15.3
Progress
50% Complete.
Government approval of policy/process development.
That a SREBA:
- should be completed within five years from the first grant of exploration approvals; and
- must be completed prior to the grant of any production approvals.
Stage 3.
To be completed by end December 2022.
Action item update
Implementation progress
Government accepted this recommendation that Strategic Regional Environment Baseline Assessments (SREBAs) be completed within 5 years of exploration permits first being granted, and completed before additional production approvals are granted.
The Framework for Strategic Regional and Environmental Baseline Assessment: A guide to undertaking a Strategic Regional and Environmental Baseline Assessment (SREBA) in the Northern Territory was released in July 2020 and can be found here PDF (39.7 MB).
Government has determined a SREBA is required for the Beetaloo sub-Basin. The region-specific Scopes of Work for various baseline studies will be approved by the Minister for the Environment.
The Scopes of Work for the baseline studies in the six broad subject areas of the SREBA for the Beetaloo Sub-basin are currently under development, with two in the final draft phase and the Terrestrial Ecosystems recently approved by the Minister.
Work in the Beetaloo Sub-basin will be undertaken in cooperation with the Commonwealth Government's Geological and Bioregional Assessment program, which has already undertaken extensive data collation and analysis in the water and ecology subject matter areas.