Plans to exclude some business activities from environmental regulations won’t hurt the environment, the Queensland government says.
The government says its proposed changes will ease the green tape burden on small and medium sized businesses, saving companies millions of dollars each year in fees and administration costs.
Environment Minister Andrew Powell says the proposed changes will benefit motor vehicle workshops, boilermakers, small-scale manufacturers and metal works.
Some regulations that apply to the agriculture sector such as pig keeping and waste transportation will also be scrapped under the plan.
“There is the potential to provide savings of up to $6.77 million to businesses, in annual fees alone,” he said in a statement today.
“This is on top of reducing start-up costs for new businesses and reducing ongoing license administration costs.”
He says the plan to delete some low-risk business activities from regulations does not represent a threat to the environment.
“None of these options will hurt the environment as everyone still has to meet the requirements of the Environmental Protection Act,” he said.
“We are looking at implementing a risk-based approach which will more freely allow businesses to carry out standard activities that pose little environmental risk, as part of their day-to-day operations.
“By streamlining these regulations we can assist business and free up our own resources, which can be better directed to actually protecting the environment through compliance and enforcement.”
Public feedback on the proposed changes to the Environmental Protection Regulation 2008 is being sought until October 26.
