Environmental Protection Act 1994 – Proposed Amendments 

Proposed Amendments to Environmental Protection Legislation 

The Environmental Protection Act 1994 (“EP Act”), plays a key role in regulating environmental management and protection in Queensland, and is set to undergo a targeted review to improve its effectiveness and responsiveness to emerging challenges. The review and proposed changes are part of a commitment by the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science, and Innovation (“DETSI”) to ensure the legislation it administers remains ‘fit for purpose’.  

The proposed amendments are designed to: 

• Streamline environmental regulation processes; 

• Maintain strong environmental safeguards; and 

• Ensure the EP Act continues to meet current and future challenges, including those posed by climate change, technological advancements, and shifting community expectations. 

Key Proposed Amendments 

The key proposed amendments are: 

1. Transitioning low-risk environmentally relevant activities (“ERAs”) from requiring environmental authorities (“EAs”) to instead being regulated under new mandatory codes of practice. This transition will initially target activities classed as ‘low-risk resource activities’, such as small-scale mining, and is intended to reduce regulatory burdens, costs, and delays for operators.
2. Amending the EP Act to take a more consistent approach to defining and regulating all ERAs, based on the risk of environmental harm they pose. This will provide an opportunity to ensure that the regulation of each ERA remains proportionate to the need for regulatory oversight.
3. Developing a guideline to codify ‘best practice environmental management’, which will be used to guide environmental assessments by government, to provide greater certainty for businesses on the process and requirements to gain an EA.
4. Developing a consistent set of general administrative conditions, to provide clearer guidelines surrounding minimum record-keeping, monitoring, notification, and reporting requirements for all activities requiring an EA, to increase efficiency and reduce inconsistency. 

Milne Legal provides advice and represents clients in relation to a range of town planning and environmental law matters. If you would like to get in touch, please contact our office on (07) 3210 0943 or email us at admin@milnelegal.com.au.