PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Queensland government has introduced the Mineral and Energy Resources Bill 2014, as the first step in creating a single, common resources Act for the mining, petroleum and gas, greenhouse gas storage and geothermal energy sectors.

The Bill, which forms part of the Modernising Queensland’s Resources Acts initiative, was aimed at introducing a new framework for managing the state’s overlapping coal and petroleum tenures to facilitate co-existence of coal mining and coal seam gas (CSG) industries, while also expanding the Land Court’s jurisdiction to hear conduct matters when considering conduct and compensation agreements.

The Bill also amends the notification and objection process for a mining lease application, in an effort to create a more streamlined and efficient process, while also providing the means for immediate access to legacy boreholes that present a safety risk.

Minister for Natural Resources and Mines, Andrew Cripps, said that the new Bill would allow land-holders to gain improved land access protection, while the resources sector would have red tape slashed through "landmark" reforms.

He said the Mineral and Energy Resources (Common Provisions) Bill 2014 addressed issues left to escalate under the former Labor government, including overlapping coal mining and CSG tenures and gas emissions from legacy exploration bores.

“This is a major component of delivering the Queensland government’s commitment to support the resources sector by removing red tape and regulation.

“These initiatives reaffirm the Newman government’s commitment to support a strong resources sector, including small-scale alluvial miners, by cutting red tape and costs through streamlined regulatory processes.”

Cripps noted that the Bill proposed a consistent framework across all resources types to provide land-holders and resource companies with greater clarity about their rights and obligations for gaining access to private land near residences and other infrastructure.

“It also provides greater certainty about assessment timeframes and reduces costs for small-scale alluvial miners and the broader mining sector,” he said.

“The legislation also enables coal mining companies to make more effective use of incidental gas extracted as a result of coal mining operations, enabling the industry to lower the cost of coal production.”

The Queensland Resources Council (QRC) said on Friday that the reforms would help boost the contribution of the resources sector to the state economy.

“The development of a new overlapping tenure framework for coal and coal seam gas unlocks valuable resources by resolving competing development rights.

“Maximising the potential utilisation of coal and coal seam gas resources in Queensland means more investment, more jobs and more royalties to fund essential services and infrastructure for Queenslanders,” said QRC CEO Michael Roche.

Roche said proposed amendments to the notifications process for mining leases were a leap forward for Queensland.

“These reforms reflect that the state is best placed to assess the adequacy of a resource developer’s technical and financial capacity.”

“The QRC also supports continuing notification rights under the Environmental Protection Act to ensure affected parties’ concerns relating to environment impacts such as noise, dust and water are heard and considered by the relevant regulator,” Roche said.