By Matthew Austin and Alexander Choy King & Wood Mallesons’Brisbane office
On 13 September 2016, the Queensland Government tabled the Environmental Protection (Underground Water Management) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 (Qld) (Underground Water Management Bill). The Underground Water Management Bill seeks to overhaul the existing water licence regime to better manage the environmental impacts of groundwater take and to protect the interests of farmers and other landholders. The proposed laws would apply to new environmental authority applications for resource activities that include groundwater. Existing projects undergoing assessment would be captured by transitional environmental impact provisions comparable to the framework proposed for new projects.
Read full article, please click here.