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The policy objective of the Act was set out in the Explanatory Memorandum as follows:

“The principal objective of the Bill is to include conditioning powers to place beyond doubt that environmental offset conditions may be imposed on development approvals, environmental authorities and other approvals for development”.

The Act amends the Environmental Protection Act 1994, the Fisheries Act 1994, the Nature Conservation Act 1992 and the Sustainable Planning Act 2009.

The framework for imposing environmental offsets has been established since 2008 under the Queensland Government Environmental Offsets Policy (Offsets Policy). This Act sets out the powers of assessment managers in relation to environmental offsets and is intended to provide legal certainty for the environmental offset conditions contained in development approvals.

In her Second Reading Speech, the Honourable Kate Jones stated:

“This bill introduces amendments to support the Queensland Government Environmental Offsets Policy. An environmental offset is a positive action taken to compensate for unavoidable negative environmental impacts that might result from an activity or a development. An offset differs from mitigation by addressing any remaining impact after all attempts to first avoid and then reduce the impact have been exhausted. Environmental offsets have been used in Queensland for many years. They are a commonplace approach to providing flexibility for development projects that face challenges of meeting the community’s environmental standards”.

A fundamental policy principle of the Offsets Policy is that “Environmental impacts must first be avoided, then minimised, before considering the use of offsets for any remaining impact”. The Act directly supports this principle (see section 346A of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009 and section 210(3) of the Environmental Protection Act 1994). Section 346A of the Sustainable Planning Act 2009relevantly provides that an environmental offset condition can only be imposed if the concurrence agency or assessment manager is satisfied that the applicant has demonstrated that all cost-effective on-site mitigation measures for the development have been, or will be, undertaken.

Current offset policies

The Offsets Policy specifies that offsets should only be required as a condition of approval where there is a specific-issue offsets policy. The current specific issues offsets policies include:

• Vegetation management offsets;
• Marine fish habitat offsets; and
• Koala habitat offers,

however, a biodiversity offsets policy is under development.

Offset delivery options

An applicant (who requires an offset) has a number of offset delivery options identified by the relevant specific-issue offsets policy. These may include to:

• enter into an offset agreement (before approval is granted);
• provide a guarantee and/or financial assurance; or
• provide a financial contribution to an offset fund (the contribution must cover the full costs of locating, securing and managing the relevant offset).

Summary

The Act is intended to strengthen the Offsets Policy and support the existing practice of imposing environmental offsets upon development approvals.

Contact Details

Brian Healey
Partner
T: +61 (0)7 3135 0682
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Kirsty Rourke
Lawyer
T: +61 (0)7 3135 0648
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