The Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) has simplified the way proponents can track the status of their exploration, mining and petroleum applications using the Environmental Assessment and Regulatory System (EARS Online).
DMIRS Resource and Environmental Compliance Division's Executive Director Karen Caple said the new EARS Online functionality offers full visibility of all activities undertaken during the assessment process.
"Increased transparency of the assessment process allows proponents to check the status of their applications at any time," she said.
"This reduces the need for proponents to contact the department for updates and allows better project planning decisions to be made."
Proponents are able to quickly determine:
- the total time taken for each step in the assessment process;
- the total time that the application was with DMIRS, any other government department or the proponent during the assessment process;
- how the assessment of each application performed against DMIRS target timeframes; and
