Thursday, June 28, 2012

THE QUORUM FOR AN EPA TO MAKE A DECISION ON JAMES PRICE POINT IS THREE PEOPLE

Because of the serious flaws in the content and conductof the assessment process, including the extraordinary decision to entrust the EPA’s decision to just one member of the 5 person EPA Board and
the proponent’s  failure to comply with the requirements of theAgreement and Scoping Report,
the public can have no confidence in the EPA’s final report and recommendations.

The timeline needs to be extended and large parts of it need to be redone in an open,transparent and scientifically rigorous manner.Under the Environmental Act, the quorum for a meeting of the EPA to make a decision is three people.
Joesph Roe and Paul Vogel in Country Nov 2012

The WA State Environment Minister and Vogel have colluded to misuse another section of the Act (s 19; see below) to purport to give sole decision making responsibility to one person, but this is clearly not what the Act intends and cannot be misrepresented as a decision of the EPA Board.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT 1986 - SECT 11
11 .         Meetings of Authority
        (1)         The Authority shall hold meetings at such times and places as it determines, but —
               (a)       the Chairman may at any time; or
               (b)       the Minister may when he wishes the Authority to discuss a matter on which he has  
                           requested its advice, convene a meeting of the Authority.
 (2)         At a meeting of the Authority —
       (a)         the Chairman or, in his absence, the Deputy Chairman shall preside, but, if both the Chairman and the Deputy Chairman are absent from such a meeting, the Authority members present shall elect one of their number to preside at that meeting; and
            (b)         3 Authority members constitute a quorum; and
            (c)         subject to section 12(2) each Authority member present shall cast a deliberative vote on any question that is to be decided; and
            (d)         any question shall be decided by a majority of the votes cast by the Authority members present, but if the voting on a question is equally divided, the person presiding at that meeting has a casting vote in addition to a deliberative vote; and
            (e)        a question shall not be decided unless at least 3 Authority members vote thereon.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT 1986 - SECT 19
19 .         Delegation by Authority

(1)         The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, delegate, either generally or as otherwise provided by the instrument of delegation, to —
            (a)         any officer or other person referred to in section 22; or
            (b)         a public authority or officer or employee thereof; or
            (c)         any other person, specified in the instrument of delegation (in this section called the delegate ) all or any of its powers and duties under this Act, other than this power of delegation.
        (2)         The Authority shall cause the name or title of the delegate to be published in the Gazette as soon as is practicable after the making of the delegation concerned.
        (3)         A power or duty delegated by the Authority under this section shall, if exercised or performed by the delegate, be exercised or performed in accordance with the instrument of delegation.


The Wilderness Society (WA) EPA assessment 'Media briefing sheet' is as follows:
EPA Gas Hub Assessment Media Briefing Sheet_270612


5 comments:

  1. Woodside

    Woodside has pushed back the submission of bids by the two leading contractors bidding for the construction of the onshore LNG plant at James Price Point, that will be critical in determining the fate of the Browse project, The Australian Financial Review reports.

    The bids were due this week but now are due on July 18. The bidding consortium comprises Chiyoda, CB&I and Saipem in one group, while KBR, Leighton and John Holland are part of the second consortium. A third bid by Bechtel was already ruled out last year.

    ........
    Analysts expect the total budget to top $40 billion due to the remoteness of the location and the scarcity of resources.

    ReplyDelete
  2. WOODSIDE Petroleum’s quest to prove up reserves for the Pluto expansion has been dealt another blow after one of three wells being drilled in the Carnarvon Basin was water wet.

    http://www.energynewsbulletin.net/storyview.asp?storyid=8686160&sectionsource=s68

    ReplyDelete
  3. CONOCOPHILLIPS is expected to resume drilling Boreas-1, the first well in its 2012 Browse Basin drilling campaign, later today after a month-long stint working on making sure the blowout preventers function properly.



    The Transocean Legend semisubmersible

    Conoco started drilling Boreas-1 in WA-315-P in April but had to stop drilling a month later to service the BOPs on the Transocean Legend semisubmersible.

    Drilling was then further delayed after the BOPs failed to function satisfactorily after being run to the sea floor earlier this month.

    The BOPs underwent further maintenance and repairs and have now been re-run to the sea floor for final subsea function testing with drilling expected to resume today.

    Conoco said rig owner Transocean had been working closely with the company and provided a global team of experts to ensure the proper function of the BOPs.

    A BOP is a specialised valve used to seal, control and monitor oil and gas wells and to stop a potentially catastrophic blowout.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Transocean BOP caused the BP Gulf of Mexico blowout.
    Holes in this area of Browse have had high pressure gas pocket problems,same as G of M Macondo well.
    The BOP and a poor cement job etc.

    Instills so much confidence doea all these cowboy shows.

    ReplyDelete
  5. No BOP can cut a pipe at the join or
    if some kinds of tools etc are in the jaws,and may not seal if the pipe is not straight in the jaws.

    ReplyDelete