Queensland businesses and small miners received a fiscal boost this week, after the state government introduced new environmental laws that remove costly green-tape.
Announcing the reforms yesterday (April 2), environmental minister Andrew Powell said the Greentape Reduction Act overhauls approval processes, meaning up to 12,000 businesses in the Sunshine State will skip this step of a project.
“The changes streamline application and approval processes under the Environmental Protection Act 1994, remove licence requirements for 20 environmentally relevant activities and introduce a new category of small scale mining activity which does not require an environmental authority,” Mr Powell remarked.
“The reforms do not lower environmental standards, but rather better match the approval requirements with the actual level of environmental risk of particular activities.”
Companies that operate in the motor vehicle, commercial printing, steel working, cabinet making and welding fields will benefit from the new legislation – potentially paving the way for more opportunities for apprenticeships in Queensland.
The minister went on to say that the law will also generate an estimated $20 million in savings for businesses and the state government through reduced administration costs and the removal or lowering of fees.
