The Queensland Government some months ago passed the Geothermal Energy Act 2010, which included proposed changes to Queensland's legal framework under which explorers (that is, holders of exploration permits and mineral development licences) can have access to land, and the basis on which they pay compensation to landholders.
The changes, as amended subsequently by the Natural Resources and other Legislation Amendment Act (No. 2) 2010, begin today.
These are the main changes:
Entry notices
The previous requirements were for entry notices to be given at least five business days before entry. This has been replaced with a process for negotiating compensation (for advanced activities), followed by an entry notice that must be given at least 10 business days before entry is effected. For preliminary activities, only the entry notice needs to be given first; compensation can be worked out later. The legislation still permits explorers to gain access to land by negotiation, but beware of the longer time frames if negotiations are unsuccessful – up to 50 business days.
Compensation
The Mineral Resources Act formerly provided for the landowners' "loss, damage or injury" to be compensated. There was no requirement that compensation be agreed before entry. This has been replaced with a more comprehensive definition of "compensatable effect," and (other than for preliminary activities) the compensation must be agreed, or an application must be made to the Land Court to determine that compensation, before entry commences.
The concepts of "preliminary activities" and "advanced activities" are complex, and we won't cover them in this Alert. The essential difference under the legislation is that preliminary activities have no effect, or only a minor effect, on the landowners' land use or business activities.
Who gets entry notices and who is compensated?
Entry notices must be given, and compensation must be agreed or determined, with both "owners" and "occupiers", whereas the Mineral Resources Act formerly applied only to "owners".
The new legislation also makes a number of other amendments, including broadening the scope of protection for landholders from claims made by third parties because of the acts or omissions of the mineral exploration tenement holder.
These changes do not apply to prospecting permits, mining claims or mining leases.
For more detail about the land access and compensation charges introduced by the Geothermal Energy Act 2010, please see our earlier Alert.
Timeframes
These changes apply from today. There are transitional provisions for existing entry notices and existing compensation agreements, but these have only a limited effect. They will expire by the earlier of six months after the anniversary date of the tenement, or 6 September 2011, and they will only continue to apply to activities stated in an earlier entry notice, or for which compensation was agreed before today.
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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
