What’s News? (Issue 36)

Review of Exploration and Development Approvals Processes

This investigation has been called by the Earth Resources Development Council (ERDC) to map the current approvals processes for the Victorian earth resources sector and define potential improvements. This investigation will cover the following areas:

• Mapping of the current processes
• Identifying key issues and perceptions including case studies
• Consideration of benchmarks set by other jurisdictions
• Presenting recommendations for change

Due to the limitations of the DPI’s legislative controls, the investigation will not be considering the Environment Effects Statement process and is limited in terms of its impact upon non-resource legislation.

This project will be undertaken by PriceWaterhouseCoopers with Dianne Shields leading the project, and Ruth Ahchow as primary researcher. There has been a steering committee established by the ERDC consisting of Katherine Teh-White, Trevor Blake (DPCD) and Phil Roberts (DPI).

The CMPA (among others) will attend a focus group workshop on 1st February. The groups will be given a context presentation and then be asked to provide information on what is believed to work well and where problems lie.

Aboriginal Heritage Act and Planning Implications

On December 11, Sarah attended a training session run by the Department of Planning and Community Development looking at the Aboriginal Heritage Act and its implications upon planners.

The purpose of the session was to train town planners on the management of the Aboriginal Heritage Act and its Regulations. There were approximately 45 attendees with most being from local government, and recently out of university (under 30).

The day began with Joy Elliot, Aboriginal Affairs Victoria (AAV) presenting on the detail of the legislation, including:

• Features of the act
• Administrative structure
• Cultural heritage permits
• Cultural Heritage Management Plans (CHMP) (covered in detail)
• Plans and statutory authorisations
• Exempt activities
• High impact activities
• Areas of cultural heritage sensitivity

Questions were raised, with the main point of contention being on what basis the local government authority should decide if a CHMP is required. There was no clear resolution, however a number of examples were work shopped.

The afternoon session was presented by Maggie Baron, a consultant who has been heavily involved in the development of the legislation and its supporting materials. The purpose of this session was to demonstrate the tools that are available on the AAV website.

The training was worthwhile in that it gave me an appreciation of the challenges councils face and a better understanding of how the legislation is viewed by purists. There appears to be an assumption held that those undertaking a development have buckets of money at their disposal to carry out well meaning investigations and research.

Furthermore, there is considerable competition between the different legislation as to whose is most important (i.e. native vegetation, aboriginal heritage, European heritage, safety, etc).

This legislation will without doubt cause issues for Members as its application is more widely spread. Those Members who are facing difficulties in this area are asked to contact the CMPA to discuss the possibility of developing a generic CHMP that Members can utilise.

Auditing Compliance for Explosives

The DPI has kindly provided the CMPA with copies of the following three audit tools that sites may use when checking their compliance to explosives management:

• Manufacturing an explosives mixture
• High Class Dangerous Goods
• Storing explosives

For copies of these, please contact the Secretariat.

Red Gum Forests Investigation

In December, the CMPA made a submission to the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) on the red gum forests investigation. The introduction to the submission noted:

“The CMPA, and our Members, recognise the importance of managing and protecting the river red gum forests, and its importance in maintaining catchment health, and protecting flora and fauna habitats. In turn, it asks the community to recognise the value of the industry through the revenue the State gains from the industry, its role as an employer and provision of low cost resource for use in the maintenance of the forest access ways and wider community development.

“Clearly the sustainable development and use of extractive industry products (that are constrained in location and size by their geology) is of importance to all those within the study area, and as the population grows, the needs for a continual and assured supply of reasonably priced extractive industry products will contribute to the economic development of Victoria. The supply of future resources should not be burdened upon or limited to private lands.

“Accordingly, our Members would like the following to occur:

• A separate study to identify Extractive Industry Interest Areas within the VEAC study area, both existing and anticipated and allow for reasonable growth. These nominated areas should then be protected to allow for future development.
• Identification of the earth resources as a generally low impact, commercial use of public land with a small environmental footprint, and protection of the right of businesses to access these resources for the benefit of the local community.
• Recognition of the potential for buffer zones which contain Work Authorities to be of a high ecological value and allowance for these to extend into all types of park”.

Visit the CMPA’s website for the full submission.

Draft Community Engagement Guidelines

In December, the DPI released draft “Community Engagement Guidelines for Mines”. These guidelines provide assistance for mines in meeting the community engagement components of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act and Mineral Resources Development Regulations.

These requirements are not applicable to businesses operating under the Extractive Industries Development Act, however it is a good reference point if you are looking at engaging your local community in the development of your site.

The guidelines provides an outline for a Community Engagement Plan, which is established by the following:

• Identify who will be effected by the site
• Identify their specific attitudes and expectations
• Assess the level of impact
• Decide what is negotiable and what is non-negotiable
• Establish the best means of engagement

Visit the DPI’s of CMPA’s website for the guideline

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