Orogen Pty Ltd - Environmental planning, assessment and management

Orogen - Environmental Planning, Assessment and Management.

Planning Advice

Orogen's environmental planning staff have detailed working knowledge of Local, State and Commonwealth planning legislation, regulations and policies as related to a wide range of development, infrastructure and mining projects. We can provide detailed and informative advice on the implications of the specific legislation listed below for your project.

In NSW, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) forms the statutory planning basis for all planning and environmental assessments of projects. In addition, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 provides the detail of the controls articulated in the legislation. From this Act, the various State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs), Regional Environmental Plans (REPs) and Local Environmental Plans (LEPs) are derived, which convey land use controls that are the basis for land use planning in NSW.

Other relevant legislation that may regularly affect projects, in the context of environmental and planning assessment, includes the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, Fisheries Management Act 1994, Rivers and Foreshores Improvement Act 1948, as well as their associated regulations and SEPP's that may be relevant, depending on the nature of the project.

In Queensland, the Sustainable Planning Act (SPA) forms the framework for development and environmental planning works. SPA ties Local and State Government planning mechanisms together through the Integrated Development Assessment System (IDAS), aiming to provide assessment unity between State and Local concurrence agencies. The Local Government Planning Schemes control development activities at the local level, while State planning instruments such as the South East Queensland Regional Plan and the Concurrence Agency Policies for Material Change of Use, Reconfiguration of a Lot and Regional Vegetation Management are examples of instruments that are important in guiding regional and State development from an environmental perspective.

Other legislation relevant to the environmental planning of Queensland projects includes the Environmental Protection Act 1994, Vegetation Management Act 1999, Fisheries Act 1994 and the Nature Conservation (wildlife) Regulation 1994. A number of State Planning Policies (SPP's) may also be relevant to a given project.

Biodiversity Banking and Offsets

Biodiversity banking involves the establishment of a scheme that enables:

The establishment of biobanking sites;
The creation of credits in respect of management actions on such sites; and
A system for the trading of credits to offset against the impact of proposed development on biodiversity values.

The statutory implementation of Biodiversity Banking is in its early stages in NSW as part of amendments to the Threatened Species Conservation Act. The use of such a scheme will become an efficient and cost effective method to mitigate the impacts of developments in the future through impact offset by the provision and management of vegetated lands in perpetuity. This mitigation is known as biodiversity offsetting.

In Queensland, environmental offsetting is a tool that, subject to the environmental planning context of a proposed activity, can be used to manage the impact of the disturbance of environmental features such as Regional Ecosystems (vegetation), marine vegetation and koala habitat.

Orogen can provide detailed advice and reporting to satisfy the requirements of the legislation and work closely with clients to identify opportunities to maximise the benefits of this legislation in the context of their strategic business objectives. Our services include:

Advice on legislative controls and compliance requirements;
Identification of offset opportunities including land provision, habitat and species improvement initiatives;
Determination of habitat value and impact;
Liaison with regulatory authorities to reach agreement on offsetting for development impact; and
Management of vegetation and property improvement as part of agreed offsetting arrangements.