The state's environmental watchdog is seeking community input into how it can improve the regulation of coal mines.
The review has been welcomed by environment groups, including Lock the Gate, which have been lobbying for introduction of tighter controls on the industry.
"Left to its own devices, the coal industry has dragged its heels on preventing methane pollution and on dangerous particulate pollution. The coal industry is not taking climate change seriously so the EPA must use its power to directly regulate and drive pollution down," Lock the Gate NSW Coordinator Nic Clyde said.
"First and foremost, there must be direct regulation of the methane pollution from NSW coal mines. Methane is a hugely dangerous greenhouse gas, responsible for roughly a third of the global warming experienced so far. To achieve NSW's goals of preventing dangerous further warming, methane from coal mining operations must reduce by 75 per cent in the next five years."
The state government's Net Zero Dashboard forecasts that fugitive emissions from coal mining will be about 717,000 tonnes higher in 2030 than they were in 2023.
The government's new climate change modelling also predicts more extreme weather events including severe fire weather days and further warming of 4 degrees "under a high emissions scenario."
My Clyde said coal mine methane pollution is increasing due to regulatory failure at existing coal mines and ongoing government support to open new coal projects.
"We're calling on the EPA to step up and make the industry reverse this trend.
"Failure to regulate methane and ongoing NSW government support for coal expansions are consistent with a high global warming scenario that will leave NSW poorer, hotter and wildly unstable.
"The EPA can and must use its licensing power to mandate facility by facility cuts to methane pollution from coal mines in line with NSW's climate change goals and to reduce harmful air pollution."
Environment Protection Authority chief executive Tony Chapel said the review was an important opportunity to ensure licences were operating as intended.
"We're committed to ensuring all mines in NSW are operating environmentally responsibly, and to get a gauge on this it's key we hear directly from those living in proximity to these sites," he said.
"Our team is continually working closely with licensees to ensure they are complying with their strict licence requirements, including limits on noise, dust and water quality.
Public consultation will open on 21 August 2024 and continue until 2 October 2024.
Coal mine licences and pollution monitoring results provided by licensed industry operators are available on the EPA's Public Register.
