The NSW Government is proposing to amend the Mining SEPP to remove the requirement to make the significant of the resource the “principal consideration’ when making decisions to approve mining subject to that policy.
The specific amendment relates to Clause 12AA which requires the consent authority to consider the relative significance of the resource and the economic benefits of the resource to the State and to the region as a ‘principal consideration’.
Amending Clause 12AA will mean that the significance of the resource is no the principal consideration but considered alongside environmental and social factors.
The NSW Government has invited comments on a draft Integrated Mining Policy to improve assessment and regulation of ‘major’ mining projects and includes a swamp offsets policy and detailed rehabilitation requirements. Public comment closed in July 2015 with the final policy yet to be released.