Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Protecting Australia's Water Resources) Bill 2011
Information about the Inquiry
On 10 November 2011 the Senate referred the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Protecting Australia's Water Resources) Bill 2011 for inquiry and report.
The purpose of the bill is to create a federal assessment and approval process for mining activities that have a significant impact on water resources. The Federal Environment Minister would then have the power to refuse or condition these mining activities.
Section 24D of the bill requires the approval of mining operations that have, will have or is likely to have a significant impact of the quality, structural integrity or hydraulic balance of a water resource.
Submissions should be received by 23 December 2011. The reporting date is 27 February 2012.
The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to rrat.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3511 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5811 or by email to rrat.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
For further information, contact: Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia