Regulation impact statement

Scope

The proposal canvassed in this RIS is solely to address the Australian Government’s intention to ban the disposal of capital dredge spoil material in the Marine Park.

For the purposes of this RIS, the following terms are defined:

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  Dredging is an excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater, in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location. This technique is often used to keep waterways navigable.
  

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  Capital dredging means dredging for navigation, to create new or enlarge existing channel, port, marina and boat harbour areas. Dredging for engineering purposes, to create trenches for pipes, cables, immersed tube tunnels, to remove material unsuitable for foundations and to remove overburden for aggregate⁹. The material excavated as a result of capital dredging is called capital dredge spoil material.
  

In addition the proposal states that:

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  there shall be no further disposal of capital dredge material in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park from the date the regulation comes into effect;
  
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  the Authority must not grant a permission for conduct that includes dumping of capital dredge spoil material in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park;
  
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  the ban apply to existing permissions for conduct that includes uncontained disposal of capital dredge spoil material in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park where they have not yet expired;
  
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  the definition of capital dredge spoil material should not include amounts from very small scale dredging programs (less than 15,000 cubic metres ), for example, those associated with an approach to a small boat ramp or reuse of sand for beach nourishment; and
  
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  the definition of dumping should not include the burying of a cable, pipeline or tunnel for the purposes of critical infrastructure for islands, for example, those for water, telecommunications or electricity.
  

The proposal explicitly excluded dredging activities (both capital and maintenance¹⁰) as well as the disposal of maintenance dredge material. Impacts from dredging activities will continue to be addressed through the strict environmental regulatory assessment processes already in place (see ‘Existing regulatory arrangements’ section below). Impacts from the disposal of maintenance dredge spoil material will be addressed through other actions, including the development of a maintenance dredging framework as outlined in the Reef 2050 Long-Term Sustainability Plan. ¹¹

The proposal was not intended to address other activities that cause turbidity within the Marine Park, irrespective of whether those activities require permission from GBRMPA. Actions are underway to address other sources of turbidity in the Marine Park (see ‘Addressing the problem’ below).

Assessing the problem

The Reef retains its outstanding universal value. It is the premier reef system in the world. However, the Great Barrier Reef Outlook Report 2014 and the Great Barrier Reef Region Strategic Assessment Report¹² highlighted the challenges to the ecosystem, especially in the central and southern inshore areas of the Region. While noting the heritage values for these areas have been impacted by a number of factors associated with urban expansion, agricultural practices and development, these reports also highlight the importance of mitigating the impacts to the Reef. The 2014 Outlook Report concluded that “Greater reductions of all threats, at all levels, Reef-wide, regional and local are required to prevent the projected declines in the Great Barrier Reef and to improve its capacity to recover.”

Water quality was highlighted as a key risk to the Great Barrier Reef in both the 2014 Outlook Report and the Strategic Assessment Report. The Great Barrier Reef has a total water volume of around 7200 cubic kilometres. This open water habitat is critical to the healthy functioning of the whole Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. It provides connectivity between other habitats, from the coast to beyond the continental slope. Open water is dominated by microorganisms (plankton) and supports a range of other plants and animals such as invertebrates, fishes, reptiles and marine mammals. Inshore areas of open water have been degraded, particularly in the southern two-thirds of the Great Barrier Reef. Elevated concentrations of nitrogen and suspended sediment are affecting the overall quality of this habitat, especially inshore, for a range of dependent species. Offshore and northern open water areas are considered to be in better condition.

Sedimentation — the inflow, dispersion, re-suspension¹³ and consolidation (compaction) of sediments — has been a natural phenomenon in the Great Barrier Reef since the current sea level was reached about 6500 years ago. However, exposure of the Reef to terrestrial sediments and re-suspended marine sediments has increased since European settlement of the adjacent catchment with the central and southern inshore areas having the highest exposure.

It is estimated that suspended sediment loads are now more than twice as high as before European settlement in the 1850s. These increased loads affect sedimentation processes. Although in recent years there has been significant improvement in water quality indicators on the land including an 11 percent reduction in sediments, 15 percent reduction in nitrogen and 28 percent reduction in pesticides, there is likely to be a significant lag time (e.g. decades) before these improvements can be measured in an ecologically significant manner in the Marine Park.

In response, the Australian and Queensland governments have committed to continue delivery of the updated Reef Water Quality Protection Plan 2013 (Reef Plan) to work towards the 2020 goal ‘that the quality of water entering the reef from broadscale land use has no detrimental impact on the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef’.

Activities within the Great Barrier Reef that contribute to increased sedimentation and re-suspension of plumes include anchoring and vessel wash from shipping, dredging and disposal of dredge material. Recent modelling suggests resuspended sediment could potentially travel considerably further than previously understood. Of these activities, GBRMPA only grants permission for dredging and the disposal of dredge material (see ‘Existing regulatory arrangements’ below).