Australian Resources and Energy Minis- ter Gary Gray has thrown his weight behind the recommendation that the New South Wales (NSW) government sup- port coal seam gas (CSG) development in the region.

An initial report by the state’s chief scientist and engineer, Mary O’Kane, recommended that NSW take steps to build public trust in its capacity to oversee a safe CSG industry.

“CSG is a complex issue which has proven divisive chiefly because of the emotive nature of community concerns, the competing interests of the players and a lack of publicly available factual information,” O’Kane said.

“The debate has been fuelled by unanswered concerns surrounding landholders’ legal rights, land access and use; human health; the environment, particularly relating to the impacts on water; engineering and operational processes; and industry regulation and com-pliance.”

She noted that the challenges faced by government and industry were considerable and a commitment from all parties would be required to improve the existing situation and build trust with the community.

Gray said last week that the commonwealth government was committed to expanding the development of natural gas from coal seams in a sustainable and sensible way.

The Minister pointed out that several regulatory improvements had been made by both the commonwealth and state governments to ensure best practice across the industry.

The Standing Council on Energy and Resources, chaired by Gray and involving all states, endorsed the development of the multi-use land framework in December last year. This framework, to be finalised in late 2013, would provide best-practice principles to allow mining and agriculture to co-exist, including consistent and clear advice for all land users.

“The National Harmonised Regulatory Framework on Natural Gas from Coal Seams provides 18 leading practices and focuses on the core areas of water management and monitoring, well integrity and aquifer protection, hydraulic fracturing and chemical use,” Gray said.

“The framework is based on sound science and environmental assessments, which will assist jurisdictions to develop appropriate regulations to ensure the sustainable development of this resource.”

Gray noted that government had estab-lished the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on CSG and large coal mining to provide scientific advice to decision-makers on the impact that CSG and large coal mining developments may have on Australia’s water resources. The initiative has been supported with A$150-million in commonwealth funding.

“The commonwealth continues to work closely with the NSW government to provide a regulatory environment that allows NSW to fully utilise its natural gas from CSG resources.”