The BSA’s submission is No 20 of 30 submissions on the below link to the Senate Inquiry.
This is the link to all the submissions published by the committee:
https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/…/Submissions
Given the impacts of the Coal Seam Gas Industry on the groundwater resources of the Surat Basin and the Great Artesian basin, the BSA is grateful for the opportunity to lodge a Submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Adequacy of the Regulatory Framework Governing Water Use by the Extractive Industry.
Ou Submission addresses the following Terms of Reference of the Inquiry:
- existing safeguards in place to prevent the damage, contamination or draining of Australia’s aquifers and water systems;
- any gaps in the regulatory framework which may lead to adverse social, economic or environmental outcomes, as a result of the take and use of water by extractive projects;
- any difference in the regulatory regime surrounding the extractive industry’s water use, and that of other industries;
- the effectiveness of the ‘water trigger’ under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, and the value in expanding the ‘trigger’ to include other projects, such as shale and tight gas.
