THE NSW government should cease issuing production licences for coal seam gas production until a ”comprehensive framework” for regulating the industry is developed, a parliamentary inquiry is set to recommend.
The inquiry’s report, due to be released today, is also understood to recommend a moratorium on the controversial extraction method of fracking be continued until the national regulator finishes testing the chemicals involved.
The Herald has learnt it also advises the five-year ”royalty holiday” granted to coal seam gas miners be scrapped and a strict limit be placed on ”fugitive emissions” from gas mining sites.
The inquiry, chaired by the Shooters and Fishers Party MP Robert Brown, was established after a proposal by the Greens MP and mining spokesman, Jeremy Buckingham, who is its deputy chairman.
The cross-party committee that carried out the inquiry attracted more than 900 submissions after it was announced last year and travelled the state taking evidence from communities affected by coal seam gas exploration and mining.
