Environmental Protection Authority and Office of the EPA Annual
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annual2011-12 report Environmental Protection Authority and Office of the Environmental Protection Authority Acknowledgments This report was prepared by the Business Operations Division, Office of the Environmental Protection Authority. For more information contact: Office of the Environmental Protection Authority Level 8 The Atrium 168 St Georges Terrace Perth WA 6000 Locked Bag 33, Cloisters Square, Perth, Western Australia 6850 Telephone 08 6467 5600 Facsimile 08 6467 5562 Recommended reference The recommended reference for this publication is: Environmental Protection Authority and Office of the Environmental Protection Authority 2011–2012 Annual Report, Office of the Environmental Protection Authority, 2012. This annual report is available in alternate formats on request. 24 September 2012 Letter to the Minister Hon Bill Marmion MLA Minister for Environment In accordance with s21 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 and s63 of the Financial Management Act 2006, we submit for presentation to Parliament the combined Annual Reports of the Environmental Protection Authority and the Office of the Environmental Protection Authority for the year ended 30 June 2012. This report has been prepared in accordance with the Financial Management Act 2006. Dr Paul Vogel Kim Taylor Chairman General Manager 24 September 2012 24 September 2012 About this annual report The Office of the Environmental Protection Authority (OEPA) is a Department of State and is required to publish an Annual Report under s63 of the Financial Management Act 2006. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is an independent statutory authority established under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act). Under s21 of the EP Act the EPA has a separate obligation to provide an Annual Report to the Minister. Much of the work of the OEPA services the EPA in undertaking its statutory functions. As such, much of the information required for each entity’s annual report is common. This combined annual report is provided to meet both statutory obligations, with distinctions drawn between the EPA and OEPA where appropriate. 1 Contents Letter to the Minister 1 Waste to Energy 25 Contents 3 Environmental Protection (South West Agriculture Zone 26 Wetlands) Policy 1998 PART 1 - Executive summary and significant issues 7 Environmental Protection (Western Swamp 26 Message from the Chairman 9 Tortoise Habitat) Policy 2011 General Manager’s overview 13 Hydraulic Fracturing of Gas Reserves – Environmental 27 Protection Bulletin 15 PART 2 - Relationship between the EPA and OEPA and 15 Minor or Preliminary Works and Investigation 27 legislative framework Works – Environmental Protection Bulletin 16 Relationship between the EPA and OEPA 16 Strategic and Derived Proposals – Environmental 28 Protection Bulletin 17 Legislative framework and specific responsibilities under 16 the Environmental Protection Act 1986 Sea Level Rise – Environmental Protection Bulletin 18 28 Subsidiary legislation 17 Enhance the value placed by the community on the 29 environment Changes and updates during 2011—12 17 Public reports and recommendations 29 PART 3 - Environmental Protection Authority 19 Community engagement 29 Attendance at meetings 21 Stakeholder Reference Group 29 EPA Strategic Plan 21 Site visits 29 Provide early strategic advice and guidance 22 EPA website and newsletter 30 Policy, guidelines and strategic advice 22 Reform business practices to improve certainty, 30 Environmental Assessment Guideline for Marine rigour and timeliness Dredging Proposals (EAG 7) 22 Reform initiatives in 2011—2012 30 Environmental Protection Bulletin 14 - Guidance 23 for the assessment of benthic primary producer Outcome of consultation on conditions 30 habitat loss in and around Port Hedland Defining the Key Characteristics of a Proposal – 31 Fortescue Marsh strategic guidance 23 Environmental Assessment Guideline 1 Strategic Assessment of the Perth-Peel Region and 24 Changes to Proposals after Assessment – 31 development of EPA Strategic Advice Environmental Assessment Guideline 2 Shared Environmental Assessment Knowledge (SEAK) 32 Subterranean fauna 24 Project State Environmental (Cockburn Sound) Policy 2005 25 3 Bilateral Agreement between the Commonwealth of 32 Post approval assessment 55 Australia and the State of Western Australia relating to Policy development and strategic planning 56 Environmental Impact Assessment Greenhouse Gas Conditions 56 PART 4 - Office of the Environmental Protection Authority 35 Marine Technical Report No.4: Petroleum hydrocarbon 56 Organisational structure 37 content of shoreline sediment and intertidal biota at Assessment and Compliance Division 37 selected sites in the Kimberley bioregion, Western Australia Strategic Policy and Planning Division 37 Background water quality in the Kimberley region 56 Business Operations Division 38 Dredging Science Node – Western Australian 57 Strategic Support Division 38 Marine Science Institution Performance management framework 38 Introduced Marine Pests 57 Performance analysis and trends 39 Reform initiatives 58 Resource agreement 39 Aboriginal heritage 58 Financial targets 39 OEPA Key Performance Indicators 58 Key Performance Indicators 39 Environmental Compliance Audits 59 Environmental Impact Assessment and Policies 40 Overview 59 Overview 40 Compliance and audit activity 59 Mining and industrial 41 PART 5 - Disclosures and legal compliance 63 Iron ore 42 Financial Statements 67 Uranium 44 Certification of Financial Statements 67 Key Performance Indicators 107 Oil and gas 45 Certification of Key Performance Indicators 107 Coal 46 Other disclosures 115 Other 47 Ministerial directives 115 Planning and infrastructure 49 Other financial disclosures (TI 903) 115 Planning 49 Pricing Policies of Services Provided 115 Infrastructure 51 Other 55 4 Governance disclosures (TI 903) 115 Contracts with senior officers 115 Other legal requirements 115 Expenditure on advertising, market research, polling 115 and direct mail Disability Access and inclusion plan outcomes 116 (Disability Services Act 1993, s29 and Schedule 3 of the Disability Services Regulations 2004) Equal Employment Opportunity and Diversity 116 Management Outcomes Compliance with Public Sector Standards and 116 Ethic Codes Recordkeeping Plans 116 Government Policy Requirements 118 Occupational Safety, Health and Injury Management 118 (Public Sector Commissioner’s Circular 2009-11: Code of Practice: Occupational Safety and Health in the Western Australian Public Sector) Harmonised OSH laws – Work Health and Safety 119 legislation Appendix 1 - Public reports and recommendations to the 122 Minister for Environment Appendix 2 - Section 45C approved changes to proposals 125 Appendix 3 - Other publications 131 Appendix 4 - Acronyms 132 5 6 Executive summary and significant issues 7 PART 1 PART 408 referrals Public advice given on 120 referrals 38 reports released 5 assessment reports released under a Commonwealth bilateral agreement 27 meetings of the EPA 55 compliance audits completed 15 changes to conditions approved 80% of assessments met agreed initial timelines First uranium assessment 45 changes to proposals approved Accuracy of predicting environmental impacts 100% Average cost per environmental compliance audit $27,594 87% of audited projects met all environmental conditions 80 Environmental Management Plans approved Average cost per policy development $120,693 Average cost per assessment $40,688 Message from the Chairman Western Australia is a state like no Economic conditions in the mining and development other. industry this past year have once again driven the number of referrals to the EPA. Home to 2.3 million people, 85 per cent of whom live in the In 2011—12, the EPA received 408 referrals, approved 45 south-west corner of the State, changes to proposals and 80 Environmental Management Western Australia is Australia’s Plans and released 38 reports. largest state and the second largest subnational entity in the world. Many of these reports generated high public interest, including the report and recommendation into Toro Energy’s By virtue of our State’s size, proposal to establish Western Australia’s first uranium mine. geology, varied climate and relative isolation, we have a vast array of Other major assessment reports included BHP Billiton’s fauna and flora, some of which exist Port Hedland Outer Harbour project, a multi-user iron nowhere else in the world. ore export facility at Port Hedland, expansion of iron ore operations at Jack Hills and Cloudbreak and new iron ore Indeed the south-west of Western Australia is one of the mine proposals in the Yilgarn and West Pilbara. world’s 34 biodiversity ‘hotspots’, with some of the richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life on Each of these projects had numerous environmental impacts Earth. on vegetation, flora, fauna, wetlands, groundwater, the marine environment, heritage and air quality. Offering a glimpse into the scale and complexity of the State’s biodiversity are the interesting facts that there are As the State’s environmental watchdog - as we are often more plant species in Fitzgerald River National Park than referred to - our role is to not only identify and assess each in the entire United Kingdom and more marine biodiversity potential environmental impact associated with a particular documented in Western Australia’s North West Shelf than in development but to also understand the cumulative summary issues and significant Executive any other region in the world. environmental impacts