Nature Repair Market (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2023

The majority voted in favour of a motion "That the amendments be agreed to." This means that the amended bill has now been passed in both houses of parliament and so can be made into law.

What do these amendments do?

According to the supplementary explanatory memorandum (which is a political document that was prepared by the Government itself):

The proposed amendments to the Bill would amend the EPBC Act to:

• expand the scope of the water trigger to apply to all forms of unconventional gas development (rather than coal seam gas development) including activities involving unconventional gas (unconventional gas production) (by drilling, hydraulic fracturing, or other means), including from coal seams, shale rock, tight reservoirs, and any other sources prescribed by regulation. The water trigger will continue to apply to large coal mining development.

• expand the scope of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee to provide advice on EPBC Act approvals involving unconventional gas developments, in addition to coal seam gas and large coal mining developments.

• amend the name of the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC) to reflect the broadened remit (to Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Unconventional Gas Development and Large Coal Mining Development).

• define what is meant by an unconventional gas development and unconventional gas production and allow for further sources to be added in regulations if there are emerging technologies that may need to be captured in future.

• provide clarity in relation to the application of the expanded water trigger giving proponents greater certainty through explicitly excluding projects that are:

• currently in production as approved under a Commonwealth, state or territory law or is a development that has permanently ceased extraction or production or where post-production has permanently ceased,

• have an existing approval under Part 9 of the EPBC Act or notice of a proposed approval decision, or

• have previously been determined to not need an approval under the EPBC Act (i.e. the action is not a controlled action, not a controlled action particular manner)

• provide that relevant projects currently undergoing EPBC Act assessment (i.e. have been determined to be controlled actions under the EPBC Act but have not yet been approved) will need to be assessed for impacts on water resources.

What does the bill do?

According to the bills digest summary:

• The Nature Repair Market Bill 2023 (NRM Bill) seeks to establish the legislative framework for a voluntary national market in biodiversity certificates. The market would enable project proponents to undertake – on a range of land tenures, including in aquatic environments and the ocean to the extent of Australia’s territorial sea (generally, 12 nautical miles from the coast) – projects that protect or enhance biodiversity. The project proponent would be able to apply to the Clean Energy Regulator for a unique biodiversity certificate that could then be sold to interested persons in the market.
• The NRM Bill is framework legislation, with significant elements of the scheme to be provided in a series of legislative instruments to be made by the Minister, including rules, biodiversity assessment instruments and methodology determinations.
• The Nature Repair Market (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2023 makes minor amendments to the Clean Energy Regulator Act 2011 and National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 to facilitate operation of the proposed scheme.
• The Bills indirectly respond to two key reports and reviews relating to the state of Australia’s biodiversity, the State of the Environment Report 2021 and the Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Samuel Review). These highlight the deteriorating state of terrestrial and marine biodiversity and the failure of our national environmental law to adequately protect Australia’s biodiversity and iconic places.
• Over 400 submissions were made to 2 rounds of consultation undertaken by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).
• A review of submissions indicates stakeholder views’ range from cautiously optimistic – largely in recognition of the urgent need to increase investment in the protection and enhancement of biodiversity – to highly critical of a broad range of policy and technical issues. Chief among these are concerns about market-led commodification of nature and the integration of the proposed market with the still-to-be-implemented reform of Australia’s national environmental laws. A large number of submitters were of the view that the Bills should not progress until those reforms are finalised.