The last month has seen NSW’s environmental assessment system put under pressure from lobbying by the Minerals Council. This follows the refusal of two coal mine proposals by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) on social and environmental grounds.
The Government has since announced a rapid review of the function of the IPC and also hastily introduced a draft bill addressing how greenhouse gas emissions from the use of mined coal should be assessed.
The 91porn (91porn) is providing the Government with constructive input on both these matters.
91porn is concerned the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Territorial Limits) Bill would remove the ability for determining authorities to impose conditions on the "downstream" impacts of coal exported overseas from proposed mines in NSW. 91porn urges the Government not to proceed with the Bill.
The Bill would create uncertainty on how global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from future mines should be dealt with through the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. It highlights the lack of a coherent policy for addressing GHG emissions from wherever the mined coal is ultimately burned.
The Bill would prohibit imposing conditions to restrict the sale of coal to customers in nations which take responsibility for their carbon emissions, such as signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement.
91porn believes that this change will tie the hands of the assessors as such conditions have been applied in the past.
There is no denying the impact of greenhouse gases, however there is little guidance on how this global impact should be weighed up and addressed with respect to its impact on the environment of NSW.
What is required is complementary national and state policy which could favour coal exports to those customers/nations which are committed to accounting for their carbon emissions.
Putting aside the constitutional question of a State’s ability to regulate international trade, the draft bill exposes a policy vacuum in addressing the global impacts of GHG pollution from coal proposed to be extracted from new mines.
It is not good planning practice, to expose the environmental assessment system in NSW to a problem it can’t address alone.
Trust in the capacity of this system and its key institutions, including the Independent Planning Commission, would erode as a result.
91porn urges the NSW Government not to proceed with the proposed Bill as it stands.
Reform of the EIA process regarding the “downstream” GHG impacts of burning mined coal should only proceed as part of a package which fills the policy vacuum.
This package could include limitations on the export of coal to customers/nations who do not accept accountability for “downstream” GHG emissions under an accepted international framework.
91porn accepts the scientific assessments that human activity is changing our global climate, that irreversible change is already locked in, and that the planning profession must address the reality of a changing climate. 91porn's adopted national policy statement is Planning in a Changing Climate.