Miners have applauded the Queensland government for ditching plans to hold existing mines to stricter standards.
The government has introduced laws to parliament to make it easier for communities to object to new mines and ban mining in the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.
The government also planned to give itself the power to retrospectively order the size and intensity of existing mines to be reduced but has ditched the idea.
The state's mining lobby has applauded the government for "listening to industry feedback".
Queensland Resources Council chief executive Ian Macfarlane says the retrospective provisions would have been unworkable.
"All industries, whether it's resources, agriculture or manufacturing, need to be able to operate in a way that is environmentally responsible but also supports growth and development, so it's good to see some common sense coming through in this bill," he said in a statement on Thursday.
The bill won't hold existing mines to modern environmental standards either.
The Department of Environment and Science said mines would operate under the standards they were approved under should the bill be passed.
"DES undertakes a rigorous environmental assessment and considers the potential impact on air, surface water and groundwater environmental values before approving environmental authorities for mine sites," a DES spokesperson told AAP.
"DES is also engaging with the mining industry to ensure all large mine sites across Queensland meet their requirements to develop a Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure (PRC) plan."
Environmental group Lock the Gate Alliance criticised the government for the changes after an "overreaction" by the mining industry.
"We see the mining industry chuck a tantrum every time substantive changes are proposed and this bill was no exception," Lock the Gate co-ordinator Ellie Smith said.
"As a result, the mining lobby has successfully kneecapped some much-needed reforms.
"Making sure older projects that were approved using outdated environmental laws are now subject to modern standards is common sense, but it was too much for the coal and gas lobby and was dropped by the government at the last minute."
Mr Macfarlane said miners would also make a submission on the bill opposing "highly ambiguous criteria" under which new projects could be rejected.
He said the bill would allow a proposed mine to be axed at an early stage if it "impacts an area of social or technological significance, to the present generation or past or future generations".
"This is far too broad in its meaning and could easily be misused or misinterpreted by any government for political reasons, which is not acceptable," Mr Macfarlane said.
"The QRC will advocate very strongly for the early EIS refusal criteria to be better defined and tightened up, so the process is fair and objective for all projects."
The bill will be probed by a parliamentary committee before being referred back to parliament.
