New Queensland guideline about greenhouse gas emissions for environmental authority applications

The Queensland Department of Environment, Science and Innovation recently released the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Guideline (the Guideline), which clarifies the existing application requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) (EP Act) and provides information about how to meet the requirements in relation to GHG emissions.

The Guideline applies to environmental authority (EA) applications for resource and prescribed environmentally relevant activities and may inform the terms of reference for an environmental impact statement.

It does not include any new regulatory requirements and is intended to ensure decision-makers consider the Government’s recently legislated climate targets. The Guideline is also intended to operate alongside the Commonwealth framework under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 and does not duplicate the requirements under the Safeguard Mechanism that apply to certain entities.

Overview of the Guideline

Applicants for a variation or site-specific application for an EA are required to provide an assessment of the likely impact of each relevant activity on the environmental values, including details of any emissions or releases likely to be generated by each relevant activity, and the management practices proposed to prevent or minimise emissions and adverse impacts.

The Guideline provides details about the GHG emissions information that would form part of an application for new or amended activities, along with any other emissions or releases likely to be generated by each relevant activity. Depending on the type of application, the Guideline provides guidance on how to:

• identify the GHG emissions likely to be generated throughout the life of the project including where an applicant is required to provide an estimate of annual and total scope 3 emissions. In respect of scope 3 emissions, the Guideline identifies useful databases and resources that may be used for estimating the emissions volumes depending on whether the emissions are likely to be released within or outside of Australia;
• determine if the application meets the medium to high GHG emission category and what information is required in respect of each category. Under the Guideline, applications with expected Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions of 25,000 tonnes CO2-e or more per year (at any time during the life of the project) are considered medium to high emitters while applications with expected GHG emissions of less than 25,000 tonnes CO2-e or per year are considered low emitters;
• identify the management practices proposed to be implemented to prevent or minimise adverse impacts with reference to the GHG abatement hierarchy which identifies preferred prioritisation of management practices to be implemented to minimise GHG emissions;
• identify whether a GHG abatement plan will be required to accompany the application. An application that meets the medium to high emission category will be required to include a GHG abatement plan which identifies among other, mitigation and management measures proposes to reduce scope 1 and scope 2 GHG emissions for the project; and
• describe the impacts of climate change on environmental values and the risk and likely magnitude of such impacts based on the relative scale of the project’s net GHG emissions.

How the GHG emissions information will be used by the administering authority

The Guideline outlines how the GHG emissions information provided in the application will be used including:

• in the EA assessment process and how the information satisfies the legislative criteria for the decision;
• considerations under the Human Rights Act 2019 when making environmental assessment decisions;
• determination as to whether to impose conditions relevant to GHG emissions, such as conditions requiring an EA holder to implement and comply with a GHG abatement plan or undertake monitoring of GHG emissions;
• monitoring compliance with EA conditions relevant to GHG emissions.

The Guideline may also be considered by the Coordinator General when evaluating environmental impact statements for coordinated projects.