Public notification of applications for access to public conservation land to undertake "significant" mining activities

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Regulatory Impact Statement: Public notification of applications for access to public conservation land to undertake “significant” mining activities (PDF, 71K)

Summary

This Regulatory Impact Statement provides an analysis of options to provide a public notification process for applications for significant minerals access arrangements on public conservation land.

Agency disclosure statement

Cabinet has previously decided in principle that a public notification process should be
provided for “significant” applications. Options involving minor or “non-significant”
applications for access arrangements on public conservation land, or applications involving
Crown land other than public conservation land, were therefore not considered.

All options involve effects that the Government has said will require a strong case before
regulation is considered – all options would have the effect of imposing additional costs on
business. The Government has indicated that the issue of mining on public conservation
land is of such public interest and importance that public notification is warranted for
significant applications. It is noted that the scale of investment required to undertake
significant mining operations is such that the costs of an additional public process
alongside existing public processes is not great in relation to other set-up costs.