PERTH (miningweekly.com) - The Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) will open its greenhouse gas (GHG) guidelines for public consultation starting on June 10.
The 12-week consultation period will close on September 2.
EPA chairperson Dr Tom Hatton said the authority had listened to industry, interest groups and the community on the need to consult further on the guidelines, which were rescinded in March.
“The intention of the further consultation is to listen to community and our stakeholders, to ensure the greenhouse gas guidelines provide a robust and effective framework within which the EPA will consider the greenhouse gas emissions of future proposals,” Hatton said.
The EPA in March this year withdrew revised guidelines on GHG emissions, which included rules that all new projects that emitted more than 100 000 t/y of carbon dioxide, should offset those emissions, after facing severe backlash from both the industry and the state government.
Industry participants claimed that the revised guidelines would jeopardise billions worth of investment, and thousands of jobs.
Hatton on Tuesday said that the EPA would welcome all submissions on potential changes to Western Australia’s GHG guidelines, with the EPA to take all views into account.
To inform the consultation process the EPA would issue a background paper and would make the rescinded guidelines available during the consultation period. Hatton said that the EPA was open to changing its GHG guidance in response to the community submissions.
Submissions would be reviewed and published online following the three-month consultation period.
The EPA would prepare revised guidelines that would then be considered by the EPA’s Stakeholder Reference Group, made up of industry and environmental nongovernmental organisation representative bodies.
The board intends to release its new guidelines in December.