3 September Navigating the critical path September 3, 2024 By AMPLA Admin Conference 0 Gavin Scott, Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright, Chair of Business Papers Committee ER Law Conference “Critical” is the word of the moment. The energy transition and everything related to it is critical - from the minerals we’re mining to tax policy and export issues. So this year, the ER Law Annual Conference is focusing on what is critical for those working in energy and resources law to know. “Critical” is the word of the moment. The energy transition and everything related to it is critical - from the minerals we’re mining to tax policy and export issues. So this year, the ER Law Annual Conference is focusing on what is critical for those working in energy and resources law to know. We’re at a critical tipping point at so many levels - political, socioeconomic, environmental and technical. While the energy transition is about moving away from fossil fuels, these still have a huge amount of space to play for quite some time. There are also some critical aspects in that space from carbon capture and storage rehabilitation to remediation of mine sites. Then there is renewable energy and the issues that come from building a new industry. All of this points to a quantum leap in the way lawyers engage. Ten years ago you didn’t need to know much about hydrogen, but now you need to know about hydrogen, offshore wind, how to recycle wind turbines and a myriad of other new areas, as well as the traditional areas of energy and resources law. We’ve also seen the momentum shift quickly and we’ve now moved from talking to doing. Previously we planned for new power transmission lines and renewal projects but now we’re spending more time on the ground with project proponents who are ready to build. We’ve also seen governments race each other to be at the forefront of making sure that the power mix in each state moves towards meeting the Paris targets. This has all led to a renewables boom around the country. Globally we’re seeing a move towards energy justice or a just transition. People don’t want to see solar or wind farms being placed just anywhere. If there are communities that don’t have access to cheap and reliable electricity that’s also at the forefront of people’s minds. Having good community engagement stakeholder management practices is critical for the renewable industry as it wants to live side by side with communities. Like coal, gas and mining projects, there’s a very complicated balance of protecting or mitigating impacts on spiritual connection to land and Aboriginal cultural heritage. There’s now a request by First Nations groups, not only here but around the world, who want to be part of the transition. They want it to benefit their community through employment, training and community benefits. Many of the larger renewable companies have this at the centre of their values as well. They want to make sure that they lighten the footprint on First Nations communities. There is also a lot of global money going into renewable projects and those financiers are pushing hard to make sure the social impact is managed. They want to know their funds are making a different to the communities as well. With each resource or energy boom, we build on what went right in the past and what is best practice keeps moving. So we’re now adapting best practices from mining, gas and infrastructure and applying it to energy transition projects. With so much focus on meeting Paris targets and decarbonising the electricity grid there are a lot of projects going on, but the coordination of these is important. That’s where governments are now coming in quite quickly to try to coordinate the development of the new industry. If you look at the life cycle of an energy and resources project, it has so many contact points with legal expertise from real estate, environment and native title to finance, construction and government interests. This industry is about all aspects of law and that makes it a really interesting area to be involved in. We’ve designed this conference to be critical for your career by bringing together the best speakers in Australia and internationally to provide valuable information. You can connect with like-minded people who have a thirst to learn and desire to hone their skills. It’s a good investment in your career and in yourself. If you would like to attend the ER Law Annual Conference you can register here. Related Articles COMMUNITY LEGAL RIGHTS IN MINE CLOSURE PLANNING; A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THREE AUSTRALIAN STATES Professor Alex Gardner, University of Western Australia Law School, and Laura Hamblin, formerly research associate at the UWA Law School, 2021 Why does the Mining Act 1978 (WA) not provide secure legal rights for community consultation in relation to mining lease proposals and mine closure plans? Addressing this question presents an important theme for this comparative review of some core features of the regulatory frameworks for mine closure in three Australian States. It also raises important questions for future legal research. Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria have prominent but vastly different, and thus uniquely significant, mining industries. Western Australia’s mining industry has a long history of large and smaller scale mining of a diverse range of minerals by various methods that pose significant mine rehabilitation challenges.[i] Queensland’s mining industry is similarly large and diverse, dominated by export coal production, and planning future minerals development in a decarbonising world.[ii] Victoria has a smaller mining industry with a large historical legacy dominated by a coal mining industry for domestic electricity generation in the Latrobe Valley, which is closing as the State actively transitions to renewable power sources.[iii] These States also have significant differences in the regulation of their mining industries. What all three States do have in common is the significance of their mining industries to both the State economy and the communities who depend on or live near mining operations. Importantly, all three States are confronting large legal and regulatory challenges in managing mine rehabilitation and closure. The key to addressing these challenges is effective mine closure planning: the closure of a mine site has ripple effects that are not merely environmental and economic, but social and cultural too. The initial approval of a mine closure plan occurs before any mining has begun and, with the life cycle of a mine often spanning decades, regulatory bodies are approving hypothetical closure scenarios, potentially subject to vast changes. Regulatory bodies may then seek to enforce closure requirements enshrined in a plan that may wane in relevance as mining operations progress, the updating of which may depend on the miner. Yet remedying the regulatory system so that it creates adaptable but consistently effective mine closure outcomes for affected communities still begins at planning. Although that planning is an iterative process across the life of the mine, it is very important at the initial stage of approval. Recent legislative reforms in all three States are adding to the regulatory rigour and adaptability of mine closure planning, though there are very different legal requirements for community consultation. This article aims to explain and assess the regulatory reforms by undertaking a comparative analysis of mine closure planning across Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria, with a focus on the initial approval stage and how stakeholders and communities are brought into that process. The facilitation of continuous and comprehensive community engagement is critical to ensuring that mine closure planning accounts for environmental, economic, social, cultural and safety outcomes after mine closure, but it has not been possible to consider here the process of ongoing mine closure planning, especially for amending mine closure plans and determining satisfaction of mine closure plans leading to resource tenure relinquishment.[iv] The article begins by considering core concepts of mine closure planning and the regulatory goals that inform it. It then provides a comparative overview of each State’s mine closure planning requirements under the mineral resources, environmental and land use planning laws and draws out some of the different regulatory structures and processes for mine closure within each State. The third step in our analysis compares the ways in which those laws provide for local communities’ participation in mine closure planning, with specific attention to whether the regulatory provisions create legally enforceable rights for effective community engagement. The article concludes with a summary of the key points from the discussion of three themes in our analysis: (i) the importance of clear definitions of core concepts and key goals, (ii) mine closure planning as an essential part of a mining proposal, and (iii) the legal definition of community engagement and consultation rights. Mine closure planning and implementation is necessarily influenced by many other spheres of law including taxation law, investment law, water law, and the rights of traditional owners, to name a few. A potentially directly relevant Commonwealth law is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth), which may require environmental impact assessment of a mining proposal and closure plan and lead to approval conditions supplementing State requirements.[v] Whilst acknowledging the importance of these adjacent spheres of the regulatory frameworks for effective mine closure planning, this article does not attempt to address their impact. In particular, the rights of Traditional Custodians are a crucial part of mine closure planning that are only briefly noted here and that would benefit from future research. WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, Major Commodities Review 2022-23”. Qld Government, Department of Resources, Queensland Resources Industry Development Plan, June 022. Vic Government, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, Latrobe Valley Regional Rehabilitation Strategy. See L Hamblin, A Gardner, Y Haigh, Mapping the Regulatory Framework of Mine Closure, May 2022, CRC TiME, for a broader exploration of the full life cycle of mine closure regulation. In Buzzacott v Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities [2013] FCAFC 111; (2013) 214 FCR 301, [144], [227]-[230], referring to the range of approval conditions, which included mine closure. In setting conditions under the EPBC Act, the Commonwealth Minister must consider any relevant conditions under State or Territory law: at [80] citing Lansen v Minister for Environment and Heritage (2008) 174 FCR 14. Recent Development: Critical Minerals: Developments Globally and in Australia John Southalan Barrister (WA Bar Association), Mediator (NMAS), Adjunct Professor (UWA & Murdoch) john@southalan.net This note is written in a personal capacity and does not represent the views of any organisation with which the author is associated. This note examines the legal and policy attention being focused on “critical minerals”, and implications for mineral regulation in Australia and particularly Western Australia. The note was written for a 21 February 2024 seminar held by ER Law at the Perth office of Norton Rose Fulbright. The last year has seen great focus on “critical minerals”. There is broad consensus that, to meet the 2050 energy transition for the Paris Agreement, much more critical minerals are required (and that means mined, given that recycling supply cannot meet expected demand [i]). Many governments have adopted incentives to encourage and support the mining and processing of these minerals. And, just in the last few months, significant price volatility has seen some critical mineral operations in Western Australia close, and increasing consideration of government incentives. Navigating the Future: Updates from the US, Japan, and New Zealand As the global energy landscape undergoes rapid transformation, nations around the world continue to redefine their strategies to address climate change, energy security, and economic sustainability. In this article, we delve into the latest updates from three diverse countries: the United States, Japan, and New Zealand. How foreign investment changes may impact the mining and energy sector In early June 2020, the government announced a review of the foreign investment rules, expanding them to apply to all foreign investors in anything deemed a ‘sensitive national security business’. The changes are scheduled to come into effect on 1 January 2021. There are concerns that this will impact foreign investment in the mining and energy sectors, and in particular the critical minerals space. Latest developments in the United States, Canada and New Zealand There continues to be significant developments in the sector across the globe. In this article we highlight some key changes in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. The Federal Budget: A Future Made in Australia On Tuesday May 14, Dr Chalmers delivered the Federal Budget for 2025. A central part of the budget was the Future Made in Australia initiative which committed $22.7 billion over the next decade to attract investment and propel Australia as a renewable energy superpower globally. This is aimed at accelerating investment in priority industries that include critical minerals processing, renewable hydrogen, low carbon liquid fuels, green metals (which include some commodities produced using low-carbon technologies) and the manufacturing of clean energy technologies. Showing 0 Comment Comments are closed.