Environmental regulatory reform latest news

On 28 November 2023 the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly passed the Environment Protection Legislation Amendment Act 2023 (Amendment Act).

In addition to establishing a new environmental licensing framework for mining activities under the Environment Protection Act 2019 (EP Act), the Amendment Act includes a number of minor amendments to the Northern Territory's environmental impact assessment (EIA) and environmental approval system that commenced on 28 June 2020.

The amendments improve clarity and consistency in terminology and procedures across the EIA and environmental approval system.

The amendments do not change the underlying intent of the EIA and environmental approval system.

The department is working with the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NTEPA) to update relevant EIA guidance materials provided on the NT EPA website.

The amendments will commence on 1 March 2024.

June 2022

The Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security (DEPWS) has prepared the Consultation Draft Environment Protection Legislation Amendment (Chain of Responsibility) Bill 2022 PDF (303.3 KB) (the Bill). The Bill amends the Environment Protection Act 2019 and Environment Protection Regulations 2020 to introduce chain of responsibility (COR) laws as part of the Territory’s environmental regulatory framework.

The proposed amendments will contribute to the delivery of recommendation 14.30 of the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory. The proposed COR laws will only apply to petroleum activities at this time.

Stakeholders are invited to provide written submissions on the draft Bill by COB Wednesday 3 August 2022.

Go to Environmental regulatory reform program - Consultation for further information

7 July 2021

On 7 July 2021 the Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security released an information paper PDF (942.8 KB) on Environmental Chain of Responsibility (COR) Laws as part of the Territory Government’s environmental regulatory reform program.

The information paper builds on feedback received from stakeholders throughout previous engagement programs, including the feedback received from recent consultation on the development of a new framework for the environmental regulation of mining activities in the Northern Territory.

Stakeholders are invited to provide written submissions by COB Wednesday 4 August 2021.

January 2024

On 28 November 2023 the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly passed the Environment Protection Legislation Amendment Act 2023 reforming environmental regulation of mining activities in the Northern Territory. These reforms increase transparency in how environmental impacts of mining activities are regulated, and provides opportunities for public involvement in that regulation. The amendments also provide greater certainty for Territorians and industry.

The amendments establish a new tiered, risk-based and outcome-focused environmental (mining) licensing framework under the Environment Protection Act 2019.

The new licensing framework for mining activities will commence 1 July 2024 and apply to all mining activities including exploration and extraction. The Mining Management Act 2001 will be repealed at this time.

Transitional arrangements included in the amendments ensure that mining activities authorised under the Mining Management Act continue to be authorised under the Environment Protection Act.

View information to assist stakeholders understand the regulatory framework for the new environmental (mining) licence regime, and the transitional arrangements PDF (170.4 KB) for mining activities authorised under the Mining Management Act.

25 October 2023

The Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security has completed public consultation on the Environment Protection Legislation (Mining) Amendment Bill 2023.

A total of 33 submissions were received from a variety of stakeholders, including individual members of the public, environment and industry groups, mining companies, industry associations, land councils and special interest groups.

The department thanks all those stakeholders who have contributed their time and effort in providing written and audio submissions. The submissions have gone towards further improving the draft legislation.

A summary of feedback received and non-confidential submissions can be reviewed on Have Your Say NT.

17 August 2023

The Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security has released the draft Environment Protection Legislation Amendment (Mining) Bill 2023 for public consultation. The draft Bill identifies reforms to the Environment Protection Act 2019 to introduce a new licensing system to manage mining activities.

Submissions on the draft Bill close 4pm Monday 18 September 2023

Visit Have Your Say NT to read more about the proposed changes and to make an informed submission.

9 December 2020

On 9 December 2020 the Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security and Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade released a Consultation Paper on proposed environmental regulatory reforms for mining activities in the Northern Territory.

The paper has been prepared to generate informed conversation to support the development of an effective regulatory framework for mining in the Northern Territory that meets industry requirements as well as community expectations of a contemporary and robust environmental regulatory system. The paper identifies a range of proposed reforms to the regulatory framework, and seeks information on how these proposals can be improved.

Submissions on the Consultation Paper  PDF (1.0 MB) will close on Monday 22 February 2021.

16 April 2020

The new Environment Protection Act 2019 (EP Act) was passed in September 2019. Draft Regulations were released for public consultation in November 2019 for a period of six weeks. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources met with key stakeholders to provide a briefing on the Regulations and address any initial questions or concerns.

The intent of the legislation in modernising the environmental impact assessment and environmental approval framework was recognised in many submissions received. The key areas of support communicated by a number of the submissions related to increased clarity and certainty, particularly associated with prescribed time frames, and greater transparency and accountability within decision-making. A clear statutory decision-making process was recognised as an important part of improving certainty for investment.

The Environment Protection Regulations have now been assented to by the Administrator and were gazetted on 15 April 2020. The Regulations available on the NT Government's legislation site.

The new Environment Protection legislation is expected to commence on 28 June 2020.

The Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are developing guidance and other materials to support the operation of the new environmental assessment process. Guidance documents that assist proponents to understand and engage in the new process are being prioritised for development prior to commencement of the EP Act.

The NT EPA is currently consulting on draft Environmental impact assessment guidance:

• the NT EPA's Environmental factors and objectives and
• draft Environmental impact assessment guidance for proponents: referring a proposal to the NT EPA.

Further guidance documents to be released for consultation over coming weeks are listed below.

Guidance documents for consultation are available on the NT EPA website.

4 November 2019

Draft Environment Protection Regulations to support the Environment Protection Act 2019 have been released for consultation and are available on the regulations consultation website.

The website also contains supporting documentation designed to assist you in understanding and considering the draft regulations.

Submissions on the draft environment protection regulations will close Monday 16 December 2019.

26 September 2019

On Thursday 19 September 2019, the Environment Protection Bill 2019 was debated and passed with minor amendments, this followed the tabling of the Social Policy Scrutiny Committee report on 17 September 2019, available at website.

The department will undertake further consultation on the draft environment protection regulations shortly.

16 May 2019

The Minister for Environment and Natural Resources has today introduced the Environment Protection Bill 2019 into Parliament. The Bill's purpose is to introduce improvements to the environmental impact assessment and approval system for the Northern Territory comparable to other Australian jurisdictions and international best practice. It will replace the Environmental Assessment Act 1982 that has been in effect in the Northern Territory since 1984. The Bill is available from the Northern Territory Legislation website.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has prepared a range of documents to assist stakeholders to understand the Environment Protection Bill 2019.

The Bill has been referred to the Social Policy Scrutiny Committee for examination. Stakeholders will have further opportunity to provide feedback on the Bill during the Scrutiny Committee process. Visit the Social Policy Scrutiny Committee’s website for more information.

11 April 2019

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has now published the outcomes of consultation on the draft Environment Protection Bill and Regulations, which can be found on the outcomes of consultation web page.

The department thanks all those stakeholders who have contributed their time and effort in providing written and verbal submissions. The submissions have gone towards further improving proposed reforms to the environmental regulatory system and will assist to deliver sustainable development in the Northern Territory.

The department does not intend to release a revised draft Bill for further consultation, however stakeholders will be informed of the changes through updates on this website and will also be able to make submissions on the revised draft Bill through the Northern Territory Parliament's Policy Scrutiny Committee process, once it has been introduced into the Legislative Assembly in 2019.

12 December 2018

Consultation of the draft environment protection Bill and Regulations closed on the 3 December 2018. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has received 33 written submissions, and 30 stakeholders participated in one-on-one meetings.

The department would like to thank all those stakeholders who have contributed their time and effort in providing written and verbal submissions.

The submissions will go towards further improving the environmental regulatory reform system and will assist to deliver sustainable development in the Northern Territory. All submissions will be considered and the department will commence drafting amendments to the draft Bill and Regulations for Government's consideration in early 2019.

The department does not intend to release a revised draft Bill for further consultation, however stakeholders will be informed of the changes through updates on this website and will also be able to make submissions on the revised draft Bill through the Northern Territory Parliament’s Policy Scrutiny Committee process once it has been introduced into the Legislative Assembly.

Northern Territory Environmental Values and Objectives

Consultation on the establishment of the Northern Territory Environmental Values and Objectives (TEOs) has also closed.

The department again would like to acknowledge and thank the valuable participation contributed by key stakeholders.

The department will continue build on the work undertaken by key stakeholders on the values and objectives and will continue to provide updates on this element of the reform program.

Amendments to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority Act

Amendments to the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority Act (NT EPA Act) were passed by the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday 27 November 2018, and given assent by the Administrator on Thursday 29 November.

These amendments:

• will improve governance and modernises the Act including new requirements for the NT EPA to prepare (in consultation with the Minister) and publish a 'statement of intent' identifying its proposed activities for the coming two years
• provide greater flexibility in the NT EPA membership, allowing the appointment of two additional members to the NT EPA consistent with Government’s commitments for the management of hydraulic fracturing activities and
• provide a power for the NT EPA to give advice to any minister about any proposed plan, program or other measure for managing the environment, which includes advice about environmental management plans prepared under the Petroleum (Environment) Regulations
• establish the new responsibility of 'assurance monitor' to undertake systemic reviews of the Territory's environmental management system.

The amended Act is now available from the legislation database.

4 October 2018

On the 4 October 2018 the Department of Environment and Natural Resources released the draft Environment Protection Bill and draft Regulations for public consultation.

The draft Bill and draft Regulations are available on the environmental regulatory reform consultation website. Also on the website is a suite of supporting documentation designed to assist you in understanding and considering the draft legislation.

This draft legislation addresses the environmental impact assessment and approval framework; a separate legislative process will address the reforms to waste, pollution, land clearing and the environmental impacts of mining.

Submissions on the draft Bill and draft Regulations were open to 3 December 2018.

27 September 2018

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (the department) has engaged an independent consultant to assist with consultation on the establishment of the Northern Territory Environmental values and objectives.

The Northern Territory Environmental values and objectives are a key component of the reform process designed to support decision making in the environmental impact assessment and approval process.

The environmental values and objectives will be developed in collaboration with key stakeholders to ensure they stakeholders have an opportunity for direct input into the process and that their range of needs and concerns are considered.

Key Stakeholder consultation will be conducted between September and November 2018.

For more information on the establishment of the Northern Territory Environmental values and objectives please view the Consultation paper.

27 September 2018

The Northern Territory Government has considered a range of views on review provisions and mechanisms for inclusion into the new environment protection legislation.

Government is committed to the implementation of the recommendations from the Scientific Inquiry into Hydraulic Fracturing in the Northern Territory (the Scientific Inquiry) which include open standing for judicial reviews, and broad standing for merits reviews.

The environment protection legislation will be broadly consistent with the approach recommended by the Scientific Inquiry.

Judicial review with open standing will be available for the following:

• decisions made by the NT EPA in relation to environmental impact assessment
• approval decisions made by the Minister for Environment and Natural Resources and
• licence or permit decisions made by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) or their delegate.

Merits review to the NTCAT will be available for decisions made by the minister and for licence or permit decisions made by the CEO of the DENR or their delegate. Standing for merits review will be available for:

• proponents
• persons who are directly or indirectly affected by the decision
• members of an organised environmental, community or industry group
• Aboriginal Land Councils
• registered Native Title Prescribed Body Corporate and registered claimants under the Native Title Act
• local government bodies and
• persons who have made genuine and valid objection during any assessment or approval process.

20 August 2018

The environmental regulatory reform program continues to progress with Government recently identifying the broad parameters for the next stage of the reform program. Key elements to be included in the next stage of environmental reforms are:

• the management of pollution, waste and litter
• the management of environmental impacts of mining
• the management of native vegetation clearing.

Matters which will not be addressed through this stage of the reform program include the Container Deposit Scheme, the Plastic Bag Ban, and matters related to ship-sourced pollution managed under the Marine Pollution Act.

These matters will continue to be managed under separate legislation. Reform and review processes relating to these issues will be undertaken separately to current environmental reform program.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will be undertaking targeted stakeholder consultation on how Government can design a framework to implement these decisions.

27 June 2018

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (the department) has made substantial progress on the environmental regulatory reform program with the NT Government approving the commencement of drafting of the new Environment Protection Act.

To ensure this important legislation is introduced into Parliament in a timely manner, a highly experienced drafter will draft the new legislation. Stakeholder consultation will take place in late 2018 with the aim of introducing the draft legislation into Parliament in 2019.

In addition, the NT Government will also amend the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority Act (NT EPA Act).

The amendments will improve governance of the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) and modernise the NT EPA Act. It is anticipated the amended legislation will be introduced into Parliament in August 2018.

22 December 2017

Stage 1 of the environmental regulatory reform program has made considerable progress with Government making decisions about particular aspects of the new environmental protection Act.'

Government has agreed to:

• the definition of environment
• a conceptual assessment framework
• specific elements of the new assessment and approval process.

For further information on Government's recent decisions please view fact sheet and a diagram of the conceptual assessment framework diagram.

30 November 2017

The NT Government recently considered the future role of the NT EPA in the Territory's proposed new environmental management framework.

The government has determined that the NT EPA can best contribute to the protection and management of the environment by a strategic assessment, assurance and advisory role. The NT EPA will therefore:

• undertake the environmental impact assessment process and provide strategic advice to Government on the impacts of projects
• monitor and review the environmental management system and provide advice about the operation of the environmental management system and information on how to improve the system to deliver improved environmental outcomes and
• continue to provide advice on other environmental matters of strategic importance to the Territory.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources will be tasked with undertaking day to day environmental management activities such as licensing and ensuring compliance with the new environmental protection legislation. This will include undertaking compliance and enforcement activities associated with the new environmental approval to be issued by the Minister following the environmental impact assessment process.

These changes will be implemented over time as the new environment protection legislation is developed.

There will be no changes to the NT EPA's responsibilities in the short term.

19 September 2017

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources released the Environmental Regulatory Reform Feedback summary paper.

This paper provides an overview and summary of the feedback received in response to the Environmental Regulatory Reform Discussion Paper released in May 2017.

28 June 2017

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources received 28 submissions in response to the Environmental Regulatory Reform Discussion Paper. View Submissions.

3 May 2017

To progress Stage 1 of the environmental reforms program the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have released the Environmental Regulatory Reform Discussion Paper. This paper is intended to provide a snapshot of the reform process for environmental impact assessment and project approvals.

We acknowledge all of the work that has previously been undertaken by individuals and organisations in preparing submissions for Government.

We have prepared this paper to build on that work and seek feedback on our direction. It identifies our understanding of your views about the existing assessment and approval system and how we intend to address issues you have previously raised and recommendations you have made.

It also identifies those issues that we need more information about to help us develop new legislation.

It identifies topics which have not been addressed in previous submissions and those for which there is not a clear path forward.

Figure 2 in the discussion paper was updated on 26 May 2017.