PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Mining Amendment Bill has passed the Upper House of the Western Australian Parliament, legislating new laws to reduce the administrative burden and support best environmental practices.

The Mining Amendment Bill 2021 modernises the mining approval process and allows for easier administration of compliance with conditions of approval.

The Bill will improve approval timeframes and reduce the administrative burden for industry and government without affecting the robust environmental protections the current legislation provides.

A new automated authorisation pathway for eligible mining activities (EMA) will be implemented in accordance with full information capture and without compromising environmental outcomes. 

The new EMA framework is an automated authorisation that will cut approvals timeframes for certain activities that are done in non-sensitive environmental areas in a prescribed manner. A digital process will ensure full information capture and appropriate regulation of those activities without compromising environmental outcomes.

The Bill also introduces a Mining Development and Closure Proposal that removes the duplicate information required under the current Mining Proposal and Mine Closure Plan process.

Other new aspects include the introduction of a single approval instrument for activities and relevant environmental conditions across multiple tenements. 

Rather than reporting against a myriad of conditions set over time, tenement holders will have a single Approval Statement that clearly sets out the relevant parameters of approved activities and conditions. These Statements will also be publicly available.

“The Mining Amendment Bill 2021 supports the government's ongoing commitment to reducing red tape and making it easier to do business in Western Australia,” said Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston.

“The reforms will greatly streamline activity approvals and improve regulation under the Mining Act. Most importantly, the new legislation supports best practice environmental regulation, through increased accountability and transparency.”

The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) has welcomed the new legislation, with CEO Warren Pearce saying it was a step-change in the regulation of mining, and reflected that the government was beginning to deliver on its streamlining agenda for mining activities.

“Amec has called for the development of the EMA framework for a long time as a risked-based approach to cut timeframes while not compromising Western Australia’s gold standard of environmental regulation.”

“The EMA framework will reduce the high volume of low-risk procedural approvals the Department undertakes, allowing the reprioritisation of staff and resources to more effective regulatory outcomes,” said Pearce.

“The Bill also amalgamates the existing mining proposal and the mine closure plan into a new Mining Development and Closure Proposal. This change cuts duplication up-front.”

He added that the single approvals statement was a logical consolidation of approved mining operations approvals and conditions onto a single piece of paper, and would make it easier for government and proponents to administer.

“The passage of the Mining Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 last night is another step forward in the reform process to streamline Western Australia’s mining legislation,” said Pearce.

Following the passing of the Bill, consultation will now begin on developing the supporting regulations. It is expected the amendments will commence in mid-to-late 2023.