Under an enforceable undertaking (EU) with the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR), Illawarra Coal Holdings Pty Ltd will commit nearly $2.9 million to a community project after allegedly withdrawing surface water without a permit at its Dendrobium mine.
The monetary commitment is the largest and most substantial secured under an EU with NRAR since the agency’s inception, and it will support a wetland or waterway restoration project.
The underground coal mine is located west of Wollongong at Kembla Heights. NRAR alleges that the mine’s operations resulted in the accidental taking of surface water without a licence from 2018 to 2023.
Under the terms of the EU, Illawarra Coal will:
- Recognise the alleged violations throughout 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023 water years.
- Contribute $2,878,138 to a community project that will improve the health of waterways and/or restore wetlands. The community project proposal must be submitted to NRAR for consideration by 30 September 2023.
- Begin delivering the community project within three months of NRAR approving the proposal.
- Consult with Aboriginal communities and groups in the region where the community initiative will be carried out.
- Commit to better surface water management by investing in and implementing a variety of new and developing technology, and report the outcomes to NRAR on an annual basis.
- Commit to reporting to NRAR regularly on consultation, community project progress, and other aspects of the agreement.
- Pay NRAR $70,000 to cover investigation, legal, and monitoring costs, with the ability to enhance these costs after receiving the community project proposal.
- Place an agreed-upon media notice detailing the EU obligations in specified agreed-upon publications.
NRAR Chief Regulatory Officer Grant Barnes welcomed the agreement with Illawarra Coal, saying it will result in considerable practical benefits for the local community.
“In this EU, NRAR considers that we have achieved the most effective outcome for the people of NSW which redresses the alleged breaches that occurred, delivers benefits to the local community, and puts in place much improved processes to better manage water at this mine in the future,” Barnes said.
“This enforceable undertaking also takes into account the impact of the alleged breaches on the local Aboriginal community and puts in place a commitment to dialogue between the company and that community,” he stated.
According to him, when suspected breaches of NSW water legislation occur, EUs are one of the enforcement instruments available to NRAR.
“Companies sometimes propose an enforceable undertaking to remedy significant breaches of these laws as an alternative to court action. Before we consider accepting a proposed enforceable undertaking, it must contain actions to address the alleged rule-breaking and to acknowledge the breach,” Barnes said.
Barnes stated that an EU would not be approved unless NRAR determined that it would provide beneficial results in the public interest in compliance with its criteria. NRAR has entered into a total of nine EUs with varying criteria.
