WA Environment Minister Albert Jacob said the register would be a public database on environmental offsets, designed to counterbalance the impact of development.

Jacob said the register would provide accountability and transparency and had been given the tick of approval by a number of important stakeholders.

“The design of the register has been strongly guided and influenced by stakeholder groups including the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, WWF, Conservation Council, Chamber of Minerals and Energy, Urban Development Industry Association, Property Council and the Housing Industry Association,” he said.

The register will be a consolidated record of all environmental offsets such as ministerial conditions imposed as a result of an Environmental Protection Agency assessment or conditions of clearing permits.

It will include the physical location of the offset, the type and value, the compensatory values and the milestones and timeframes for the implementation.

The CME welcomed today’s launch, with chief executive Reg Howard-Smith saying the essential initiatives created through the offsets process would achieve cost-effective environmental benefits that were transparent.

“This new register will provide a single publicly available access point for information on the application and delivery of environmental offsets committed to in the state,” he said.

“The development and management of environmental initiatives can be many millions of dollars for individual companies and add to the overall cost of doing business in Western Australia.”

However, the CME urged the government to expand the scope of the register to include retrospective resource project offset information.

“During the election campaign, industry welcomed the announcement of the expansion of the Department of Mines and Petroleum’s approvals tracking system into other agencies and the development of a publicly available online biodiversity library,” Howard-Smith said.

“While disappointed to not see funding in the gudget last week, CME understands the government remains committed to the introduction of these initiatives and looks forward to full implementation.

“The development of these initiatives will greatly assist in delivering more efficient and cost-effective approvals, at the same time adding to the state’s scientific knowledge.”