Regional Planning Interests Regulation 2014

What the Law Requires

If you want to mine, drill, or conduct resource activities in these protected areas, you must:

• Lodge a formal assessment application (a detailed approval request) and pay a fee
• Prove your activity won't seriously damage farming land, water sources, or the environment
• Notify the public (at least once in a local newspaper) if the activity is in a priority living area
• Consult with landowners if you don't own the land

Key rules include:

• No more than 2% of a farm's productive land can be permanently lost to resource activity
• If your activity permanently damages strategic cropping land, you must pay mitigation (compensation/offset) costs based on a per-hectare fee that varies by region (ranging from roughly 5,500 to 29,000 fee units per hectare — with South East Queensland the most expensive)
• A mitigation deed (a legal agreement to restore or offset damage) must be signed and reported on periodically
• Certain activities — like open-cut mining, broadacre cropping (large-scale farming), and large dams — are banned outright in designated precincts of sensitive environmental areas
• Coal seam gas (CSG), deep coal gas, shale gas, and tight gas are classified as "unconventional" resources and face stricter restrictions in sensitive areas. Conventional oil and gas (traditional drilling) has some transitional exemptions for existing licence holders

Why It Matters

This regulation sits at the heart of Queensland's resource boom management. It tries to balance the economic value of mining and gas extraction against protecting:

• Food production capacity (Queensland's farms feed much of Australia)
• Water security (especially the Great Artesian Basin and other groundwater systems)
• Unique and irreplaceable ecosystems like the Channel Country's flood plains

If you're a farmer, community member, or business in or near these areas, this regulation determines whether a mine or gas well can be built next to you — and what protections you're entitled to.