HRSTS credit auctions
The Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW) will auction 200 HRSTS credits every 2 years. The first auction was held in April 2004.
Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme was introduced to reduce salinity in the Hunter River. The scheme ensures that Hunter River salinity targets are not exceeded due to saline discharges from facilities with Environment Protection Licences. Participants may only discharge when the river is in 'high' or 'flood' flow and they must hold enough credits (in accordance with the scheme rules) to cover the amount of saline water they wish to discharge. If a participant wishes to discharge more than their credit holding permits, they must acquire credits from others who do not need to discharge into a particular discharge event.
HRSTS was made permanent on 1 December 2002, via the Protection of the Environment Operations (Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme) Regulation 2002. Under this Regulation, the NSW Government must auction 200 new salinity credits every two years to replace those that are about to expire. Auctions ensure that new participants are given access to credits and provide an on-going incentive for industry to invest in strategies that reduce their need to discharge saline water. Auction proceeds are used to help pay for the operating costs of the scheme, particularly environmental and compliance monitoring costs.
The following documents provide general information on the credit auction and explain auction outcomes and the auction process and rules.
Credit auction reports
- 2008 Auction Report
- 2006 Auction Report
- 2004 Auction Report (hrstsauctionreport.pdf; PDF format, 187 Kb)
Other documents
- Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme Credit Auctions - General information (hrsts_auction_general_information.pdf; PDF format, 47 Kb)
- Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme Credit Auctions - Process and rules (hrsts_auction_processandrules.pdf; PDF format, 80 Kb)
- Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme Credit Auctions - Registration form for bidders and observers (hrsts_auction_registration.pdf; PDF format, 43 Kb)
- Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme Credit Auctions - Bid form (hrsts_auction_bid_form.pdf; PDF format, 31 Kb)
The following paper was circulated in 2003 as part of a consultation process about auction proposals.
- Proposal: Auctioning Hunter River Salinity Trading Scheme Credits hrsts_ap.pdf (35kb)