Draft advice for water planning and management charge rules issued

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has issued its draft water planning and management charge rules and draft advice to the Minister for Climate Change and Water, for public consultation.

"State governments undertake water planning and management activities to establish and define water rights and manage the environmental impact of water use. Governments recover some of the costs incurred through environmental levies, licence fees and a range of other charges," ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel said.

The proposed rules would require state government departments or agencies to publish details of water planning and management charges. The ACCC also intends to collect data and report annually on water planning and management activities, costs and cost recovery from users. The ACCC does not have power to collect some of this information so will rely on cooperation from states.

"The ACCC's report will promote transparency and facilitate comparisons of approaches to water planning and management across Basin states and territories. It will help water users understand why they pay water planning and management charges, and policy makers to assess the impact of different charges on the water market," Samuel said.

A copy of the draft rules and draft advice, which includes details on how to make a submission, will be available from the ACCC website.

Submissions should be provided to the ACCC by 5 pm on 5 June 2009. This will be the final opportunity to inform the ACCC's development of the water planning and management charge rules before preparation of final advice to the Minister for Climate Change and Water.