Policy and legislation changes

This page provides information on updates to environmental policy and legislative frameworks, including for the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

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Environmental Protection (Efficiency and Streamlining) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2026

The Environmental Protection (Efficiency and Streamlining) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2026 (EPOLA Act 2026) was granted assent on 16 June 2026. The EPOLA Act 2026 improves administrative efficiency and ensures the regulatory frameworks within Queensland’s environmental legislation remain contemporary, effective and responsive.

The amendments made by the EPOLA Act 2026 commence on two separate dates. Commencing on assent, amendments were made to the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to:

refine and clarify requirements for progressive rehabilitation and closure plans
clarify timeframes relating to the residual risk requirement
recognise impact assessment reports and related processes under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971 and remove duplication in the environmental impact statement process
increase the time limitations for commencing summary proceedings for offences
strengthen powers for the court to order forfeiture of property
provide administrative improvements for recognition of industry-led accreditation programs for agricultural environmentally relevant activities.

Changes to other environmental legislation that commenced on assent include amendments to:

the Water Act 2000 to streamline processes relating to managing underground water impacts and provide greater certainty for tenure and bore owners
the Nature Conservation Act 1992 to clarify the definition of ‘protected area’ and provide consistent authorised officer function.

Further amendments made by the EPOLA Act 2026 streamline architecture of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and will commence via proclamation at a later date that is yet to be notified. These amendments include the replacement of requirements for environmental authorities with regulatory codes for certain lower-risk activities and the introduction of significant environmental values to support setting regulatory oversight based on risk.

The proclamation will be accompanied by consequential and complementary amendments to the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019, marking the first phase of implementation of these structural changes. Further stakeholder engagement and public consultation will be undertaken as required as part of this process.

Also commencing by proclamation are changes to the Forestry Act 1959 and Recreation Areas Management Act 2006 to deliver a single integrated permission for tourism activities in parks and forests, as per the 20 year tourism plan Destination 2045 – Delivering Queensland’s Tourism Future.

Please visit the Queensland Legislation website to view the EPOLA Act 2026 and explanatory notes.

Environmental and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2026

The Environmental and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2026 (the Regulation) makes various changes to environmental legislation including the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019, Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020, Nature Conservation (Plants) Regulation 2020 and the Waste Reduction and Recycling Regulation 2023.

Commenced on 22 May 2026, the Regulation makes the following amendments:

to give effect to version 3 of the Environmentally Relevant Activity (ERA) standards for petroleum exploration and for pipeline activities, which have been updated to streamline and contemporise the conditions of the standards and replace outdated references
reclassify the conservation status of one fauna and ten flora species
clarify that a rehabilitation permit holder can receive and move animals that were lawfully taken in another State for treatment or care
update references to the ‘exhibition code’ for protected animals as it has been replaced with the 'Australian animal welfare standards and guidelines for exhibited animals'
allow for scientific names for plants and animals used in the Nature Conservation (Plants) Regulation 2020 and the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation2020 to follow those accepted by the Queensland Herbarium and the Queensland Museum
remove the prescribed date of 30 June 2026 as the day for reviewing particular matters in relation to the waste levy, as the review has been undertaken as part of the 2025–26 review of waste levy settings.
correct drafting inconsistencies and typographical errors.

Visit the Queensland Legislation website to view the Environmental and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2026 and explanatory notes.

Regional Planning Interests (Condamine Alluvium) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2026

The Regional Planning Interests (Condamine Alluvium) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2026 (RPIOLA Act 2026) was granted assent on the 29 June 2026. The RPIOLA Act 2026 delivers on the Queensland Government’s commitment to require coal seam gas (CSG) companies to demonstrate beyond any reasonable doubt that new projects would not have a long-term, detrimental impact on the Condamine Alluvium aquifer. To achieve this, the RPIOLA Act 2026 amended the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Act 2014 (MERCP Act), Regional Planning Interests Act 2014 (RPI Act) and the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act).

With regards to the EP Act, amendments were made to introduce a new ‘deemed condition’ that specifies the minimum acceptable standards and constraints needed to protect the environmental values of waters within the regulated Condamine Alluvium CSG area. The deemed condition applies to all new environmental authorities issued for CSG activities in the regulated Condamine Alluvium CSG area and existing environmental authorities, amended via an authority application process after commencement, if the amendment includes the addition of a new CSG well. The deemed condition will not apply retrospectively to existing environmental authorities or authority applications. The deemed condition is prescribed under the EP Act and will not need to be explicitly stated as a condition on individual environmental authorities as it applies automatically. The deemed condition must be complied with, and existing penalties and offences apply to any contravention of the deemed condition.

To view the legislation and explanatory notes, please visit the Queensland Legislation website.

Additional information has been prepared to support understanding of the EP Act amendments, including:

Waste Reduction and Recycling (Strengthening the Container Refund Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026

The Queensland Government Response to the Health, Environment and Innovation Committee report on Improving Queensland’s Container Refund Scheme, Report No. 14 (the Report) committed to legislative amendments to address the recommendations and improve governance and oversight of the Scheme to increase its efficiency and effectiveness and ensure public confidence.

The Waste Reduction and Recycling (Strengthening the Container Refund Scheme) Amendment Bill 2026 (the Bill) will give effect to the Queensland Government’s response and deliver amendments that focus on addressing governance and oversight of the Scheme.

To strengthen the governance and oversight of the Scheme, the Bill amends the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 by:

enhancing oversight mechanisms for the Scheme, similar to that of statutory authorities and government-owned corporations
establishing a performance management framework for the PRO
requiring an annual audit of the PRO Board’s performance by an independent auditor
enabling the Minister to require an audit of the PRO
establishing a fixed term of no more than seven years for appointment of the PRO and renewal framework
requiring that all director appointments to the Board be approved by the Minister
providing for the composition of the Board, including ensuring there is expertise in waste and recycling, local government, community and social enterprise capability
requiring that the majority of directors of the Board be independent of the beverage industry
establishing fixed term appointments for directors of the Board, being no more than three years, and regular renewal
expanding the functions of the PRO to include supporting environmental or community programmes as well as the development of infrastructure required to recycle or transport waste in Queensland
requiring the PRO to have regard to the economic viability of proposed refund points, their impact on the network and the proximity to existing refund points
adopting legislative safeguards to prevent unfair conduct by the PRO
clarifying that the PRO is a unit of public administration for the purposes of the Crime and Corruption Act 2001.

To improve transparency and enhance the operation of the Scheme, the Bill:

broadens existing strategic and operational plan requirements to provide the PRO must prepare and publish additional reports, plans and other information relating to the Scheme
requires the development of a governance and investment plan which will include the investment and allocation of surplus and retained scheme funds
requires the development of a network of container refund points plan that will detail the plan for expansion of the Scheme’s network and will ensure that the economic viability of the existing return points are considered
provides support for small beverage manufacturers through an exemption mechanism to provide price relief for small beverage manufacturers.

Waste Reduction and Recycling and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025

The Waste Reduction and Recycling and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025 (WRROLAR 2025) makes various changes to environmental legislation being the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020, Nature Conservation (Plants) Regulation 2020 and the Waste Reduction and Recycling Regulation 2023.

Commenced on 5 December 2025, the WRROLAR 2025 makes the following specific amendments:

provides a permanent exemption from the waste levy for all forms of ash waste from coal fired power stations and for waste facilities that dispose only of this type of waste
extends the existing arrangements for waste generated in Norfolk Island and imported by the Norfolk Island Regional Council into Queensland as exempt waste from 30 June 2026 to 30 June 2030
repeals expiry provisions for flying-fox lethal take damage mitigation permits for commercial crop protection purposes
reclassifies the conservation status of one fauna and ten flora species
updates the unit of measurement for banned plastic shopping bags to the correct terminology.

To view the legislation, please visit the Queensland Legislation website to access the Waste Reduction and Recycling and Other Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025 and explanatory notes.

Nature Conservation and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 and Nature Conservation Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025

The Nature Conservation and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2025 (NCOLA Act 2025) was granted assent on 4 September 2025. The Nature Conservation Legislation Amendment Regulation (NCLA Regulation) was made on 26 September 2025.

Together, these two instruments strengthen and modernise the laws that govern how certain low-risk authorities are issued, ensuring they reflect contemporary processes.

Commenced on 2 October 2025, the NCOLA Act 2025 amended the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to ensure that an electronic system can continue to be used to automatically issue low-risk authorities and licences under these acts. Also commencing on 2 October 2025, the NCLA Regulation amended the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020, the Nature Conservation (Plants) Regulation 2020, and the Nature Conservation (Protected Areas Management) Regulation 2020 to prescribe the types of authorities that may be dealt with automatically by the electronic system. Amendments also establish a stand-alone framework to enable licences for low-risk keeping and trading of non-dangerous native animals to be issued automatically.

The NCOLA Act 2025 also amended the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to clarify that compliance and enforcement orders and notices issued prior to the passage of the Environmental Protection (Powers and Penalties) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 are enforceable through the issuing of a penalty infringement notice as an alternate to a court proceeding. These provisions were in effect from the date of assent.

To view the legislation, please visit the Queensland Legislation website to view the NCOLA Act 2025 and the NCLA Regulation and respective explanatory notes.

Environmental Protection (Extractive Activities) Amendment Regulation 2025

The Environmental Protection (Extractive Activities) Amendment Regulation 2025 commenced on 8 August 2025 and made changes to the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019.

The changes provide an additional exclusion for regional local governments, allowing them to conduct particular extractive and screening activities without the need to obtain an environmental authority, under specific conditions.

These amendments allow regional local governments to operate without an environmental authority if:

they are extracting and/or screening quarry material which is 10,000 tonnes or less of material in a year from an area
the quarry material is necessary to perform the regional local governments responsibilities under the Local Government Act 2009 or Transport Infrastructure Act 1994, chapter 6 in relation to providing roads or infrastructure
the quarry material is the absolute property of the Crown under the Forestry Act 1995.

Specific definitions have been included to ensure clarity on what is meant by both quarry material and regional local governments, which are as follows:

Quarry material – see the Forestry Act 1959, schedule 3
Regional local government means a local government other than any of the following local governments—
- Brisbane City Council
- Gold Coast City Council
- Ipswich City Council
- Logan City Council
- Moreton Bay City Council
- Noosa County Council
- Redland City Council
- Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

If you require changes to your environmental authority based on the new exemption, please contact the Permits and Licensing team by calling 13 QGOV (13 74 68) or by emailing palm@detsi.qld.gov.au

To view the legislation, please visit the Queensland Legislation website to access the Environmental Protection (Extractive Activities) Amendment Regulation 2025 and explanatory notes.

Environmental Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025

The Environmental Legislation Amendment Regulation 2025 (ELAR 2025) makes changes to environmental legislation to manage particular waste types, reclassify the conservation status of fauna and flora species, update scientific nomenclature, and make other minor consequential and clarification amendments.

It commenced on 6 June 2025.

Specifically, the amendments:

clarify that solar panels are not regulated waste and that contaminated soil is not considered regulated waste in particular circumstances
provide that waste containing low levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) can be disposed of as non-regulated waste. View the Consultation summary report (PDF, 164.9KB)
update the list of prescribed recycling activities to include particular construction and demolition waste, so that businesses can apply for a waste levy discount for any residual waste if they are achieving a recycling rate of more than 80%
update the definition of ‘koala habitat tree’ to include the genus Blakella spp. and provide for the Queensland Environmental Offsets Policy to be updated to include this nomenclature change
make changes to the classification of wildlife under the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020 and Nature Conservation (Plants) Regulation 2020 for 9 fauna and 35 flora species
prescribe the large tooth sawfish as a regulated fish
clarify that persons who provide rehabilitation services must obtain a rehabilitation permit and cannot rely on general provisions for collection and transfer of injured animals
provide new offences for improper handling or storage of macropod tags, and update penalty infringement notices.

To view the legislation, please visit the Queensland Legislation website to access the ELAR 2025 and explanatory notes.

Commencement of Provisions of the Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023

Sections 102, 121 and 125(2) of Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (EPOLA 2023) commenced by Proclamation on the 27 September 2024, meaning all provisions introduced by EPOLA 2023 are now in force.

These provisions:

allow authorised persons to use body-worn cameras that record image or sounds during investigation or enforcement activities
provide a definition for a body-worn camera.

As part of the Queensland Government, this department has responsibilities under the Information Privacy Act 2009 and Environmental Protection Act 1994 regarding the collection, use, storage and disclosure of personal information. For further information regarding the use of personal information please the Department’s Information Privacy Guide.

To view the commenced provisions legislation, please visit the Queensland Legislation website to view the Environmental Protection Act 1994, the EPOLA Act 2023 and EPOLA Act 2024.

Environmental Protection (Air) Amendment Policy 2024

The Environmental Protection (Air) Amendment Policy 2024 (EPP Air Amendment 2024) commenced on 29 August 2024 and makes amendments to the Environmental Protection (Air) Policy 2019 (EPP Air) to ensure Queensland remains consistent with the National Environment Protection (Ambient Air Quality) Measure (AAQ NEPM).

In April 2021, following a detailed assessment and consultation process, the National Environment Protection Council (NEPC) agreed to vary the AAQ NEPM. The variation to the AAQ NEPM made changes to particle standards for ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and particulate PM2.5 taking into account the latest scientific evidence about the health impacts.

The AAQ NEPM standards are for monitoring and reporting on ambient air quality.

The amendments to the EPP Air reflect the changes to the AAQ NEPM, updating the air quality objectives indicators to the following for:

Nitrogen dioxide (NO₂):
- 1 hour period for health and wellbeing objectives to 164µg/m³ and 0.08ppm
- 1 year period for health and wellbeing objectives to 31µg/m³ and 0.015ppm.
Ozone (O₃) 8 hour period for health and wellbeing objectives to 139µg/m³ and 0.065ppm and to remove all other time periods
Sulfur dioxide (SO₂)
- 1 hour period for health and wellbeing objectives to 286µg/m³ and 0.1ppm
- 24 hour period for health and wellbeing objectives to 57µg/m³ and 0.02ppm and remove the 1 year period.

In addition to the changes above the following amendments to the air quality objectives indicators will commence on 1 January 2025 for:

Particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) 1 year period for health and wellbeing objectives to 8µg/m³
Sulfur dioxide (SO₂) 1 hour period for health and wellbeing objectives to 214µg/m³ and 0.075ppm.

For more information please visit the Queensland Legislation website to access the EPP Air Amendment Policy 2024 and explanatory notes.

Environmental Protection (Composting Facilities) Amendment Regulation 2024

The Environmental Protection (Composting Facilities) Amendment Regulation 2024 (the Composting Facilities Regulation) commenced on 25 July 2024.

The Composting Facilities Regulation made regulatory changes for compost facilities that are designed to reduce the impacts of odour on nearby residents. These legislative changes ensure that the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation considers imposing a requirement for new and expanding composting facilities located within four kilometres of a residential zone that receive odorous waste to use in-vessel or enclosed processing. This form of processing is considered best practice in reducing nuisance odours from leaving the site and affecting nearby residents.

The changes also allow the department to initiate an amendment to the environmental authorities of existing composting facilities on a site-by-site basis should the facilities be within four kilometres of a residential zone and receive odorous waste.

Notably these amendments introduced:

a definition of odorous feedstock under schedule 18A
a new section 29A, prescribing an enclosed system for receiving, storing and initially mixing the odorous feedstock and an enclosed and/or in-vessel system for composting the odorous feedstock
a requirement for the department to consider imposing certain conditions on new environmental authorities for composting facilities
circumstances to amend existing environmental authorities for organic material processing (ERA 53(a)) under section 186B
an offence for transporters of odorous waste without an environmental authority should they deliver waste to sites that do not meet the best practice standard.

To view the legislation, please visit the Queensland Legislation website to view the Composting Facilities Regulation and explanatory notes.

For more information see Composting regulation in Queensland.

Environmental Protection (Powers and Penalties) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024

The Environmental Protection (Powers and Penalties) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (the EPOLA Act 2024) commenced on 18 June 2024.

The EPOLA Act 2024 enhances the effectiveness of the tools available under the Environmental Protection Act 1994, ensuring powers and penalties are contemporary and fit for purpose.

Notable amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1994 include:

creating a duty to restore the environment, requiring a person who caused or permitted a contamination incident to restore the environment to its condition before the harm, as far as reasonably practicable
clarifying the definitions of material environmental harm and serious environmental harm, to put it beyond doubt that an event that meets the characteristics of nuisance may constitute either material or serious environmental harm if the consequences are sufficiently serious
clarifying and refining environmental policy principles
inserting an offence for breach of the existing general environmental duty.

The EPOLA Act 2024 also:

combines three statutory notices into the new Environmental Enforcement Order
expands evidentiary provisions to be available in civil proceedings.

For more information please visit the Queensland Legislation website to access the EPOLA Act 2024 and explanatory notes.

Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023

The Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (the EPOLA Act 2023) commenced on 5 April 2023.

The EPOLA Act 2023 improves administrative efficiency and ensures the regulatory frameworks within the Environment portfolio remain contemporary, effective and responsive.

Notable amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1994 include:

resolving implementation issues with the estimated rehabilitation cost (ERC) and progressive rehabilitation and closure planning (PRCP) frameworks
enhancing the environmental impact statement (EIS) process
requiring public notification for all major amendments to environmental authorities for resource activities
enhancing executive officer liability provisions.

The EPOLA Act 2023 also:

amends the Wet Tropics World Heritage Protection and Management Act 1993 in response to a review of the Wet Tropics Management Plan 1998
made minor, technical refinements related to administrative processes and interpretation to the Waste Reduction and Recycling Act 2011 and Land Title Act 1994.

For more information please visit the Queensland Legislation website to access the EPOLA Act 2023 and explanatory notes.

Environmental Protection (Transhipping Activities) Amendment Regulation 2020

The Environmental Protection (Transhipping Activities) Amendment Regulation 2020 (Transhipping Regulation) commenced on 25 September 2020. It gives full legislative effect to the Queensland Government’s Transhipping Policy, which was announced in August 2018 (see policy details below).

The Transhipping Regulation gives legislative effect to the transhipping policy by:

clearly prescribing transhipping as an environmentally relevant activity (ERA)
inserting a ‘refusal provision’ for environmental authority applications for transhipping within particular areas of the Great Barrier Reef.

The amendments make it clear that an environmental authority is required to tranship in Queensland waters. Under the amendments, transhipping of bulk materials will not be permitted where it occurs:

partly or wholly within the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
outside the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, but within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, unless within port boundaries.

The Transhipping Regulation also makes other amendments to the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019 to clarify and improve existing provisions related to the regulation of mineral and bulk material handling (ERA 50). This includes amending the definitions of ‘bulk material’ and ‘mineral’ in ERA 50 and removing a duplication of regulation for the storage of chemicals in connection with operations at a port.

To view the legislation, please visit the Queensland Legislation website to view the Transhipping Regulation and explanatory notes.

For more information see Frequently asked questions.

Environmental Protection Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 2020

The Environmental Protection Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 2020 (Amendment Regulation) makes administrative amendments to the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019 (EP Regulation). It commenced on 25 September 2020.

Most environmental authority holders are required, when requested by the department, to provide an annual return by 1 March immediately following the year to which the return relates. Industry stakeholders have raised concerns about completing annual returns by 1 March and requested a change to the due date to enable more time to meet the legislative requirement. The Amendment Regulation prescribes a new annual return date of 1 April to address these concerns.

The Amendment Regulation ensures a fee applies to an application for a decision about whether an environmental impact statement (EIS) may be required for a project and, if applicable, for approval to prepare an EIS for the project if the chief executive decides an EIS would not be required for the project. This new application was inserted into the EP Act by the Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2020. The fee prescribed is the same as for the existing application for approval to voluntarily prepare an EIS as these applications are similar.

The Amendment Regulation also corrects a drafting error in Schedule 10 of the EP Regulation. The amendment ensures regulated wastes are included as prescribed water contaminants, achieving the original policy intent from the 2019 remake of the EP Regulation.

For more information, please visit the Queensland Legislation website to view the Amendment Regulation and explanatory notes.

Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2020

The Environmental Protection and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2020 (the EPOLA Act 2020) commenced on 20 August 2020. The EPOLA Act 2020 is part of the Queensland Government’s ongoing commitment to improve rehabilitation and financial assurance outcomes for the state’s resources industry.

These reforms will ensure that Queensland has evidence-based, best practice, world-leading rehabilitation practices that will deliver better economic and environmental outcomes.

The EPOLA Act 2020:

enables the appointment of a Rehabilitation Commissioner, to provide rigorous, scientific and independent advice to both government and industry. The Rehabilitation Commissioner will also monitor and provide reports on rehabilitation performance and trends. This will enable evaluation of the rehabilitation framework in Queensland.
amends the existing residual risk framework to ensure that any risks remaining on a resource site after a project is completed are appropriately identified, costed and managed
establishes a residual risks fund and provides for payments to this fund to be managed by the Scheme Manager, the same entity that manages the Financial Provisioning Scheme. This will ensure the appropriate financial management of residual risk payments in a way that will enhance investment opportunities to grow the fund.

The EPOLA Act 2020 also made minor and technical amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to remove unnecessary provisions and clarify and improve regulatory processes.

For more information please visit the Queensland Legislation website to access the EPOLA Act 2020 and explanatory notes.

Commencement of 2019 Environmental Protection Regulation and Environmental Protection Policies

On 1 September 2019, the following subordinate legislation commenced:

This legislation replaced the Environmental Protection Regulation 2008, Environmental Protection (Air) Policy 2008, Environmental Protection (Noise) Policy 2008, and Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009, which expired on 1 September 2019.

The new legislation does not contain any significant policy changes from the expired legislation. The department completed a review of the expired legislation which identified the need for amendments to clarify the policy intent of some provisions, remove inconsistencies and errors, update references to other documents and legislation to ensure currency, and reflect contemporary drafting practices.

For further information about the new legislation, please refer to the explanatory notes:

Previous changes

Review of Queensland's Environmental Chain of Responsibility laws

In 2018, the department completed its review of specific provisions of the Environmental Protection (Chain of Responsibility) Amendment Act 2016 (the Chain of Responsibility Act).

The Chain of Responsibility Act commenced on 27 April 2016. It introduced new provisions to enable environmental protection orders to be issued to ‘related persons’. These provisions provide the Queensland Government with additional tools to ensure that companies and associated parties meet their environmental responsibilities.

In accordance with the Chain of Responsibility Act, a review of the operation of these provisions was undertaken to determine whether the provisions remain appropriate.

Final report

On 26 October 2018, the Honourable Leeanne Enoch MP, Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for the Arts, tabled a final report about the outcome of the review—Review of Queensland's Environmental Chain of Responsibility laws—in the Queensland Parliament.

In finalising the report, the department considered all of the submissions made during the public consultation on the draft report, the Draft review of Queensland’s Environmental Chain of Responsibility laws (PDF, 456.6KB) .

Transhipping Policy 2018

In August 2018, a new Transhipping Policy was announced by the Queensland Government. The Queensland Government’s Transhipping Policy ensures that the Great Barrier Reef and the environmental values of the state’s marine environment are protected from transhipping operations.

Transhipping, the operation of transferring materials from one vessel to another, poses environmental risks to all marine environments. However, the ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef are already under pressure from factors such as catchment water quality, a changing climate, and port and shipping activities.

Under the policy, transhipping of bulk materials will not be permitted where it occurs partly or wholly within the waters of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. In other marine areas, it will be regulated as an environmentally relevant activity (ERA) under the EP Act.

Bulk materials are those materials, other than water, that when loaded on a vessel conform to the shape of the compartment of the vessel, such as grain, coal, oil and mineral sands, and do not include packaged or containerised materials.

The policy covers transhipping activities that involve vessel-to-vessel transfers of bulk materials at a rate of more than 100 tonnes per day and any associated land-based operations.

It does not apply to activities for the supply of essential services to remote communities or to:

refuelling activities, which are subject to existing regulation
marine emergency response activities managed by Maritime Safety Queensland or the Australian Maritime Safety Authority
movement of cargo from one vessel to another while docked in a port.

The assessment of the transhipping ERA will be through a site-specific application process in accordance with the EP Act.

Existing activities will be provided a 12-month period from commencement of the ERA to transition to the new policy arrangements.

Operators who are granted approval of an ERA for a transhipping activity will still be required to comply with other necessary environmental approvals under state or Commonwealth legislation.

Environmental Protection (Underground Water Management) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2016

On 10 November 2016, the Environmental Protection (Underground Water Management) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2016 (Underground Water Management Act) was passed by the Queensland Parliament.

The Underground Water Management Act amended the EP Act and Water Act 2000 to strengthen the effectiveness of the environmental assessment and ongoing management of underground water extraction by resource projects.

These amendments commenced on 6 December 2016.

For further information about these amendments, please view the explanatory notes for the Bill and the explanatory notes for amendments moved during consideration in detail.

North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability and Other Acts Amendment Act 2016

The North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability and Other Acts Amendment Act 2016 (the Act) was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 26 May 2016 and commenced on 14 June 2016.

The Act amended the North Stradbroke Island Protection and Sustainability Act 2011 to provide for the substantive phase out of mining on North Stradbroke Island by 2019.

The Act also made minor amendments to the EP Act to clarify that:

if a resource tenure ends, the ‘holder’ of the environmental authority for the resource tenure continues to be the person who was the holder of the tenure immediately before it ended
an environmental authority continues in force in relation to an activity carried out on land identified by reference to a resource tenure even if the resource tenure expires or is cancelled.

The Mineral Resources Act 1989 was also amended to provide a power to grant a new type of rehabilitation authorisation. The authorisation enables access to an expired mining lease or mining claim area in order to carry out activities required to meet rehabilitation requirements under the EP Act.

For more detail about the amendments please view the explanatory notes for the Bill and the explanatory notes for amendments moved during consideration in detail.

Environmental Protection (Chain of Responsibility) Amendment Act 2016

The Environmental Protection (Chain of Responsibility) Amendment Act 2016 (the Chain of Responsibility Act) commenced on 27 April 2016.

The Chain of Responsibility Act amended the EP Act to enhance environmental protections and give the department greater powers to enforce compliance with existing environmental obligations.

The sections below include an overview of the major amendments in the Chain of Responsibility Act. For more detail about these amendments, please view the explanatory notes for the Bill and the explanatory notes for amendments moved during consideration in detail.

Commencement dates

While the Chain of Responsibility Act received assent on 27 April 2016, it applies retrospectively to entities that became the holder of an environmental authority (through a transfer) after introduction of the Bill on 15 March 2016.

Environmental Protection Orders

An environmental protection order may be issued to a person undertaking environmentally relevant activities to require compliance with environmental obligations. The Chain of Responsibility Act broadens the range of persons and companies who may be issued with an environmental protection order by the department.

The Chain of Responsibility Act enables an environmental protection order to be issued to:

related persons of the company undertaking the activity and
related persons of ‘high risk’ companies.

Related persons

A ‘related person’ is:

a holding company of the company carrying out the activity
for non-resource activities - a person or company that owns land on which the company carries out, or has carried out the activity
for resource activities - a person or company that is an associated entity of the company and owns land on which the company is carrying out, or has carried out, the activity
a person or company with a relevant connection to the company carrying out the activity either through their ability to:
- significantly financially benefit from the activity or
- influence the extent of their environmental compliance.

The Chain of Responsibility Act ensures that an owner of the land for the purposes of the related person test does not include native title holders or persons who have been granted land under the Aboriginal Land Act 1991 or the Torres Strait Islander Land Act 1991. The Chain of Responsibility Act also ensures that financial benefits of a compensatory nature will not be grounds for finding that a ‘relevant connection’ exists.

When issuing an environmental protection order to a ‘related person’, the department is also required to consider whether the person took all reasonable steps to ensure that environmental obligations were complied with and that adequate provision was made to finance the rehabilitation of the site.

High risk company

A ‘high risk company’ is a company that is externally administered (which includes a company in administration, liquidation or receivership) or is a related body corporate of such a company.

Financial assurance conditions for transferred environmental authorities

The Chain of Responsibility Act allows the department to amend an environmental authority to impose a financial assurance condition in the event the environmental authority is transferred or the company that holds the environmental authority is itself transferred to a new holding company.

The condition can only be imposed if the department considers that the condition is necessary or desirable.

Other amendments

The Chain of Responsibility Act also amended the EP Act to:

ensure that authorised officers have powers to access sites no longer in operation that may or may not be subject to an environmental authority
compel persons to answer questions in relation to alleged offences committed (which would include, for example, compelling employees of a company to answer questions about alleged offences committed by that company)
expand the ability of the department to access information for evidentiary purposes
ensure that the Courts can only stay a decision about the amount of financial assurance required under a condition of an environmental authority if the administering authority holds security in the amount of at least 75% of the amount it has decided is required
increase the grounds that need to be considered or satisfied before a Court can stay a decision to issue an environmental protection order while the decision is under internal review or appeal.

Available from the library catalogue

The documents referred to on this page are available from the department’s online library catalogue.