- Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) has welcomed the finalisation of four National Environmental Standards covering Matters of National Environmental Significance, Environmental Offsets, Data and Information, and Community Engagement, which will inform decision-making under the reformed Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
- The final Environmental Offsets Standard incorporates several improvements consistent with CCAA's submissions, including allowing offsets for each stage of a long-life development to be secured before impacts from that stage occur, and permitting eligible State or Territory offsets to satisfy Commonwealth requirements.
- The Data and Information Standard's requirement for environmental information to be collected and reused with minimal additional effort reflects CCAA's advocacy for a collect once, use many times approach, reducing the burden on proponents to repeatedly gather substantially the same information.
- CCAA supports meaningful community engagement but has consistently argued it should not become a de facto additional approval stage or require proponents to demonstrate community consensus or social licence.
- CCAA Chief Executive Officer Michael Kilgariff cautioned that implementation will be critical, with clearer guidance still needed on issues including the definition of net gain, the interaction between significant and unacceptable impacts, and how Commonwealth and State requirements will operate without duplicated assessment or double-offsetting.
Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia (CCAA) has welcomed the finalisation of the Australian Government’s first four National Environmental Standards, saying the focus must now shift to ensuring they deliver clearer, faster and more predictable environmental approvals.
The four standards cover Matters of National Environmental Significance (MNES), Environmental Offsets, Data and Information, and Community Engagement and will form a central part of decision-making under the reformed Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
CCAA Chief Executive Officer Michael Kilgariff said industry supported strong environmental protections, but the success of the reforms would ultimately be judged by how the standards operate in practice.
“The objective must be better environmental outcomes alongside a more efficient and predictable approvals system,” Mr Kilgariff said.
“CCAA has engaged extensively throughout the development of these standards, particularly to ensure the framework recognises the realities of long-life, staged and geographically constrained quarry operations.”
CCAA’s submissions consistently called for greater recognition of staged developments, progressive rehabilitation, existing State and Territory processes, fit-for-purpose environmental data and the need to avoid duplicated assessment and offset requirements.
Consistent with CCAA’s submissions, there have been several practical improvements to the final standards.
The final Environmental Offsets Standard expressly allows offsets for each distinct stage of a long-life development to be identified and secured before the impacts from that stage occur, rather than requiring every future offset to be secured when the project is first approved. It also recognises conservation and restoration activities undertaken in advance and allows an eligible State or Territory offset to satisfy Commonwealth requirements, rather than automatically requiring a separate offset for the same impact. These changes address significant practical concerns raised by CCAA.
Mr Kilgariff said these were meaningful improvements.
“For a quarry that may operate for several decades, requiring every offset for every future stage to be identified and secured on day one simply does not reflect how these projects operate.”
“Greater recognition of staged development and existing State systems is therefore welcome, but implementation will be critical.”
CCAA also welcomes the Data and Information Standard’s requirement that environmental information be collected, managed and provided in a way that promotes reuse with minimal additional effort, where practicable.
This closely reflects CCAA’s advocacy for a “collect once, use many times” approach, including recognition of fit-for-purpose State and Territory surveys and assessments rather than requiring proponents to repeatedly collect substantially the same information.
Similarly, CCAA supports meaningful community engagement and welcomes confirmation that community input is to inform environmental decision-making. CCAA has consistently argued that engagement should not become a de facto additional approval stage or require proponents to demonstrate community consensus or social licence.
Mr Kilgariff said several issues would still require close attention as the standards are implemented.
“Clearer guidance will be essential on issues including the definition of “net gain”, the interaction between “significant” and “unacceptable impacts”, when progressive rehabilitation qualifies as repair, and how Commonwealth and State requirements will work together without duplicated assessment or double-offsetting.”
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About CCAA
CCAA is the voice of Australia’s heavy construction materials industry, an industry that contributes $20.7 billion to GDP and supports 112,970 jobs nationwide. CCAA members produce most of Australia's cement, concrete and aggregates, which are essential to the nation’s building and construction sectors.
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Contact: Mitch Itter, Manager Communications | 0431 542 660 | [email protected]