. Part 1 covers offences relating to ERAs, with internal exemptions in Division 2. Part 2 covers offences relating to environmental requirements (EAs, PRC plans, TEPs, site management plans). Part 2A covers offences relating to conditions. Part 3 covers offences relating to environmental harm (the headline serious environmental harm offence). Part 3B covers noise standards offences with default standards in Division 3. Part 3C covers water contamination offences. Part 3E covers air contamination offences. Part 3F covers fuel standards offences with their own exemptions and record keeping. Part 4 contains other offences. The Act uses penalty units; executive officers can be liable under Chapter 10 Part 2.

The Chain of Responsibility regime extends EPO and cost recovery exposure to related persons of companies (s 363AB). This is the mechanism that has been litigated in relation to receivers, administrators, and liquidators of corporate authority holders.

Each Chapter 5 stage has time limits set in the relevant Division. The application stage runs through information requests (Part 3 Division 2), responses (Division 3), and end of information stage (Division 4). The notification stage requires public notice (Part 4 Division 2) and submissions (Division 3). The decision stage has its own timing rules (Part 5). Amendments under Part 6 (administrating authority) and Part 7 (applicant) follow distinct timelines, with the major or minor amendment characterisation driving process. Surrender (Part 10) requires final rehabilitation reports and post-surrender management reports, with residual risk requirements (Division 6). Annual notices, fees, and returns are required under Part 15 Division 2. Internal review and appeal under Chapter 11 Part 3 have their own short time limits.

The Act interacts heavily with the Mineral Resources Act 1989 (Qld) (mining lease applications, recommendations under section 269 of the MRA paired with section 190 of this Act); the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014 (Qld) (joint resource processes); the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 (Qld); the Geothermal Energy Act 2010 (Qld); the Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009 (Qld); the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) and former Sustainable Planning Act 2009 (Chapter 5 Part 1 Division 4 sets the relationship); the Land Court Act 2000 (Qld) (appellate jurisdiction); the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 (Qld); the Great Barrier Reef Protection Amendment Act 2009; the Environmental Offsets Act 2014 (Qld); the Mineral and Energy Resources (Financial Provisioning) Act 2018 (Qld); and the Environmental Protection (Powers and Penalties) Acts that have driven recent enforcement reforms. Where Commonwealth law applies (such as Corporations Act administration, receiver, and liquidator regimes), this Act's related person and executive officer provisions sit alongside the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) duties.

• Chapter 5 is so layered that practitioners must walk through every stage of the application, decision, and amendment process; missing a stage can invalidate the eventual EA.
• Chapter 7 Part 5 EPOs and cost recovery notices can be issued to persons who never held the EA, including executive officers and related persons under section 363AB.
• Insolvency practitioners (receivers, administrators, liquidators) need to consider whether they are 'related persons' under section 363AB. The classification depends on whether they are in a position to influence the company's compliance with the EPA, benefit financially from relevant activity, or have control of the company.
• The duty to notify of environmental harm under Part 1 Division 2 is a strict, time-sensitive duty. Failure to notify is an offence.
• Public interest evaluations under Part 15 Division 4A are intrusive checks that can lead to authority suspension or cancellation.
• Many transitional provisions in Chapter 13 are still operative for activities that started before key amendments. The version that applies is highly date-dependent.
• The relationship with the Planning Act 2016 (Chapter 5 Part 1 Division 4) is critical for any matter that requires a development approval as well as an environmental authority.

A coal mining proponent applying for an EA for a mining lease application proceeds through Chapter 5 Part 5 Division 3 (Applications for mining activities relating to a mining lease), which is read with the Land Court's recommendation power under section 269 of the Mineral Resources Act 1989. As the High Court explained in Oakey Coal Action Alliance v New Acland Coal Pty Ltd [2021] HCA 2, sections 190 and 194 of this Act govern how the chief executive deals with the Land Court's recommendation when deciding the EA.

A receiver appointed over a corporate mining tenement holder considers whether they could be issued an EPO as a related person under section 363AB. Joiner v CuDeco [2020] FCA 1661 confirms that Chapter 7 Part 5 EPOs under section 358 can in principle be issued to related persons, but the related-person test requires a relevant connection through executive office, control, financial benefit, or capacity to influence environmental compliance.

A landholder identifies suspected contamination on their property. The duty to notify under Chapter 7 Part 1 Division 2 is engaged. The administering authority may then progress the land toward inclusion in a register under Part 8 Division 2 and require investigation documents under Division 3. Future use is then conditioned on compliance with site management requirements.