PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The Queensland state government on Wednesday introduced what it labelled as “the most significant reform” in the state’s environmental approvals system in the past 15 years to the state Parliament.

Deputy Premier Andrew Fraser said in a statement that the approval system would give the economy the opportunity to save at least A$12.5-million a year.

Fraser noted that the amendments to the Environmental Protection Act were designed to increase the efficiency of the environmental approvals system and cut green tape, while at the same time maintaining Queensland's rigorous environmental standards.

“These amendments will streamline the process for Queensland businesses to obtain certain environmental approvals,” Fraser said.

He noted that the amendments to the bill would significantly reduce costs for industry and government while upholding the rigorous environmental standards the community expects.

"Queensland's unique environment is an asset that requires a unique system of protection."

Environment Minister Vicky Darling said that greentape reduction was about reducing unnecessary regulatory burdens, such as time wasted in lengthy application processes, adding that the introduction of standard applications would reduce costs and increase certainty in application processes for low environmental risk operations.

“An average small business is expected to save over A$20 000 in application costs from this initiative alone. Businesses will be able to hold corporate licences to manage their environmental authorities for multiple sites in an integrated way just like they manage their businesses.

“These reforms will simplify the relationship between environmental licences and development permits meaning an operator will only need to pay for their annual fees once their development permit is approved,” Darling said.

She added that all businesses, including waste management, manufacturing, extractive industries and intensive livestock industries, which are currently required to be licensed under the Environmental Protection Act would benefit from these improvements.

“However, these reforms are not at the expense of environmental protection and all businesses will have to meet the environmental standards expected by the community to protect Queensland's unique environment,” she stated.

Following full rollout of the changes it was expected that more than half of the 2 500 applications the Environment Department received annually, and most local government applications, would be standard, saving approval time for both industry and government.

The changes were the result of the government's greentape reduction project, a two-year overhaul involving comprehensive consultation with industry and the community.

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