Environmentally relevant activities

Premises that conduct any of the activities listed below are required to obtain an environmental authority from Bundaberg Regional Council.

• ERA 6 Asphalt manufacturing - (1000t or more of asphalt per year);
• ERA 12 Plastic product manufacturing - (50 tonnes or more of plastic products per year, or five (5) tonnes or more of foam, composite plastics or rigid fibre-reinforced plastics per year);
• ERA 19 Metal forming - (10000t or more of hot forming metal per year);
• ERA 38 Surface coating - (anodising, electroplating, enamelling or galvanising using one (1) tonne to 100 tonnes of surface coating materials in a year
• ERA 49 Boat maintenance or repair - (within 50 metres of a naturally occurring bed of surface waters)
• ERA 61 Waste incineration and thermal treatment - (incinerating waste vegetation, clean paper or cardboard).

If the activity conducted is not listed above, the owner/operator of the premises may still need to apply for an environmental authority from the Queensland Government, namely the DES. A full list of ERAs, including those that require approval from the Queensland Government can be found in Schedule 2 of the Environmental Protection Regulation 2008.

All of the above listed environmentally relevant activities are known as concurrence environmentally relevant activities and trigger a material change of use for the environmentally relevant activity under the Planning Act 2016 for fixed location activities. A development application is therefore required to be submitted and will be used as a single application for both the development permit and environmental authority.

Application - Environmentally Relevant Activity

Prior to taking over an existing business it is recommended that a Health Search Application be submitted to Council’s Environmental Health Services to confirm there is a current Environmental Authority (EA) and to ensure the existing operator is complying with approval conditions.

Please note: The most important part of the transfer application is to demonstrate that the proposed new holder of the EA is registered as a suitable operator. If it is determined during the assessment of the transfer application that the proposed holder is not a registered suitable operator Council will refuse the application.

Application - Transfer an Environmental Authority

To make any amendments to an existing environmental authority the operator must submit an Application to Amend an EA with the relevant fee to Council. Council may refuse to process your application if you have any fees outstanding.

Depending on the type of amendment, additional supporting information may be required to be submitted.

Application - Amend an Environmental Authority

To complete the amendment application form you will need to supply certain details regarding your proposed amendment (e.g. technical assessments of the impacts of the change on environmental values). For more information on how to determine the impact on environmental values refer to the relevant technical guidelines.

Note: Development permits for ERA’s are not transferable as the conditions apply to the land itself. If you purchase the land parcel you will also acquire the development permit. Please contact Council’s Planning Department for further information regarding Development permits.

Once the EA is issued by Council, it will remain current until the 30th of June each year, unless surrendered or cancelled prior to this date.

In the months prior to the end of the financial year the operator of the premises will receive a renewal notice and accompanying invoice which must be completed and submitted to Council’s Environmental Health Services prior to 30 June for processing.

Surrendering an EA