New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

STATE ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING POLICY (MINING, PETROLEUM PRODUCTION AND EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES) 2007 - REG 10

10 Exempt development

(1) This clause applies to development that is on land that:

(a) is not within an environmentally sensitive area of State significance, or

(b) is within a state conservation area but is not land referred to in paragraphs (a)-(e) or (g)-(i) of the definition of "environmentally sensitive area of State significance".

(2) Development for any of the following purposes is exempt development if it is of minimal environmental impact:

(a) the construction, maintenance and use of equipment for the monitoring of weather, noise, air, groundwater or subsidence,

(b) low intensity activities associated with mineral exploration or petroleum exploration, including the following:

(i) geological mapping and airborne surveying,

(ii) sampling and coring using hand-held equipment,

(iii) geophysical (but not seismic) surveying and downhole logging,

(iv) accessing of areas by vehicle that does not involve the construction of an access way such as a track or road.

(3) Development for any of the following purposes is exempt development if it is of minimal environmental impact and is on land that is the site of an approved mine, an approved petroleum production facility or an approved extractive industry:

(a) the construction, maintenance and use of any of the following:

(i) landscaping, flagpoles, fences and gates (including security booths and boom gates),

(ii) lighting fittings and lighting equipment (including lightpoles) that are designed and operated in accordance with Australian Standard AS 4282-1997, Control of the obtrusive effects of outdoor lighting ,

(iii) emergency equipment (including the replacement or augmentation of fire systems, pump houses and fire water tanks),

(iv) business identification, directional or safety signs,

(b) the construction, maintenance and use of car parking facilities or paving, but only if the car parking facilities are, or paving is, located on land that has been lawfully cleared of vegetation,

(c) the demolition of a building or structure that is carried out in accordance with Australian Standard AS 2601-2001, The demolition of structures , but only if the building or structure is not, or is not part of, a heritage item, or in a heritage conservation area, identified by an environmental planning instrument,

(d) the making of non-structural alterations to the exterior of a building (such as painting, plastering, cement-rendering, cladding, attaching fittings or decorative work),

(e) the making of non-structural alterations to the interior of a building that do not result in the load bearing capacity of the building being exceeded,

(f) the construction, maintenance and use of a shed, but only if:

(i) the shed is set back at least 100 metres from any public road and at least 200 metres from any dwelling that is not associated with the mine, petroleum production facility or extractive industry, and

(ii) the shed does not cover an area of more than 300 square metres, and

(iii) the shed is not more than 10 metres high, and

(iv) any spillage from chemicals or fuel stored in the shed will be caught by an appropriate and adequately sized bund, and

(v) the shed is located on land that has been lawfully cleared of vegetation, and

(vi) the shed meets the relevant deemed-to-satisfy provisions of the Building Code of Australia,

(g) a work carried out in compliance with a lawful direction or notice issued under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000 or in accordance with the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act 2002 or Mine Health and Safety Act 2004 ,

(h) the construction, maintenance and use of wheel or vehicle wash facilities, but only if:

(i) waste water is treated and reused on site or disposed of at an approved waste management facility, and

(ii) the wheel or vehicle wash facilities are located on land that has been lawfully cleared of vegetation,

(i) the construction, maintenance and use of water storage tanks, but only if:

(i) the storage tank capacity does not exceed 100,000 litres, and

(ii) the storage tank is located on land that has been lawfully cleared of vegetation.

(4) Development for any of the following purposes is exempt development if it is of minimal environmental impact and is on land that is the site of an approved mine:

(a) the installation of additions to existing infrastructure for the drainage (but not the use) of gas from the mine in emergencies or for safety purposes, but, in the case of land that is within a state conservation area, only for a period of not more than 6 months,

(b) the modification of a shaft used, in connection with any underground mining, for conveying workers or materials,

(c) the construction, maintenance and use of any minor drill hole or minor shaft within the mine, being a drill hole or shaft used for emergency or safety purposes or that has a diameter of no more than 500 millimetres.

Note: Under section 76 of the Act, exempt development may be carried out without the need for development consent under Part 4 of the Act or for assessment under Part 5 of the Act.
The section states that exempt development:

(a) must be of minimal environmental impact, and

(b) cannot be carried out in critical habitat of an endangered species, population or ecological community (identified under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 or the Fisheries Management Act 1994 ), and

(c) cannot be carried out in a wilderness area (identified under the Wilderness Act 1987 ).