Petroleum and the Environment

The Department of Industry and Resources' Petroleum Environment Duty Inspector may be contacted on the following phone number:

0419 960 621

The Duty Inspector is available twenty four hours a day to take calls relating to oil spills and other reportable incidents from petroleum activities operating under State and Commonwealth petroleum legislation.

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Current petroleum proposals are available below:

Current Petroleum Proposals (last updated 28 July 2008)

This document contains the following information:

• Name of proponent
• Petroleum proposal
• Type of supporting environmental documentation
• Location
• Date submitted
• Environmental assessment status

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Environmental incidents and spills at petroleum sites must be reported to the Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR), as per requirements of Regulation 26 of the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Environment) Regulations 1999 (Cwlth) and Section 290 of the Schedule of Onshore Petroleum Exploration and Production Requirements 1991. The documents listed on the right of this page will help you determine if you need to report an incident or spill.

The information is entered into a DoIR database, and is used to identify trends and to focus investigations.

An Incident Response Form is available below and may be used to report accidents and incidents. Completed forms may be faxed or posted to DoIR. The contact details are as follows:

Duty Inspector, Environment Division
Department of Industry and Resources
100 Plain Street
EAST PERTH WA 6004

Environment Division Duty Inspector: Mobile 0419 960 621
Fax: +61 8 9222 3860

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Petroleum legislation is enacted to provide legislative and regulatory requirements for the exploration and extraction of petroleum resources in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. An approved petroleum operation must comply with all relevant legislation. In Western Australia, the applicable environmental legislation may be State or Commonwealth, depending on the location of the operation.

Information on developing new environmental regulations for the Australian offshore petroleum industry is provided in the document links on the right of this page.

Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Environment) Regulations 1999

The Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Environment) Regulations 1999 (Cwlth) are applicable to activities in Commonwealth waters.

The objective of the regulations is to ensure that petroleum activities are carried out in an ecologically sustainable manner, and in accordance with an Environment Plan (EP) that has appropriate risk-based environmental performance objectives and standards, and provides criteria for determining whether the objectives and standards are met. Although the regulations refer to offshore activities in Commonwealth waters, it is anticipated that mirror legislation will be introduced for offshore activities in State waters in the near future.

Under the regulations, proponents must submit an EP in place of the current Environmental Management Plan (EMP) when applying to carry out offshore petroleum activities in Commonwealth waters. Offshore proposals in State waters will require a similar EP when mirror legislation is introduced. The provision of comprehensive information about a proposal in an EP, of an appropriate scope and level of detail, will facilitate the environmental assessment and approval process for petroleum activities.

The requirements of an EP include all of the elements of an EMP, with additional sections such as corporate policy that are features of an EMS. The differences between an EP and an Environmental Management System (EMS) relate to the scope of the documents. An EMS is typically an organisation-wide document that provides a perspective on all of an organisation’s activities, from broad level policy to specific operational tasks, outlined in environmental management procedures. In contrast, the EP is an activity-specific document that provides details on the specifics of the proposal, such as the location, receiving environment and operational details, in addition to information on the organisation’s corporate policy and environmental objectives. The EP includes an Implementation Strategy (IS) that provides the operational systems, practices and procedures to ensure that the environmental effects and risks are reduced as low as reasonably practicable, and the environmental performance objectives and standards are met.

Grouping of multiple activities under a single EP may be acceptable under circumstances where:

• The activities are carried out by the same proponent
• The activities are located within the same geographical area with similar environmental values and significance
• The activities are of the same nature

The individual and cumulative environmental effects arising from grouped activities should be addressed in the EP. The P(SL)A (Management of Environment) Regulations 1999 (Cwlth) are available from the Australian Legal Information Institute.

Commonwealth Jurisdiction

The principal Acts governing petroleum activities under Commonwealth jurisdiction are provided below.  Where possible direct links to the Australian Legal Information Institute (ALII) are provided. ALII provides free Internet access to Australian legal material.

• Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) - also known as EPBC Act 1999 (Cwth)
• Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 (Cwlth)
• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 (Cwth) - also known as P(SL)A 1967 (Cwlth)
• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) (Management of Environment) Regulations 1999 (Cwlth)
• P(SL) Acts Schedule Specific Requirements as to Offshore Petroleum Exploration and Production 1995 (Cwlth)(regulates both State and Commonwealth activities)

The principal international agreement governing petroleum activities in both State and Commonwealth waters is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982.  A copy is available from The Fletcher School.

The Offshore Constitutional Settlement (OCS) has resulted in the formation of a Joint Authority (JA) between the Commonwealth Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources and the Western Australian Minister for State Development. The respective departments, the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources and the Western Australia's Department of Industry and Resources, administer offshore exploration and production activities. The formation of the Joint Authority between the State and Commonwealth facilitates the assessment of petroleum proposals in a similar manner to administrative arrangements between State departments.

The State and Commonwealth have produced the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Acts Schedule Specific Requirements as to Offshore Petroleum Exploration and Production 1995 (Cwlth), so offshore activities are effectively regulated under the same Act, irrespective of whether they are located in State or Commonwealth waters.
Other Commonwealth legislation and international agreements, designed to protect the environment, complement the petroleum Acts. For example, petroleum activities under Commonwealth jurisdiction, may be assessed under the EPBC Act 1999 (Cwlth).

State Jurisdiction

The principal Acts governing petroleum activities under State jurisdiction are provided below.

Where possible, direct links to the Australian Legal Information Institute (ALII) are provided. ALII provides free Internet access to Australian legal materials.

• Acts Amendments (Marine Reserves) Bill 1997 (WA) (available on the Parliament of Western Australia's website)
• Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 (Cwlth)
• Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA)
• Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth)
• Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA)
• Petroleum Act 1967 (WA)
• Petroleum Act 1967 (WA) Schedule of Onshore Petroleum Exploration and Production Requirements 1991
• Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969 (WA)
• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 (WA); also known as P(SL)A 1982
• P(SL) Acts Schedule Specific Requirements as to Offshore Petroleum Exploration and Production 1995 (WA)(regulates both State and Commonwealth activities)
• Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (WA)

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) (EPBC Act 1999) represents a fundamental reform of existing Commonwealth environment laws. The Act focuses on environmental matters of national significance, streamlines the Commonwealth environmental assessment and approval process, and provides an integrated system for biodiversity conservation and management of important protected areas.

Matters of national environmental significance that trigger the assessment of a proposal under the EPBC Act 1999 (Cwlth) are:

• Declared World Heritage property
• Wetlands of international importance
• Listed threatened species and communities
• Listed migratory species
• Protection of the environment from nuclear actions
• Commonwealth marine areas
• Activities involving Commonwealth land

Under the Act, a proposal may be referred to the Commonwealth Environment Minister by either a Commonwealth or State agency, or by the proponent. The Commonwealth Environment Minister may also request that the proposal be referred.

The Commonwealth Environment Minister must provide advice to the proponent within 20 business days of receiving the proposal on whether the proposal requires approval under the Act.

Assessment of proposals may be carried out by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), or can be delegated to the Designated Authority (DA) under bilateral agreements, where the State assessment processes are accited to perform this function on the behalf of DEWHA.

Similarly, assessment may be carried out by a Commonwealth agency accited to perform this function under a Ministerial declaration. Approval for the proposal, however, will be required from the Commonwealth Environment Minister.

The EPBC Act 1999 (Cwlth) is available from the Australian Legal Information Institute.  An overview of the Act is available from DEWHA. A flowchart of the EPBC Act 1999 (Cwlth) assessment and approval processes is available from the document links on the right of this page.

Enforcement and Prosecution Policy

The Enforcement and Prosecution Policy applies to those Acts and Regulations administered by the Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR) that relate to the mining and petroleum sectors, including royalties, environmental and resource management, and tenement and title obligations. These statutes include:

• Mining Act 1978 (WA)
• Petroleum Act 1967 (WA)
• Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969 (WA)
• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1967 (Cwlth)
• Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1982 (WA)
• State Agreement Acts (as applicable)

The primary focus of much of the legislation administered by DoIR is to ensure resources development in Western Australia is carried out in a way that is safe for employees and the public, and protects the natural environment.

The legislation provides a range of enforcement and prosecution measures to help achieve this. When required, enforcement or prosecution action is taken in the public interest to protect people and the environment.

A copy of the policy is available from the document links on the right of this page.

Amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1986 - Requirements for Clearing Permits involving Native Vegetation

The Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) now provides for the protection of native vegetation and control of clearing. This came into force on 8 July 2004. Any clearing of native vegetation will require a permit under Part V of the Act except where exemptions are granted under Schedule 6 of the Act or prescribed by regulation in the Environmental Protection (Clearing of Native Vegetation) Regulations 2004 (WA). This repeals the notice of intention to clear land provision (clearing controls) in the Soil and Land Conservation Act 1945 (WA).

For the mineral and petroleum industries, applications for any clearing associated with their exploration, production or development activities will require a permit in all cases except where granted an exemption.

For further information on clearing of native vegetation for mineral and petroleum activities, see Clearing of Native Vegetation.

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