Legacy Mines Remediation Draft Bill

Feedback has now closed on draft legislation to improve the Territory’s environmental management of mining activities.

Consultation summary report available

The department has completed the public consultation on the Legacy Mines Remediation Bill 2023.

A total of 15 submissions were received from a variety of stakeholders, including environment and industry groups, mining companies, industry associations, land councils and special interest groups.

The summary of feedback report is available in the Consultation documents links.

The department thanks all those stakeholders who have contributed their time and effort in providing submissions.

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Background

The Territory Government is committed to the continued development of a contemporary regulatory regime to support sustainable development of our mineral resources.

In September 2019, the first stage of reforms was enacted with the passing of the Environment Protection Act 2019 (EP Act). This Act introduced improvements to the environmental impact assessment and approval process for the NT. It is administered by the Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security (DEPWS).

In this second stage of reforms, it is proposed the Mining Management Act 2001 which is currently administered by the Department of Industry Tourism and Trade (DITT) be repealed and the responsibility for the environmental regulation of mining be transferred to the EP Act. DEPWS has released the draft Environment Protection Legislation Amendment (Mining) Bill 2023 for public comment. You can access it here.

The management and remediation of legacy mines will continue to be undertaken by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade.

Draft Legacy Mines Remediation Bill 2023

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade has released the draft Legacy Mines Remediation Bill 2023 (the Draft Bill) for public consultation.

The Draft Bill will introduce new legislation to contemporise the way legacy mines and legacy mine features are managed in the Territory.

The new legislation will deliver a more innovative and flexible framework that will:

• provide greater opportunities for Territory businesses and community groups to become involved in remediation works
• expand the use of the Mining Remediation Fund to include provisions for incentives that will facilitate the leveraging of industry expertise and the use of funds for research purposes and legal and audit services
• add an elevated classification of a ‘reserved legacy mine site’ increasing transparency of expenditure and providing greater certainty in the remediation of these sites and preventing competing land uses
• ensure the on-going collection of the mining levy used for the remediation of legacy mines and administration of the act
• enable the Minister to authorise some remediation activities to occur without requiring certain statutory approvals prescribed in the regulations

Making a submission

This consultation closed on Monday 18 September 2023.