❓ Ms. Mitchell asks about the benefits of the new online system for lodging annual environmental reports for mining companies. The Minister responds by highlighting increased transparency, reduced administrative burden for both companies and the department, and streamlined processes.
AnsweredQoN 303Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ENVIRONMENTAL
REPORTS — ONLINE LODGEMENT
303. Ms A.R. MITCHELL to the Minister for Mines and
Petroleum:
Can the minister please explain to
the house the benefits of the new system of lodging annual environmental
reports online?
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members, this is question time, not interjection time. Can the
member please read her question out again.
Ms
A.R. MITCHELL : Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Can the minister please explain to
the house the benefits of the new system of lodging annual environmental
reports online?
REPORTS — ONLINE LODGEMENT
303. Ms A.R. MITCHELL to the Minister for Mines and
Petroleum:
Can the minister please explain to
the house the benefits of the new system of lodging annual environmental
reports online?
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members, this is question time, not interjection time. Can the
member please read her question out again.
Ms
A.R. MITCHELL : Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Can the minister please explain to
the house the benefits of the new system of lodging annual environmental
reports online?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kingsley for
her question. For some time, mining companies have been required to lodge
annual environmental reports, and since 2012 they have been able to lodge them
online. As of 1 July this year, it will be compulsory for all annual
environmental reports to be lodged online.
Mr
C.J. Tallentire : Do you have the staff to read them? Who is going to read
them?
Mr
W.R. MARMION : Does the member want me to spend 10 minutes answering this
question?
One of the important commitments
that this government has to streamlining our approvals process and our
compliance system is to make sure that we reduce our administration burden, and
our online system is one of the components that we are using to address this.
Indeed, the online system—which I had the opportunity to look at last
week and go through myself—is one of the best initiatives that I have
seen for a government department. The online system means that the system is
transparent. Indeed, the member for Gosnells can go online—he would not
have been able to do this in past years—and find out all about every
single mine in Western Australia and where those mines are at in terms of the
lodgement of all their environmental processes. Indeed, some of the information
that the member can get from that online system is project history, and a
status report on the disturbance of the ground. It even has the amount of the
bond. In fact, I have an example here of a very good project, the Wiluna West
iron project run by Golden West Resources, which has a number of tenements. All this information
is available online. A map shows all the tenements that it has , and an aerial
map shows the exact disturbance. It tells us what bond the company has paid. If
I can find it quickly, the current total bond for this mining site is $877 000,
which is quite considerable. It then has, for every single tenement, a table
that shows how many hectares have been disturbed.
What are the benefits of this to mining companies? One of the
great benefits straightaway is the lodgement. Previously, mining companies had
to write a full report. Now, they have a self-generated report, with fields,
and they just have to put in the information the Department of Minerals and
Petroleum requires. The other really good thing about this form is that it does
not have to be completed in one go; if they get disturbed, they can save it and
continue the next day. Another really good thing is once they have lodged the
report the first time, the following year, if they have done very little
disturbance, they can carry forward all the fields and just fill in the tables
of the particular columns that apply. That means that the following year, the
form will take only five minutes to fill in. The other thing is that the form makes
sure that mining companies supply only the information the department requires.
Of course, this cuts down the administrative costs, not only of the mining
companies, but also of the Department of Minerals and Petroleum, because it no
longer has to plough through paper reports to find the information it requires;
it is all in the right heading, and with the right amount.
This is a very, very important reform and a very important
part of my and the government's initiative to streamline the process of
approvals and streamline the compliance.
her question. For some time, mining companies have been required to lodge
annual environmental reports, and since 2012 they have been able to lodge them
online. As of 1 July this year, it will be compulsory for all annual
environmental reports to be lodged online.
Mr
C.J. Tallentire : Do you have the staff to read them? Who is going to read
them?
Mr
W.R. MARMION : Does the member want me to spend 10 minutes answering this
question?
One of the important commitments
that this government has to streamlining our approvals process and our
compliance system is to make sure that we reduce our administration burden, and
our online system is one of the components that we are using to address this.
Indeed, the online system—which I had the opportunity to look at last
week and go through myself—is one of the best initiatives that I have
seen for a government department. The online system means that the system is
transparent. Indeed, the member for Gosnells can go online—he would not
have been able to do this in past years—and find out all about every
single mine in Western Australia and where those mines are at in terms of the
lodgement of all their environmental processes. Indeed, some of the information
that the member can get from that online system is project history, and a
status report on the disturbance of the ground. It even has the amount of the
bond. In fact, I have an example here of a very good project, the Wiluna West
iron project run by Golden West Resources, which has a number of tenements. All this information
is available online. A map shows all the tenements that it has , and an aerial
map shows the exact disturbance. It tells us what bond the company has paid. If
I can find it quickly, the current total bond for this mining site is $877 000,
which is quite considerable. It then has, for every single tenement, a table
that shows how many hectares have been disturbed.
What are the benefits of this to mining companies? One of the
great benefits straightaway is the lodgement. Previously, mining companies had
to write a full report. Now, they have a self-generated report, with fields,
and they just have to put in the information the Department of Minerals and
Petroleum requires. The other really good thing about this form is that it does
not have to be completed in one go; if they get disturbed, they can save it and
continue the next day. Another really good thing is once they have lodged the
report the first time, the following year, if they have done very little
disturbance, they can carry forward all the fields and just fill in the tables
of the particular columns that apply. That means that the following year, the
form will take only five minutes to fill in. The other thing is that the form makes
sure that mining companies supply only the information the department requires.
Of course, this cuts down the administrative costs, not only of the mining
companies, but also of the Department of Minerals and Petroleum, because it no
longer has to plough through paper reports to find the information it requires;
it is all in the right heading, and with the right amount.
This is a very, very important reform and a very important
part of my and the government's initiative to streamline the process of
approvals and streamline the compliance.
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