Appendix B1 - Matter-specific Standard for Protection of Water Resources from Coal Seam Gas Development and Large Coal Mining Development

The Australian Government listed the ‘water trigger’ as a matter of national environmental significance in 2013, in response to community concerns regarding the impacts of coal seam gas and coal mining on water resources such as groundwaters, rivers, wetlands and springs.

The Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC) was established to provide independent scientific advice to the Australian Government Environment Minister and relevant state ministers on the potential water-related impacts of proposed coal seam gas or large coal mining developments, and to provide greater transparency in the regulatory process.

This Standard should be applied in conjunction with the Overarching MNES Standard, relevant matter-specific Standards and other National Environmental Standards.

Definitions

Best available information: is the most comprehensive information possible, based on and including all the available data, to enable the Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development (IESC) to provide robust scientific advice to government regulators on the water-related impacts of coal seam gas and large coal mining development proposals. See Information guidelines for proponents preparing coal seam gas and large coal mining development proposals (2018) for further explanation of the IESC’s information requirements.

Coal seam gas or large coal mining developments: as defined in section 528 of the EPBC Act

Cumulative impacts: the collective impacts from all actions, decisions, plans, policies and other pressures, measured against a stipulated baseline. See Significant Impact Guidelines 1.2 (2013), Significant Impact Guidelines 1.3 (2013) and Reef 2050 Plan: Cumulative Impact Management Policy (2018) for further explanation of the concept of cumulative impacts.

Ecosystem services: The benefits and services obtained from water resources. These include:

• provisioning services (e.g. use by other industries and use as drinking water)
• regulating services (such as the climate regulation or the stabilisation of coastal systems)
• cultural services (including recreation and tourism, science and education); and
• supporting services (e.g. maintenance of ecosystem function).

Offset: measures that may be used once it has been demonstrated that all reasonable steps have been taken to avoid and minimise impacts, that are provided to compensate, repair or replace an impacted value, including changes to the integrity, quality, condition and/or extent of habitat. Offsets must be consistent with the EPBC Act Environmental Offsets Policy (2012, as updated from time to time), or an accredited policy relating to offsets of a state or territory. Offsets must be achievable and ecologically feasible:

• An offset is achievable where demonstrated scientific knowledge exists on how to restore the habitat with a high confidence of success, and its long-term protection is assured (for example through conservation covenants or conservation agreements), and
• An offset is ecologically feasible where it can be demonstrated that the species or community can be reliably restored in a timeframe proportionate to effectively address the impact of the action and enough space exists to undertake restoration (not ecologically or tenure constrained).

Water resource(s) (as defined by the Water Act 2007) means:

1. surface water or ground water; or
2. a watercourse, lake, wetland or aquifer (whether or not it currently has water in it); and,
3. includes all aspects of the water resource (including water, organisms and other components and ecosystems that contribute to the physical state and environmental value of the water resource)

Uncertainty: the state, even partial, of deficiency of information related to the understanding or knowledge of an event, its consequence, or its likelihood.