South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts75—Mining tenements to be referred in certain cases to Minister
(1) In this
section—
"the appropriate Authority" or "the Authority" means the Minister of the Crown
for the time being administering the Mining Acts;
"designated mining matter" means—
(a) an
application for a mining production tenement; or
(b) a
proposed statement of environmental objectives under the
Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Act 2000 .
(2) The appropriate
Authority may refer a designated mining matter to the Minister for advice and,
if the designated mining matter is such that is required by the regulations to
be so referred to the Minister, the appropriate Authority must refer the
designated mining matter to the Minister for advice.
(3) Copies of any
submissions received under the Mining Acts as a result of public consultation
on the designated mining matter must be forwarded to the Minister for the
purposes of subsection (2).
(4) Where, in the
opinion of the Minister or of the appropriate Authority, operations to be
conducted in pursuance of a mining production tenement are of major social,
economic or environmental importance—
(a) the
Minister or the Authority may determine that the operations are to be subject
to the processes and procedures prescribed by Subdivision 1 of Part 4 Division
2 with respect to the preparation of an environmental impact statement or a
public environmental report; and
(b) in
the case of such a determination, that Subdivision will then apply in relation
to the preparation of an environmental impact statement or a public
environmental report, and a related Assessment Report—
(i)
subject to the qualification that any reference under
that Subdivision to the Development Assessment Commission is to have effect as
if it were a reference to the Minister or the Authority, depending on who has
made the determination, but the statement or report will cover matters
determined by the Minister after consultation with the Authority; and
(ii)
subject to any other modifications as may be prescribed
by the regulations.
(4a) However—
(a) the
Minister may only exercise the powers conferred on the Development
Assessment Commission under this Act in relation to public environmental
reports if the Minister considers that the outcome of the environment impact
assessment processes under the relevant Mining Act will not be equivalent (or
superior) to the outcome that can be achieved if a public environmental report
is prepared; and
(b) if
the appropriate Authority and the Minister cannot agree in a specific case on
an exercise of powers under this Act in relation to public environmental
reports then the matter must be referred to the Governor.
(5) The Minister,
after obtaining and considering a report of a prescribed kind on a designated
mining matter referred for advice under this section and after considering the
terms of any relevant environmental impact statement or public environmental
report, must advise the appropriate Authority on the steps that should be
taken (including, in relation to an application for a
mining production tenement, whether the application should or should not be
granted or, as relevant, what conditions or requirements should be included in
a mining production tenement or a statement of environmental objectives) in
order to recognise and address actual or potential adverse effects on the
environment.
(6) Where
the appropriate Authority does not agree with advice tendered under
subsection (5), it must refer the matter to the Governor and the Governor
will determine whether the Authority should adhere to the advice (after
considering the terms of any relevant environmental impact statement or public
environmental report).
(7) The appropriate
Authority may, with the concurrence of the Minister, determine that it is
appropriate that proposed development associated with mining operations within
the ambit of subsection (4)(a) also be assessed under this section and,
if the Authority makes such a determination, the Authority may, by notice in
the Gazette, combine the assessment of the proposed development with the
assessment of the relevant mining operations and, in such a case—
(a) the
proposed development associated with the mining operations must also be
considered under the relevant environmental impact statement or public
environmental report; and
(b) the
Governor may deal with the development under Subdivision 2 of Part 4 Division
2 as if it were within the ambit of a declaration of the Minister under
section 46 (and that Subdivision, together with Subdivision 3 of Part 4
Division 2, will then apply in respect of the development).