III. ANALYSIS OF THE TYPES OF MEASURES BEING USED AT THE SECTOR LEVEL INTEGRATE
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS INTO THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES
[ A | B | C
| D | E ]
D. Proposed environmental regulation framework and underlying principles
[ D | D-1 | D-2
| D-3 | D-4 | D-5
]
5. Role of provincial government and other agencies
Provincial and local-level governments that have the necessary administrative resources will be assisted in providing the regular monitoring of compliance of stream 1 activities. The intention is that the framework will provide for the eventual delegation of power to issue stream 2 environmental approvals to those provincial and local-level governments and urban authorities that seek such responsibility and can demonstrate their administrative capacity to carry it out. However, it will be necessary to ensure that the approval system is well established and operational before the delegation of authority is made.
It is expected that the Department of Environment and Conservation will retain the responsibility for overseeing the exercise of delegated approval powers and issuing approvals where an issue of declared State significance is connected with the development. Those issues include:
- Cross-border effects;
- Downstream effects;
- Effects on national seas;
- International implications (e.g., involving treaty obligations);
- Projects that implement State agreements.
Where environmental considerations are already the subject of another licensing system, the Department of Environment and Conservation will seek to ensure that regulation by the other agency is adequate in order to ensure proper environmental protection. For example, it is envisaged that the Department of Environment and Conservation will not regulate those industries that only discharge waste into a sewerage system. In such cases, the Department of Environment and Conservation will seek to assist the agency responsible for the sewerage system in properly regulating and monitoring discharges into its system through the issue of trade waste permits. The Department of Environment and Conservation will retain the ability to intervene where the sewerage authority breaches the terms of the environmental approval.
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