A moratorium has been recommended for all future coal seam gas (CSG) projects until further research is carried out and the approval process tightened to cover such issues as how salt will be disposed of and the likelihood of the earth sinking.
A Senate committee on Wednesday handed down an interim report on CSG mining, which includes 24 recommendations to prevent the sector from damaging agriculture or the environment.
One of them is a moratorium on future CSG mining until approvals include an independent assessment of possible earth surface movements and whether salt and brine residue can be effectively removed.
All projects should also be held off until their impact on the area around them can be considered, while there should be a permanent ban on CSG in areas defined as strategic cropping land.
No approvals should be granted in the area where the Murray-Darling Basin and the Great Artesian Basin overlap until at least two scientific studies are completed.
The Senate committee, chaired by Liberal senator Bill Heffernan, urged the federal government and the states to change the way they manage the industry, so they are less reactive and more ahead of the game.
"There is a perception that the rapid expansion of the coal seam gas industry has caught government out, leading to a sense regulators are playing catch up, responding to issues once they emerge rather than anticipating them," the report reads.
Along with a review of the "adaptive management" approach to the industry, the committee is also calling for an examination of the chemicals used in the fracking process, where water is injected into cracks in rock to extract the gas, along with tighter monitoring of how much water is withdrawn.
It wants gas companies to set up a trust that would pay for any environmental damage.
It also wants landholders to be given the final say as to whether mining is allowed on their property. The other recommendations also give farmers and property owners stronger legal power.
The committee, which has delayed its final report until June 2012, said communities should reap the benefits of this booming industry while it lasts, which might be for only another 50 years.
It acknowledged public sentiment had shifted against the sector, but while some approvals may have been granted prematurely and there were repeated instances of miners acting badly, the committee said CSG could co-exist peacefully with agriculture.
Greens senator Larissa Waters, who sat on the committee, said it was great to reach a consensus on the need for more scientific research.
She urged the government to act quickly on the management review and the recommendation to include the Great Artesian Basin as an matter of national significance under the Environment Protection Act.
