Protecting beachfront properties from exposure to coastal erosion and hazards is an ongoing problem across much of the NSW coast and made worse by climate change. Recently, the Land and Environment Court (Court) considered whether development consent should be granted…
The Protection of the Environment Legislation Amendment (FOGO Recycling) Act 2025 (FOGO Act) has been passed by Parliament. This Act, which amends the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act), mandates the collection of food organics and garden…
The Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Act 2023 (the Act) was recently passed by the New South Wales Parliament, and has commenced operation. The purpose of this landmark legislation is to give effect to the commitments under the 2015 Paris…
Introduction On 10 November 2023, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Flood Planning) Regulation 2023 (EPA Reg Amendment) was published on the NSW legislation website. It amended the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (EPA Reg) and replaced references to the Floodplain…
In a significant recent decision, the Land and Environment Court (LEC) upheld the Independent Planning Commission of NSW’s (IPC) approval for an extension of the Narrabri Underground Mine (Mine) as legally reasonable. Background The proceedings were brought by Bushfire Survivors…
The Full Federal Court of Australia has upheld an appeal by the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment, overturning a landmark lower court decision that held that the Minister owed a duty of care to protect Australian children from climate change-related…
Debate about the transition away from fossil fuels has recently focused in on plans for increased gas production, with Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project (Project) being a key feature of the NSW Government’s plans for the future of gas production in…
Proposed increases to Building Sustainability Index (‘BASIX‘) requirements have just been released by the DPIE for public consultation (‘Higher Standards‘). The consultation period closes on 17 January 2022. BASIX is a scheme created by the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation…
The NSW Government has released for public consultation a draft ‘New Wind Energy Planning Framework’ (Draft Framework) for large-scale wind energy facilities, which aims to increase investment in wind energy in the state, whilst balancing the needs of the community.
On 22 October 2012 the Coastal Protection Amendment Act 2012 (Amendment Act) was passed. It has not yet commenced. Once it does commence, it will amend the Coastal Protection Act 1979 (Act) in a number of ways which could be seen…
In simple terms, the mechanisms established by the Clean Energy Act 2011 (Cth) to deal with climate change include establishing thresholds for greenhouse gas emissions and imposing unit shortfall charges measured in carbon units for emissions that exceed the threshold. This is what is commonly referred…
In Hunter Environment Lobby Inc v Minister for Planning & Anor [2011] NSWLEC 221, Pain J in the Land & Environment Court determined an appeal on the merits broughtby an environmental lobby group against an approval granted by the Minister under Part 3A of…