COAG Decision Regulation Impact Statement – Meeting of Environment Ministers
On 15 July 2015, Environment Ministers consented to the development of a national cooperative framework to implement a national standard, to address environmental risk management of industrial chemicals in Australia. Formal agreement on the framework was reached among all jurisdictions out of session on 18 November 2015. Under the current regulatory framework for chemicals, states and territories are responsible for managing the environmental risks of industrial chemicals, which causes inconsistency, confusion and duplication for businesses across different jurisdictions and ultimately results in ineffective protection of the environment. To achieve a better outcome, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) agreed to progress reforms related to the establishment of national consistency in risk managing industrial chemicals. Under the agreed national cooperative framework, the national standard will be established under Commonwealth legislation with automatic adoption under jurisdictional legislation for implementation and compliance. The Department of the Environment, in cooperation with all states and territories, prepared the Decision RIS that was provided to the Meeting of Environment Ministers for their decision. The RIS was assessed as compliant by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). Regulatory costings were also agreed with the OBPR.
