Part 11Common provisions

Part 11—Common provisions 46—Information relating to environmental impact assessment—initial application for tenement (a) a mining proposal under section 36(1)(c) of the Act; or (b) a retention proposal under section 44(1)(c) of the Act; or (c) a proposal accompanying an application for a miscellaneous purposes licence under section 49(1)(c) of the Act. (2) An assessment of environmental impacts of any proposed operations in a proposal may be limited to those aspects of the environment that may reasonably be expected to be affected by the relevant authorised operations. (3) An assessment of environmental impacts of any proposed operations and an outline of the measures that the applicant proposes to take to manage, limit or remedy those impacts must include a description of the anticipated impacts after the relevant measures have been taken. (4) A statement of the environmental outcomes that are expected to occur must include a set of completion outcomes assessed on a long term basis. (5) For the purposes of sections 36(1)(c)(iii), 44(1)(c)(iii) and 49(1)(c)(iii) of the Act, the criteria to be adopted to measure the environmental outcomes that are set out in a proposal must include details about— (a) what is to be measured and the form of the measurements that are to be used; and (b) the locations where the relevant measurements are to be taken, or how such locations are to be determined; and (c) what is proposed to be taken to constitute the achievement of the relevant outcomes (with consideration being given to any inherent errors of measurement); and (d) the frequency of any measurement or monitoring; and (e) any background or control data that is to be used, or how any such data is to be acquired. (6) In addition— (a) an assessment under subregulation (2) or (3); and (b) a statement of the environmental outcomes under subregulation (4); and (c) any criteria to be adopted under subregulation (5), must take into account any scoping report accepted by the Minister under Part 10. (7) Any information or material provided for the purposes of a proposal must— (c) identify any matter in relation to which there is a significant lack of information or a significant degree of uncertainty; and (d) so far as is relevant, identify the sensitivity to change of any assumption that has been made and any significant risks that may arise if an assumption is later found to be incorrect; and (e) be in a form determined by the Minister, be supported by such evidence as the Minister may determine, and comply with any requirement of the Minister relating to the amount or detail of information that must be provided. (8) Without limiting subregulation (7), any criteria referred to in subregulation (5) must, insofar as is reasonably practicable and appropriate, be expressed in quantitative terms (rather than qualitative terms). 47—Consultation on proposed tenement (a) a mining proposal under section 36(1)(c) of the Act; or (b) a retention proposal under section 44(1)(c) of the Act; or (c) a proposal accompanying an application for a miscellaneous purposes licence under section 49(1)(c) of the Act. (2) For the purposes of sections 36(1)(c)(iv), 44(1)(c)(iv) and 49(1)(c)(iv) of the Act— (a) the consultation must at least comply with the following requirements: (i) there should be a focus on engagement about the environmental outcomes that are expected to occur in connection with the proposed authorised operations; (ii) reasonable steps should be taken to consult with the owner of land where the authorised operations are proposed to be carried out; and (b) the results of the consultation undertaken in relation to a proposal must at least set out the following: (i) the persons consulted; (ii) any issues of concern raised by the persons consulted; (iii) the steps (if any) taken or proposed to be taken by the applicant to address those concerns. 48—Social impact assessment (1) This regulation applies to an application for— (a) a mining lease; or (b) a retention lease; or (c) a miscellaneous purposes licence; or (d) a change in operations. (2) For the purposes of sections 36(1)(d), 44(1)(d), 49(1)(d) and 56R(1)(b)(ii) of the Act, the Minister may, if the Minister considers it appropriate to do so, determine that the following information be furnished to the Minister in connection with an application to which this regulation applies: (a) a description of the impacts on people and communities that are reasonably expected to occur as a result of authorised operations that are proposed to be carried out under the tenement or the proposed change in operations (as the case may be); and (b) an outline of the measures that are to be used to manage, limit or remedy those impacts (in the case of negative impacts), or to facilitate or ensure those impacts (in the case of positive impacts). (3) In addition, the Minister must, in acting under subregulation (2), take into account any scoping report accepted by the Minister under Part 10. (4) Any information or material provided for the purposes of this regulation must— (c) identify any matter in relation to which there is a significant lack of information or a significant degree of uncertainty; and (d) so far as is relevant, identify the sensitivity to change of any assumption that has been made and any significant risks that may arise if an assumption is later found to be incorrect; and (e) be in a form determined by the Minister, be supported by such evidence as the Minister may determine, and comply with any requirement of the Minister relating to the amount or detail of information that must be provided. (5) This regulation— (a) does not limit or derogate from any assessment of social impact that must be undertaken as part of assessing environmental impact under the Act or these regulations; and (b) does not limit or derogate from the ability of the Minister to require information to be furnished to the Minister under the Act. 49—Alteration of terms and conditions (1) For the purposes of section 56J(2)(c) of the Act, the following matters are prescribed: (a) where a term or condition of a mineral tenement to which the section applies is inconsistent with, limits or derogates from a provision of the Act; (b) where a change will prevent or avoid a reoccurrence of a breach of the Act; (c) where a change will address a term or condition of a mineral tenement to which the section applies that is incapable of being met; (d) where a change will ensure that a term or condition of a mineral tenement to which the section applies is consistent with an amendment that has been made to the Act or any other Act. (2) For the purposes of section 56J(6) of the Act, subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section 56J of the Act do not apply if the Minister determines that the change is required as a matter of urgency. 50—Rental (1) For the purposes of section 56M(2) of the Act, rental as set out in Schedule 2 is payable by the holder of a mineral tenement to whom section 56M of the Act applies in accordance with that Schedule. (2) Rental will be calculated according to the total amount of land in respect of which the relevant mineral tenement is granted, and no allowance will be made for land that is not available for authorised operations or other activities under the relevant mineral tenement. (3) Rental is to be paid annually in advance to the Department. 51—Amalgamation of areas (terms and conditions of tenement) For the purposes of section 56P(3)(b) of the Act, the Minister must provide to the tenement holder (or tenement holders) a copy of the proposed terms and conditions of the tenement for the purposes of consultation. 52—Surrender on application For the purposes of section 56X(2)(b) of the Act, the following information is prescribed: (a) a statement, accompanied by supporting evidence— (i) that completion outcomes required under a program under Part 10A of the Act, or all mine completion objectives required under a mine operations plan under Part 11B of the Act, have been achieved (or if an outcome or objective has not been achieved, the reason for this situation and information about what the tenement holder has done, or proposes to do, in the circumstances); and (ii) that all rehabilitation required to be undertaken has been completed or is in place; (b) in the case of a surrender of a part of the area of the mineral tenement—a map and description of the relevant areas, showing the area to be surrendered and the area to remain, that comply with the requirements of section 56E of the Act; (c) the final compliance report, final royalty report and, if relevant, a final technical exploration report, required under these regulations; (d) the following declarations, in the form of a statutory declaration: (i) a declaration that authorised operations have ceased; (ii) a declaration that there are no outstanding liabilities under the Act or these regulations; (iii) a declaration that all fees, royalties, rents or penalties under the Act or these regulations have been paid; (iv) a declaration that outlines any legal proceedings in respect of the tenement that involve the tenement holder as a party to those proceedings; (v) if relevant, a declaration that the tenement holder has a management plan in place for the management or transfer of any outstanding matters or liabilities; (vi) in the case of a private mine where the person carrying out mining operations is not the proprietor of the private mine—a declaration that the person who has been carrying out the operations has consulted with the proprietor of the mine; (e) an outline of the consultation undertaken by the tenement holder with the owner of the land about surrendering the mineral tenement and any rehabilitation or other work or activities to be carried out in connection with the surrender, including the issues raised by the owner and how those issues have been, or will be, addressed. 53—Reinstatement of tenement—exploration licence For the purposes of section 56Z(1)(a) of the Act, section 56Z of the Act applies to an exploration licence. 54—Assessment reports—alteration of terms and conditions under section 56J of Act For the purposes of section 56ZA(1)(h) of the Act, a decision to add, vary or revoke a term or condition of a mineral tenement under section 56J of the Act is prescribed.