It is reported that in a landmark decision, the Land and Environment Court has held that one of New South Wales coalmines should have to pay to offset some of its greenhouse gas emissions as a condition of operation.

The provisional decision was a win for the Hunter Environment Lobby represented by the Environmental Defender Office which had appealed to the court over the Minister for Planning decision to both consolidate historical consent authorities of the Ulan mine, near Mudgee and double its operational life and capacity to 2031.

The Xstrata and Mitsubishi-owned Ulan Coal Mines, backed by the minister, and the Department of Planning, had argued that offsetting the mine's scope one emissions was discriminatory, given that there were at least 50 coalmines operating in NSW.

The government told the court the carbon tax regime was a preferable policy. The provisional judgment was delivered on November 30 with parties due to thrash out its details and timetable on February 13 before final orders are made.

Justice Ms Nicola Pain found that the power to impose conditions on major infrastructure projects those captured by the now repealed Part 3A procedure was wide. She said ''That this is the first such condition imposed on a coalmine in NSW is not necessarily discriminatory.”
She added that ''It is simply the first occasion that has occurred. 'As other operating coalmines seek approval to modify or extend their operations, or new coalmines are opened, it would be open to the consent authority which may be the minister to impose a similar condition.''

(Sourced from www.smh.com.au)