Regulatory Framework

Administered by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

The purpose of this Act is to safeguard Queensland's economy, agricultural and tourism industries, environment and way of life, from:

• pests (e.g. wild dogs and weeds)
• diseases (e.g. foot-and-mouth disease)
• contaminants (e.g. lead on grazing land).

All Queenslanders have a 'general biosecurity obligation' (GBO) under this Act. This means that individuals and organisations whose activities pose a biosecurity risk must:

• take all reasonable and practical steps to prevent or minimise each biosecurity risk
• minimise the likelihood of causing a biosecurity event, and limit the consequences if such an event is caused
• prevent or minimise the harmful effects a risk could have, and not do anything that might make any harmful effects worse.

With respect to the onshore gas industry, this Act applies to the management and control of invasive weed species on areas disturbed by onshore gas development.

The Land Access Code 2016 requires petroleum operators to take all reasonable steps to ensure that, in carrying out authorised activities, they do not spread prohibited or restricted matter, as defined under sections 1 and 2 of the Act.

Further information about the Biosecurity Act 2014 can be found on the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries website.

Administered by the Department of Environment and Science. 

This Act creates an outcome-based framework for the establishment of environmental offsets.

Environmental Offsets are a legislative tool used to counterbalance significant residual impacts of authorised activities on a prescribed environmental matter. Environmental offsets are imposed as an 'offset condition' on an under other Acts, including an EA.

A prescribed environmental matter is any of the following matters prescribed under a regulation of this Act or another Act to be a prescribed environmental matter:

1. a matter of national environmental significance;
2. a matter of state environmental significance;
3. a matter of local environmental significance.

An example of a prescribed environmental matter is a vulnerable wildlife area prescribed under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

Administered by the Department of Environment and Science.

Environmental Authority (EA)

An EA is required to undertake any petroleum and gas operations. It regulates impacts to environmental values, e.g. rehabilitation, biodiversity offsets and emissions to air, land and water. You can view the environmental authorities register online.

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Process

The Act prescribes the environmental impact statement (EIS) process, including the voluntary EIS process under Chapter 3, Part 2.

Offences

Offences include causing unauthorised environmental harm and breaching conditions of an environmental authority.

Management and Use of Coal Seam Gas (CSG) Water

The Act defines CSG water as a by-product and is therefore regulated as a waste. However, such water can be approved for beneficial use.

The Coal Seam Gas Water Management Policy 2012 promotes the use and management of CSG water, wherever possible, in a way that benefits the community and reduces impacts on the environment.

Further information can be found on the Business and Industry Portal.

Administered by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, with delegation of powers to the Department of Environment and Science.

This Act is applicable where petroleum and gas infrastructure (i.e. wells, pipelines, facilities, etc.) is located within a state forest.

Further information can be found on the Business and Industry Portal.

Administered by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.

This Act creates a common legislative framework for the development and use of Queensland's mineral and energy resources.

It establishes land access requirements for carrying out petroleum and gas activities in Queensland, including:

• The creation of a Land Access Code that includes:
  • best practice guidelines for effective communication between resource companies and landholders
  • mandatory conditions for resource companies when conducting authorised activities on the land.
• The requirement for resource companies to enter into Conduct and Compensation Agreements (CCAs) with affected landholders on whose property they intend to operate.

Administered by the Department of Environment and Science and the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

This Act allows for the designation of protected areas to protect critical native wildlife and its habitat. Under the Act, Species Management Programs are required where onshore gas development activities have potential to impact on the values in protected areas.

Further information about threatened species can be found on the Department of Environment and Science website.  

Administered by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.

This Act is responsible for the regulation of older petroleum and gas tenures in Queensland that were granted prior to 1993.

Administered by the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy.

Once an environmental authority has been issued (under the Environmental Protection Act 1994), the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 is the primary Act governing onshore gas development.

Section 18 of the Act prescribes the different types of resource authorities that can be granted, collectively referred to as Petroleum Authorities. They are an authority to prospect; petroleum lease; survey licence; pipeline licence; data acquisition authority; petroleum facility licence; and water monitoring authority.

The Act also addresses, among other things, the following:

• Royalties to be paid to the State
• Underground water rights granted to petroleum tenure holders
• Safety requirements
• Technical well construction requirements
• Reporting requirements.

Administered by the Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning.

A regional interests development approval may be required when a petroleum and gas activity (including CSG) is proposed to be undertaken in one of the four areas of regional interest:

• Priority Living Area;
• Priority Agricultural Area;
• Strategic Cropping Area; and
• Strategic Environmental Area.

Petroleum and gas operations cannot be undertaken in an area of regional interest without a regional interests development approval (unless an exemption applies and the administering authority does not require an approval).

Assessing (referral) agencies for each area of regional interest are:

• Priority Living Areas (local government)
• Priority Agricultural Areas (Department of Agriculture and Fisheries)
• Strategic Cropping Areas (Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy)
• Strategic Environmental Areas (Department of Environment and Science jointly with the Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy).

Further information can be found on the Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning website.

Administered by the Department of State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning particularly the Coordinator-General.

Coordinated Projects

The Coordinator-General can declare a petroleum or gas project as a coordinated project for which an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required. The Coordinator-General's EIS report may recommend or impose conditions for the proposed petroleum lease or licence.

Further information can be found on the Business and Industry Portal.

Administered by the Department of Environment and Science.

Beneficial Use of Wastes

The Act recognises that wastes, defined as left-over and unwanted by-products in the Environmental Protection Act 1994, may have a beneficial use. Under this Act, the end of waste (EOW) framework promotes resource recovery opportunities and aims to transform the perception of waste from being seen as waste to being valued as a resource.

The EOW framework consists of EOW codes and approvals:

• EOW codes relate to any registered resource producers for a code.
• EOW approvals are considered on a trial basis for reusing waste as resources for which an EOW code has not been developed for the waste.

Further information can be found on the Department of Environment and Science website.

Administered by the Department of Environment and Science.

Underground Water Obligations

Under the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004, petroleum operators are provided with a statutory right to take underground water. However, this right is subject to the obligations in Chapter 3 of the Water Act 2000, which states that petroleum tenure holders must manage the impacts on underground water caused by the exercise of their rights under the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004.

Make Good Agreements

If a bore is located within an immediately affected area as identified in an underground water impact report (UWIR), the petroleum operator must undertake a bore assessment and enter into a make good agreement with the bore owner.

If the bore has, or is likely to have, an impaired capacity as a result of the petroleum operator's activities, the petroleum operator must also negotiate make good measures that, when implemented, ensure that the bore owner is not disadvantaged by the petroleum operation.

Further information on Chapter 3 can be found on the Department of Environment and Science website.

Note: 

The Water Reform and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2014 (WROLA) commenced on 6 December 2016.

1. The WROLA amended the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004 to make petroleum tenure holders subject to the water planning and allocation framework for the take of ‘non-associated’ water.
2. ‘Non-associated water’ refers to water that is not taken incidentally in extracting the resource, but is taken to use consumptively in a process, such as hydraulic fracturing.
3. Petroleum tenure holders will need a licence or permit for take of ‘non-associated’ groundwater in those areas where groundwater is regulated. A transition period of two years applies to petroleum tenure holders to come into compliance with the requirement for an authorisation for non-associated water under the Water Act 2000. This is extended to five years in the Surat Cumulative Management Area.