2021 State of the Environment Report Marine Chapter – Expert Assessment – Management Effectiveness – Minerals, oil and gas extraction and production

The Marine chapter of the 2021 State of the Environment (SoE) report incorporates multiple expert templates developed from streams of marine data. This metadata record describes the Expert Assessment "Effectiveness of Management – Minerals, oil and gas extraction and production". 
<strong><em>A PDF of the full Expert Assessment, including figures and tables (where provided) is downloadable in the "On-line Resources" section of this record as "EXPERT ASSESSMENT 2021 - Effectiveness of Management – Minerals, oil and gas extraction and production"</em></strong>



DESCRIPTION OF THE APPROACH TO MANAGING THE PRESSURE
Management of pressures associated with mineral, oil and gas extraction and production varies across jurisdictions with a range of legislative processes in place (Table 1). Most oil and gas exploration and production activity is conducted in Commonwealth waters, while most mining activities occur in coastal waters under state regulation (see mining oil and gas pressures assessment). 
In Commonwealth waters and coastal waters where regulatory powers and functions have been conferred, regulation of oil and gas activities and associated pressures on the marine environment is carried out by the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA)1. The environmental management authorisation process conducted by NOPSEMA’s under the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act and Environment Regulations is endorsed under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). This approach to regulation is considered appropriate for accounting for all environmental risks and impacts as required under legislation (Finkel 2019). NOPSEMA is subject to an independent operational review of its regulatory performance and review of the EPBC Act streamlining process every five years. The most recent Operational Review including the EPBC Program Review was conducted in 2020 and will be published in 20212.
Current mineral exploration and extraction regulatory arrangements establish 11 separate authorities (one for each state/Northern Territory and four external territories) to administer offshore mineral titles.  Each of the state/Northern Territory regulatory authorities, known as Designated Authorities, is required to apply their own state-based environment, safety and mining regulations to adjacent Commonwealth waters. In Australia’s external territories, regulation is carried out by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources. 
Across state and territory waters, environmental management for mining, oil and gas is carried out in accordance with state and territory legislation, in most instances, by a single regulator, but may be carried out in conjunction with a number of regulators (e.g. by the licensing regulator and an environmental regulator).  In some states and territories, specific policies for activities in coastal waters have been developed, while in others, policies developed for activities on land apply to those in coastal waters (see Table 1). Updating of relevant policies and regulation frameworks varies depending on the state/territory. Victoria is currently developing policies for oil and gas regulation in marine waters, due for release in mid-2021 (Jess Stephenson personal communication). The Northern Territory recently reviewed environmental impacts and management of seabed mining (NT EPA 2020) as part of a review of a moratorium on seabed mining established in 2012.
Consideration of environmental impacts (and therefore direct management of pressures) by individual proponents is required across all jurisdictions via environment plans submitted to and assessed by the relevant regulator. Guidelines for the development of these plans vary across jurisdictions, with some jurisdictions identifying clear steps in the assessment and approval process, while others are less specific. Most guidelines identify that in developing environment plans, relevant stakeholders should be consulted and all risks to the environment are considered, including those resulting from unplanned events (e.g. uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons as a result of compromised well integrity). Some regulators provide for public comment on environment plans, with comments received needing to be taken into account by the proponent in furthering development of environmental plans. In the case of NOPSEMA, new regulatory requirements result in the publication of a statement identifying how the titleholder has taken into account any public comments on their seismic or exploratory drilling environment plans. 
In most cases, guidelines identify that environmental risks and impacts need to be managed to levels that are both as low as reasonably practicable and acceptable (see links to guidelines in Table 1). Proponents are also responsible for reporting environmental incidents to relevant agencies. Approaches to overall regulation and management of mining, oil and gas activities remains unchanged since the last State of the Environment (SoE) report reporting period (see Evans et al. 2017). 

DATA STREAM(S) USED IN EXPERT ASSESSMENT
Information on regulation of oil and gas activities in Commonwealth waters was provided by NOPSEMA. Information on regulation of mining activities in Commonwealth waters was provided by the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resource. Information on regulation of mining, oil and gas activities in state/territory waters was provided by Kate Buckley and Louis Gomatos (Resource and Environmental Compliance Division , Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, Western Australia),  Sally-anne Strohmayr (Petroleum Operations, Department of Environment, Parks and Water Security, Northern Territory), Jarrod Spencer (Energy Resources Division, Department of Energy and Mining, South Australia) and Jess Stephenson (Earth Resources Regulation, Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions, Victoria). Information on regulation of mining, oil and gas activities in other state waters was extracted from the relevant state government websites.



2021 SOE ASSESSMENT SUMMARY [see attached Expert Assessment for full details]

• Approach •
Assessment grade: Effective
Assessment trend: Stable
Confidence grade: Somewhat adequate
Confidence trend: Stable
Comparability with 2016: Not comparable
• Outputs •
Assessment grade: Effective
Assessment trend: Stable
Confidence grade: Somewhat adequate
Confidence trend: Stable
Comparability with 2016: Not comparable
• Outcomes •
Assessment grade: Effective
Assessment trend: Stable
Confidence grade: Somewhat adequate
Confidence trend: Stable
Comparability with 2016: Not comparable



CHANGES SINCE 2016 SOE ASSESSMENT
Pressures associated with mining activities were reported separately in the 2016 SoE assessment.

Tags: environmental management, expert assessment, oil and gas, petroleum
Organization: Australian Ocean Data Network