Select Committee on Wind Turbines Submission 208 - Attachment 1 [Reference No] Ms.Ann Gardner By email to: Dear Ms Gardner, Thank you for your email to the Chair of the Clean Energy Regulator, dated 18 November 2014, making a formal complaint about noise and vibration from the Macarthur Wind Farm. The matters raised by you are more appropriately addressed to the Victorian Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure (formerly known as the Victorian Department of Planning and Community Development). They are not matters that fall within the powers of the Clean Energy Regulator (the Regulator) under the various Commonwealth legislation administered by the Regulator. The Clean Energy Regulator is an economic regulator. With respect to the Renewable Energy Target, the Regulator regulates both the supply of certificates (by ensuring the integrity of their creation by renewable power stations) and the demand and surrender of those certificates (by ensuring liable electricity retailers surrender the correct number of certificates). The Clean Energy Regulator is only empowered to administer relevant Commonwealth laws (eg to ensure that a wind farm operator complies with its responsibilities under relevant Commonwealth legislation that the Regulator administers). It cannot interfere in state-based activities. If a wind farm is not complying with State/Territory laws (eg as to planning requirements and noise control etc), it is a matter for the relevant State/Territory a.uthority to address. The Macarthur Wind Farm is an accredited power station under the Renewable Energy (Electricity} Act 2000 (the Act) and the Renewable Energy (Electricif:W Regulations 2001 (the Regulations). Once an eligible power station has been accredited, it remains accredited unless the Regulator decides to suspend the accreditation under Division 11 of Part 2 of the Act {being sections 30D and 30E and the circumstances prescribed for the purposes of subsection 30E(5) in regulation 20D of the Regulations). One of the grounds for suspension is "if the Regulator believes on reasonable grounds that the power station~ being operated in contravention of a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory" (subsection 30E(3)). '.' GPO Box 621 C.nberra ACT 2601 1300 S53 S42 enguiries@dea nene rgyre gu !a tor. gov. au wv..,rw. dea nene rgyreg ula tor. gov .au Select Committee on Wind Turbines Submission 208 - Attachment 1 To date, we have not had reasonable grounds to believe the Macarthur Wind Farm is being operated in contravention of Commonwealth, State or Territory laws. At the time of writing this letter, there has been no finding or judgment from any court or tribunal to the effect that the Macarthur Wind Farm is being operated in contravention of a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory. The Victorian Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure is the relevant authority for investigating allegations of non-compliance with that State's planning permits and laws. Neither that Department, nor the Victorian Minister for Planning, has to date determined that the Macarthur Wind Farm is being operated in contravention of Victorian law. I also note that the Moyne Shire Council at its meeting on 28 October 2014 determined that the Macarthur Wind Farm "is not currently causing a nuisance of the type governed by Part 6 Division 1 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 (Vic)". It is not the role of the Clean Energy Regulator to stand in the shoes of the relevant state body and decide that a wind farm is being operated in contravention of a state law. Rather, we rely on the advice of the relevant state regulator. On 3 December 2014, the Victorian Department advised us that the Macarthur Wind Farm is compliant with Victorian law. However, should you have evidence that the wind farm is not being operated in compliance with Victorian law, you should provide that evidence to the Department, whose role it is to monitor and investigate allegations of non­ compliance with Victorian law. Alternatively, you could provide the evidence to the Moyne Shire Council, which is responsible for noise control in Macarthur. Should the Regulator receive creditable evidence that the Macarthur Wind Farm is being operated in contravention of Commonwealth or Victorian law, particularly where that evidence were to be supplied to the Regulator by the relevant state authority, the Regulator would consider suspending the accreditation of the wind farm under subsection 30E(3) of the Act. The Regulator would afford procedural fairness to the operator of the wind farm, by putting that evidence to the operator and allowing a reasonable opportunity for the operator to make a submission as to why the accreditation should not be suspended, before making a decision to suspend. The Regulator would also advise the operator of the internal review and external appeal rights available to it, should the Regulator make a decision to suspend the accreditation of the wind farm. You may wish to note that, should the Regulator exercisto its discretion to suspend the accreditation of a power station, the suspension does not prevent the power station from operating. It simply stops the power station from receiving a benefit, ie from creating large-scale Generation Certificates (lGCs) during the period of suspension. The Regulator does not have the power to stop the power station from operating. fllfl1!irie s@dea ne ne rgyregu Ia tor, gov .au \vww.deanenergyregu!ator,gov,au L . ·~;O Box 621 Canberra ACT 2601 1300 553 542 2. Select Committee on Wind Turbines Submission 208 - Attachment 1 E We have closed our file on your complaint, but thank you for raising your concerns with us. Yours sincerely, Mark Williamson Executive General Manager Renewables and Carbon Farming Division Cle.an Energy Regulator December 2014 • GPO Box 621 Canberra ACT 2601 1300 5S3 542 wwvJ.deanenergyregulator.gov.au 3 Select Committee on Wind Turbines Submission 208 - Attachment 1 Australian Government "' National Health and Medical Research Council GPO Box 1421 i Canberra ACT 2601 16 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra City ACT 2600 T 13 000 NHMRC n3 000 64672) or +61 2 6217 9000 F. +-61262179100 E. [email protected] A8N 88601010284 wvvvv,nhmrc.gov.au Ms Ann Gardner Dear Ms Gardner I refer to your correspondence of 11 November 2013 to Professor Warwick Anderson, Chief Executive Officer of · NHMRC, and myself, regarding your concerns about the health effects of wind farms. Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to you. l have discussed your concerns with the CEO and he has asked me to respond on his behalf. Update on NHMRC's review As outlined in NHMRC's previous correspondence to you of 1 August 2013, we have commissioned an independent review of the scientific literature examining the possible impacts of wind farms on human health. NHMRC's Wind Farms and Human Health Reference Group (the Reference Group) has provided technical expertise on the conduct of the review and interpretation of the evidence. Following the completion of the review, the Reference Group has spent some time drafting a comprehensive Information Paper which provides a plain language summary of the review processes and findings. A draft NHMRC Position Statement has also been prepared which, when finalised, will replace the 2010 Public Statement on Wind Turbines and Health. The Reference Group has also been advising NHMRC on any priority areas for future research on this important issue. All the work of the Reference Group must be considered by the Council and CEO of NHMRC, prior to the material being approved for release. As you may be aware, the Australian Government has made a commitment to investigating the potential health effects of wind farms, as part the Government's Policy for Energy and Resources which was released in September 2013. I anticipate that the draft NHMRC Position Statement and Information Paper will be released by the CEO for public consultation in early 2014, once briefing of the relevant Ministers and departments with a role in implementing the Government's policy has been finalised. The final evidence review report will be released as a background document at the same time. Progress of NHMRC's work will continue to be updated on our website at: http://www.nhmrc.qov.au/your­ health/wind-farms-and-human-health. You can also be kept up to date on our progress by subscribing to NHMRC's Tracker newsletter at: https:/iwww.nhmrc.qov.au/media/subsctiption-service. Quality assurance processes Please be assured that many quality assurance processes have been implemented at all stages of the review process, to ensure that the advice to be issued by the NHMRC is evidence-based, robust <Jnd meets international standards. To ensure that the review processes have been objective and unbiased, the systematic review has been carried out by independent reviewers (external to NHMRC) and has followed well-establisheq processes for identifying, assessing and collating all the available scientific evidence on the health effects of wind farms. The systematic review report has also undergone methodological review before being finalised, to ensure that the review process has been carried out correctly and that the results are presented in a robust and transparent manner. WORKING TO BUILD A HEALTHY ~\USTl?iALlt\ Select Committee on Wind Turbines Submission 208 - Attachment 1 Further, the new draft Position Statement and Information Paper will be subject to expert review, where Australian and international researchers with relevant expertise will be asked to assess whether the evidence has been appropriately interpreted by NHMRC. The outcomes of the methodological review and expert review processes will be made publically available, along with the professional affiliations and declared interests of the reviewers. In regards to your question about whether Professor Simon Chapmen is involved in NHMRC's current review, I can advise you that he has no involvement.