A NSW parliamentary inquiry has found the Berejiklian government's contentious new planning laws dealing with emissions from coal exports should not go ahead as they are proposed.
The finding will put Planning Minister Rob Stokes under pressure to rethink the so-called scope 3 legislation, which has been heavily criticised by environmental groups and scientists.
The Independent Planning Commission rejected a plan to develop a coal mine in the Bylong Valley.Credit: Brendan Esposito
The laws would stop planning authorities from approving new mines with a condition related to emissions of exported Australian coal. Greenhouse gas emissions would still be considered when determining and assessing the project.
The bill was referred to the planning and environment committee for an inquiry, which recommended on Friday that the bill "not proceed in its current form".
But if the bill does proceed further, the Legislative Council should consider amendments "to make clear that for the avoidance of doubt, the bill does not prevent the consideration of scope 3 emissions", the inquiry's report said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Stokes said: “The NSW government will consider the upper house report into the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Territorial Limits) Bill 2019 [provisions].
“However, it’s important to clarify that the bill does not prevent decision-makers from considering global greenhouse gas emissions in assessing development applications, as the report insinuates."
Chair of the inquiry, Cate Faehrmann, said there were almost 3000 online responses to the inquiry, as well as evidence from legal experts and environmental and community groups.
"An overwhelming majority of these respondents opposed the bill and noted concerns about climate change and the impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change," Ms Faehrmann said.
But a dissenting statement to the report, from Liberal MPs Catherine Cusack and Shayne Mallard and Nationals' MP Ben Franklin said the "bill does not prevent consent authorities from considering global greenhouse gas emissions in assessing development applications"
The progressive think-tank The Australia Institute, which wrote a discussion paper on the legislation, said the bill was "just a first step to giving the coal industry what they want".
“This is a scathing report which recognises that NSW is responsible for far too much of the world’s coal emissions, and bears a local and global responsibilities to help reduce them,” Tom Swann, senior researcher at the institute, said.
“Australia Institute research shows NSW’s export-focused coal industry is already responsible for more emissions than the UK or France and nearly four times NSW itself.
“The NSW Berejiklian government’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and net-zero emissions means it should be doing more to reduce coal emissions, not trying to do less."
The legislation was drafted in response to the landmark decision by the Land and Environment Court last year to refuse the United Wambo coal project, citing among its reasons the project's "downstream" greenhouse gas emissions.
The proposed Bylong Valley coal mine in western NSW was also rejected last September, with its projected emissions cited as one of the reasons for the refusal.
The Independent Planning Commission rejected the Bylong mine, about 55 kilometres from Mudgee, despite the prospect of $290 million in royalties and a large economic impact on the region.