Regulatory Reform Ahead – What the Proposed Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) Amendments Mean for Project Proponents
The Queensland Government has released a consultation paper outlining proposed reforms to the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act), the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NC Act) and chapter 3 of the Water Act 2000 (Water Act). These reforms are designed to enhance regulatory efficiency, reduce red tape, and improve clarity across environmental approval processes. Submissions are open until 14 July 2025.
A Selection of Takeaways for Project Proponents:
1. Mandatory Codes for Low-Risk Activities
The proposal introduces mandatory codes of practice to replace the requirement for an Environmental Authority (EA) for low-risk environmentally relevant activities (ERAs). A mandatory code would include conditions similar to those found in an Environmental Authority (EA) regarding the environmental management practices required when carrying out a specified Environmentally Relevant Activity (ERA). This approach would eliminate the need to apply for and maintain an EA while still ensuring environmental protection and community safeguards. More than 30% of current EAs may be eligible for conversion, beginning with small-scale mining operations and extending to other resource and prescribed ERAs over a four-year rollout.
2. Clarification of State Priorities for Environmental Protection under the EP Act
The Environmental Protection Act (EP Act) identifies specific environmental values by highlighting areas with high conservation significance. It categorises environmentally sensitive areas as either Category A or Category B within the EP Regulation. Additionally, it refers to the Matters of State Environmental Significance (MSES) outlined in the Environmental Offsets Act 2014. The act also establishes specific environmental values through subordinate legislation. The current EP Act reforms propose to define a subset of environmental values in the EP Act as State Environmental Protection Priorities (SEPPs), with the EP Act to be administered with consideration to these.
In preparing the list of SEPPs, the existing MSES and environmental values prescribed in environmental protection policies under the EP Act will be considered through the EP Act reform process and refined to determine the relevant inclusions. Category A and category B environmentally sensitive areas currently used for some activities will also be reviewed with a view to avoid undesirable gaps, inconsistency and duplication. The indicative list of areas and values to be considered in development of SEPPs provided by the consultation paper includes the following (most of which are existing MSES):
- Fish habitat areas, waterways providing fish passage and marine plants (existing MSES)
- Marine Parks (existing MSES)
- Offset Areas (existing MSES)
- Protected Areas (existing MSES)
- Regional Ecosystems existing MSES with adjustments to prescribed regional ecosystems definition to align with environmentally sensitive area definitions under the EP Act)
- Qualities of air, water and the acoustic environment (existing EPPs)
- Strategic environmental areas (existing MSES)
- Threatened wildlife and protected wildlife habitat (existing MSES)
- Wetlands (existing MSES)
Defining the State Environmental Protection Priorities in legislation is intended to give proponents a clearer understanding of the environmental factors that may result in tighter regulation due to potential for greater environmental harm.
3. Risk-Based Environmental Regulation & State Priorities
Amendments will enable ERAs to be consistently prescribed by regulation, using a risk-based approach. Activities will be assessed in relation to newly defined State Environmental Protection Priorities (SEPPs), which will focus regulatory oversight on areas of highest environmental risk. Initially, existing ERAs will continue to be handled the same way they are currently managed. However, the relevant provisions will be transferred from the Environmental Protection Act (EP Act) to the Environmental Protection Regulation (EP Reg). This change is significant because it lays the groundwork for future and ongoing reviews of ERAs to evaluate whether the level of regulatory oversight for each specific ERA is still appropriate.
4. Codifying Best Practice Environmental Management (BPEM)
To increase certainty for proponents and regulators, the Department proposes codifying BPEM standards for specific activities. These will be enforceable codes of practice, particularly useful where environmental risks and mitigations are well-understood (e.g., chemical storage, erosion control).
5. Standardising Administrative Requirements Across EAs
The government proposes general administrative condition schedules that will apply across all new (and potentially some existing) EAs. These schedules will cover standard compliance obligations such as record-keeping, reporting, and complaint management.
6. Enhancements to Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plans (PRCPs)
Reforms to the PRCP framework include:
- Allowing rehabilitation works to continue even if a PRCP schedule hasn’t yet been approved. Including, enabling the administering authority to issue a rehabilitation direction whether or not such actions are specified by the EA where a PCRP schedule is not in place.
- Introducing a third transitional land use category—Managed Post Mining Land Use (MPMLU)—for legacy approvals.
- Replacing the rigid three-year audit requirement with a discretionary audit mechanism.
- Removing the public interest evaluation (PIE) process to streamline decision-making.
7. Clarifications and Expanded Enforcement Powers
- The definition of ‘waters’ will be clarified to include groundwater.
- Courts will gain expanded powers to order the forfeiture of property used in environmental offences and to confiscate the proceeds of environmental crime.
- The time available to prosecute summary offences will be extended, and EA holders with lapsed PRCP applications will be explicitly allowed to reapply.
Overall, these changes present an opportunity for faster approvals, reduced costs, and clearer compliance expectations—especially for low-risk activities. Further, clarification of SEPPs should increase certainty around project triggers under the EP Act.
Refer to the link below for consultation briefing reports and further details:
Submissions close 5pm, 14 July 2025 and can be made via email to:
📩 EPAct.Policy@detsi.qld.gov.au
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is sourced from publicly available documents and resources. New Ground strive to ensure the content is accurate and up to date, however amendments or updates may occur. For the most up to date information, please refer to the links provided.
Get in touch with Nelson Wills (nwills@newground.com.au) from New Ground should you want to discuss how these reforms could influence your project.