Lodge an annual environmental report, notification or report an incident

DEMIRS' compliance program for the minerals, petroleum, geothermal and greenhouse gas storage sectors includes a range of activities to achieve operator compliance with legislation and policies relevant to the relevant 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 and improved the process by which industry can self-report 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For Mining Proposals approved under the 2006 Guidelines (now superseded)

All tenements associated with a Mining Proposal approved under the “Guidelines for Mining Proposals in Western Australia" February 2006 are subject to a standard condition requiring tenement holders to construct and operate the project 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 construct and operate the project 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under the 2020 Statutory Guidelines for Mining Proposals or the previous 2016 Guidelines for Mining Proposals (now superseded)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for Mining Proposals" March 2020 or the previous "Guideline for Mining Proposals in Western Australia" April 2016 (now superseded) a reportable, environmental incident, is: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 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) are subject to a standard condition requiring 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 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

In order 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 report to DEMIRS at least annually.

The Environment Plan for a petroleum and/or geothermal activity must include arrangements for monitoring and recording information to demonstrate that environmental performance objectives and environmental performance standards within the Environment Plan are being met.

Environmental reporting must be undertaken in accordance with the Environment Plan approved by the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS) and the Guideline for the Development of Petroleum and Geothermal Environment Plans in Western Australia.

A non-compliance is when a particular requirement of the approved EP or the regulations has not been complied with. Operators are required to notify the DEMIRS of environmental incidents.

Reportable Incident Notification

Operators are to notify, within 2 hours, all reportable environmental incidents from petroleum and geothermal activities operating under State legislation. This initial notification may be verbal (via 0419 960 621), however written notification is preferred (via DEMIRS Submissions or email to petroleum.environment@demirs.wa.gov.au). Please include preliminary information on the nature, scope and scale of the incident.

Reportable Incident Report

Operators  are required to submit a reportable incident report within 3 days after the reportable incident notification. The report must include all known facts of the incident, any actions taken to avoid or mitigate environmental impacts, and any actions taken to prevent recurrence.

Please attached any relevant photos, maps or supporting documents.

Recordable Incident Report

A recordable incident is an incident arising from an activity that ‘breaches an environmental performance objective or environmental performance standard in the Environment Plan’ and ‘is not a reportable incident’.

The operator of an activity is required to submit a written report to DEMIRS of all recordable incidents occurring within a calendar month no later than 15 days after the end of that calendar month.

If no recordable incidents occurred during the month, the report must include a statement to that effect.

Routine Reporting - Emissions and Discharges Report

The operator of an activity must monitor all emissions and discharges to any land, air, marine, seabed, groundwater, subsurface or inland waters environment. The operator must submit to DEMIRS a written report of emissions and discharges three months after the approval of an Environment Plan and a period of every three months thereafter.

Routine Reporting - Annual Environmental Report

In order to provide evidence that environmental performance objectives of an Environment Plan have been met and that the implementation strategy has been complied with, operators are required to submit a report to DEMIRS at least annually.

Routine Reporting - Closeout Report

A closeout report is acceptable on completion of an activity in place of an annual environmental report if the activity is of short duration (i.e. less than a year).

Notification – Prestart and Cessation

Operators are required to confirm the start date of the activity prior to commencement of activities onsite (first mobilisation to site) and provide notification of the completion date within one week of the activity ceasing (demobilisation from site).

Notification – Commonwealth

Operators are required to seek approval for petroleum activities in Commonwealth waters from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) and consult with relevant State departments.

DEMIRS considers any petroleum activity that occurs in Commonwealth waters adjacent to the WA coastline to be an activity whereby the Department should be consulted. The level of consultation will be determined by the potential environmental risks and impacts of the petroleum activity.

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

 

Environment reports, notifications and reporting of incidents can be submitted electronically via DEMIRS Online Submissions or by email to petroleum.environment@demirs.wa.gov.au. Read our guide on how to submit via DEMIRS Submissions.

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.