Consultation: Legacy Mines Remediation Draft Bill

Contributions to this consultation are closed for evaluation and review.

Background

The Northern Territory (NT) 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Mining Management Act 2001 which is currently administered by the Department of Industry Tourism and Trade (DITT) be repealed and the responsibility for the environmental regulation of mining be transferred to the EP Act.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 draft legislation for comment. The Environment Protection Legislation Amendment (Mining) Bill 2023 can be accessed by visiting the Environmental Reform page on the Have Your Say website.

The management and remediation of legacy mines will continue to be undertaken by DITT.

Draft Legacy Mines Remediation Bill 2023

DITT has released the draft Legacy Mines Remediation Bill 2023 (the draft Bill) for public consultation, together with supporting documents:

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.

Consultation feedback

On 17 August 2023 the Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade (DITT) released the draft Legacy Mine Remediation Bill 2023 to contemporise the way legacy mines and legacy mine features are managed in the Territory.

Consultation closed on 18 September 2023

A Feedback Summary Report PDF (820.5 KB) has been prepared in response to the issues raised during the stakeholder consultation.

The following submissions were received during the consultation period:

  1. R. Yee PDF (148.1 KB)
  2. Geoparks WA PDF (262.9 KB)
  3. Submission withheld
  4. Submission withheld
  5. Submission withheld
  6. Environmental Defenders Office 1 PDF (419.7 KB) *
  7. Environmental Defenders Office 2 PDF (259.2 KB)*
  8. Publish what you pay PDF (126.4 KB)
  9. Northern Land Council and Central Land Council PDF (542.4 KB)
  10. Submission withheld
  11. Wilderness Society PDF (132.7 KB)
  12. Newmont Mining Services Pty Ltd PDF (321.8 KB)
  13. Association of Mining and Exploration Companies PDF (103.3 KB)
  14. Minerals Council of Australia Northern Territory PDF (360.6 KB)
  15. Extractives Industry Northern Territory PDF (222.3 KB)
  16. Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association Inc PDF (1.3 MB)

*These submissions should be read together.

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