Guideline for new Chain of Responsibility laws one step closer

A draft statutory guideline to complement the Environmental Protection (Chain of Responsibility) Amendment Act 2016 has been released for public comment.

Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles has encouraged interested stakeholders to share their views.

“The Queensland Government has developed a draft statutory guideline in consultation with the Chain of Responsibility working group,” Dr Miles said.

“The draft statutory guideline provides details on how the Chain of Responsibility laws will be applied.

“When finalised, it will provide binding instruction to the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) in administering the new laws.

“For example, the draft statutory guideline provides instruction about how EHP decides whether a person has a relevant connection with a company.

“It also provides information to industry about how the environmental regulator decides whether to issue an environmental protection order (EPO) to related persons of the company, and which of the related persons of the company to issue an EPO to.”

Dr Miles said the working group involved a number of stakeholders including the Queensland Resources Council; Australian Restructuring, Insolvency and Turnaround Association; Australian Bankers’ Association; Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association; Australian Institute of Company Directors, Queensland Law Society, and Environmental Defenders Office.

“I thank the working group for their valuable time and input, and now invite industry and other stakeholders to provide constructive feedback on the draft guideline,” Dr Miles said.

“The new Chain of Responsibility laws protect the taxpayer and the environment when a company closes its doors without cleaning-up and rehabilitating its site of operations.

“These laws were passed with the bipartisan support of the Queensland Parliament.”

Public consultation closes on November 25 – visit www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au