Guidance note on environmental non-compliance and incident reporting
DEMIRS' compliance program for the minerals, petroleum, geothermal and greenhouse gas storage sectors aims to achieve operator compliance with legislation and policies relevant to each sector.
At the core of the department's approach, is the primary objective of fostering voluntary compliance with environmental obligations. This is in line with increased community expectations in relation to environmental performance, disclosure and transparency in the resources sector. To meet this expectation, the department has updated the process for a self-reporting approach for environmental non-compliances and incidents.
For information on how to report a non-compliance or incident, please refer to the Resource and Environmental Compliance Division’s Guidance Note on Environmental Non-compliances and Incident Reporting.
Non-compliance and incidents reporting requirements – Minerals
Tenement holders / operators should notify DEMIRS of all non-compliances and reportable environmental incidents.
These are defined as:
Non-compliance – a particular requirement of the tenement conditions or the legislation has not been complied with:
For mining proposals approved under the 2006 guidelines (now superseded)
A Mining Proposal’s tenements approved under the “Guidelines for Mining Proposals in Western Australia" February 2006, are to be operated in accordance with the approved Mining Proposal document. In this circumstance, approval via submission of a new Mining Proposal must be sought for any changes to the operation which are at variance with the existing approved Mining Proposals. Failure to act in accordance with approved Mining Proposals is considered a breach of tenement conditions.
For mining proposals approved under the 2020 statutory guidelines for mining proposals or the previous 2016 guidelines for mining proposals (now superseded)
For mining operations with a Mining Proposal approved under the "Statutory Guidelines for Mining Proposals" March 2020, or the previous "Guideline for Mining Proposals in Western Australia" April 2016 (now superseded), a reportable, environmental incident, is:
- an incident that breaches any environmental outcome or performance criteria of the approved Mining Proposal; and
- an incident arising from mining activities that has caused, or has the potential to cause environmental harm or injury to the land.
Environmental incident notification and reporting – Minerals
Reportable environmental incident
All tenements associated with a Mining Proposal approved under the "Statutory Guidelines for Mining Proposals" March 2020, or the previous "Guideline for Mining Proposals in Western Australia" April 2016 (now superseded), require tenement holders to notify DEMIRS of any reportable environmental incidents within twenty-four hours of detection. Failure to notify DEMIRS of a reportable incident would be a breach of condition and the mining tenements would potentially be subject to forfeiture action under the italics text Mining Act 1978.
Following the initial notification, DEMIRS will require an investigation report to be provided within a timeframe agreed with the department.
The timeframe in which an investigation report is required to be submitted will be determined on a case-by-case basis depending on the nature of the incident. The report will outline the details of the incident explaining how it occurred, the impacts on the environment, and any remedial actions taken.
Non-compliance
If not a reportable environmental incident, tenement holders should report all non-compliances to DEMIRS within three days of identification.
Routine reporting – Annual environmental report
To provide evidence that the evaluation of compliance with environmental outcomes of a Mining Proposal have been met, and that progress towards achieving closure outcomes is being complied with, operators are required to submit an Annual Environmental Report to DEMIRS annually at the minimum.
Contacts
The following points of contact in DEMIRS are listed below for any environmental incident and/or non-compliance reporting:
Minerals – environment incident reporting
Email: incidents.environment@demirs.wa.gov.au
Petroleum – environment incident reporting
Email: petroleum.environment@demirs.wa.gov.au
Environmental reports, notifications and reporting of incidents can be submitted electronically via DEMIRS Online Submissions or by email to petroleum.environment@demirs.wa.gov.au.
When notifying or reporting environmental incidents and/or non-compliance by email, please use the following naming convention in the email subject line:
- Subject line: region, name of site/project; permit/title/tenement/instrument number; description of incident/non-compliance.
Please attach an Environmental and reportable incident/Non-compliance reporting form, which should include preliminary information on the nature, scope and scale of the environmental incident and/or non-compliance, and any relevant photos, maps or supporting documents.
