New Environmental Approvals Cropping in GBR Catchments
Are you a farmer or landholder that is wanting to get into cropping or increase your current crop area? If so, please continue reading as these new state government regulations may apply to you.
From 1 June 2021 farms that undertake commercial cropping within the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment will be considered Environmentally Relevant Activities due to their potential to release contaminants into the environment that may cause environmental harm. As a result, from this date all new and expanding commercial crop or horticulture activities within GBR catchments on 5 hectares (12.36 acres) of land that does not have a history of cropping will require an Environmental Authority (EA) permit before the activity can take place. These new regulations are being put in place to ensure that new cropping and horticulture activities do not worsen the current GBR water quality problem.
Environmental Authority Application
These applications only apply to cropping activities starting after 1 June 2021, and cropping history is defined as when the land has not been used for cropping or horticulture during three of the last ten years.
When your permit is approved, you will be provided with an EA permit that will contain conditions you will be required to abide by to prevent impacts to water quality in the GBR Catchment. These conditions mainly revolve around the implementation and maintenance of measures and/or structures that will minimise fine sediment, irrigation water and dissolved inorganic nitrogen entering your creeks/rivers.
Approval Types
There will be three different application types when applying:
STANDARD: When your activity complies with the eligibility criteria.
VARIATION: When the standard eligibility criteria are met but one or more of the standard conditions requires a variation to suit your operational needs.
SITE_SPECIFIC: When you do not meet one or more of the eligibility criteria such as farming on more than 100hectares.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility criteria includes:
You are undertaking the cropping on no more than 100 hectares (and over five hectares) in a river basin.
OR
You are relocating your banana farm to new land due to a Notice of presence of Panama disease tropical race 4.
Require Assistance?
If you require assistance with your application, whether it’s to complete your application on your behalf, provide advice on the environmental values that may be impacted by your proposed activity (required in the application), accompany you to pre-lodgement meetings with DES when discussing your application, or provide advice on how you can minimise your impacts and meet the standard conditions (customised to your activity and land profiles) please get in touch with Emily for a free quote. Contact details are 0455 443 654 or emily@trendenvironmental.com.au
Further Information
-
There is an application guide that will tell you all you need to know about the permit, including whether your new cropping activity will require a permit, the application process and the conditions likely to be provided in your approved EA permit. The application guide can be found here.
-
A standard conditions guide has also been provided by the Department (DES) explaining the types of measures and structures that you can use to meet the standard conditions. These include things like set back areas from waterways, diversion drains, sediment traps, erosion and sediment control structures etc. The Standard conditions guide can be found here.
-
Frequently asked questions can be found here.
-
🍌 Once approved, any amendments to your activity in the future that results in you not being able to meet the conditions set out in your EA permit will require an amendment application.
🍌 You must first be considered a ‘registered suitable operator’ to carry out an ERA. This is a separate application form that will need to be completed and approved by DES before you can submit an EA permit application.
🍌 There are fees associated with the application process. These are $677 for standard applications and $888 for variation and site-specific applications. Applications can be approved in as little as 20 business days if the application is properly made.
🍌 A standard application cannot be refused by DES. They may require more information, or require more measures to reduce impacts be put in place but your application will not be refused.