Contents

• Vary your project area
• Vary your conditional registration
• Variation of the project proponent for a project
• Vary the crediting period start date of your project
• Vary the method used for your project
• Dividing a project into parts for separate reporting
• Revoking your project

You may apply to the Clean Energy Regulator to vary the details of your Emissions Reduction Fund project. Applications must be submitted using the Client Portal on the Clean Energy Regulator website. To vary your project, you must lodge a project variation application form through the Client Portal. Before lodging your application, you must be aware of the conditions of each type of variation. Consider if you require professional advice before varying your project.

Vary your project area

• Proof of legal right to run the project on the added land. This may involve proving ownership of the land, or the contractual right to carry out the project and be credited with any Australian carbon credit units (ACCUs) earned from the project on the land. Examples of written evidence include agreements and registered land titles.
• For sequestration projects, signed eligible interest holder consents from all eligible interest holders of the proposed varied project area—regardless of whether they have an interest in the land to be added or removed or not.

Removing land​

If a project area has earned ACCUs and you intend to remove that area from a project, you will need to:

• move that particular land area to a second sequestration project, and
• apply to revoke the second project and relinquish the ACCUs earned by that land area.

Adding land

You must ensure that the net abatement generated from the additional land will not include abatement that has been credited to any other project. Check the project register for any other project registered on the additional land.

If the method has been varied since your project was declared, you must transfer your project to the varied method first before you can add land to your project area. If the method has been revoked or is under suspension for new projects since your project was declared, you must transfer your project to another current and applicable method first before you can add land to your project area.

Changes to your project area will take effect at the beginning of the project’s next reporting period. This means you will only be able to claim ACCUs for the new area from the start of the next reporting period, not as part of the current reporting period.

If you would like to include the new area in the reporting process as soon as possible, you could consider shortening your current reporting period and starting a new reporting period early. To do this, you would include the new area and the original area in the abatement calculations for the new reporting period, and submit your project report within six months of the end of the shortened reporting period.

Timeline example

A project’s current reporting period starts 1 September 2015 and ends 2 March 2017.

1. The participant applied to vary the project area by adding new land to the project.
• Applied 1 December 2016
2. The Clean Energy Regulator approved this variation and issued a new project declaration.
• Takes effect 10 January 2017
3. The participant closes the current reporting period early and commences a new reporting period.
• 11 January 2017
4. The participant submits a project report and application for ACCUs for the shortened reporting period for abatement achieved by the original project area only.
• Submitted within six months of the end of the shortened reporting period
5. Abatement from the newly added project area will be included, along with abatement from the original area, in the future project report for the new reporting period.

Vary your conditional registration

If your project registration was subject to one or more conditions, you must provide evidence that you have met those conditions using the online form available in the Client Portal. Evidence you have met these conditions must be provided to the Clean Energy Regulator before the end of the first reporting period or your project will not be eligible to receive ACCUs.

Variation of the project proponent for a project

Current project proponents can apply to appoint a new or additional project proponent or remove an existing project proponent.

A project proponent may also be varied where the existing project proponent has:

• died or otherwise ceased to exist,
• abandoned the project,
• applied to voluntarily revoke the project,
• been ordered by a court to transfer the project to a new project proponent, or
• been determined by the Clean Energy Regulator not to be a fit and proper person.

Additional situations where a project proponent may be varied are:

• the existing project proponent becomes insolvent,
• the Clean Energy Regulator is unilaterally revoking the project, or
• the project was registered on or after 1 July 2020 and the Clean Energy Regulator finds each person identified on the project declaration as failing to meet the project proponent definition,

and the Clean Energy Regulator is satisfied that the transfer of the project to a new project proponent would be appropriate.

Under these circumstances, a person can apply to become a new project proponent without the consent of the previous proponent.

Evidence must be provided to the Clean Energy Regulator that the new project proponent:

• can pass the Fit and Proper Person test,
• is responsible for carrying out the project, and
• has the legal right to carry out the project.

If the project is an area-based project and a registered native title body corporate holds an eligible interest in some or all of the project area, then the Clean Energy Regulator will consult the body before making a decision on the project proponent variation application.

Important factors to consider when applying to vary the project proponent:

• Do land owners with land in an area-based project wish their land to continue as part of the project under the new proponent?
• If a project proponent who is leaving is the project nominee, a new nominee will need to be appointed by the project proponents.

See choosing a project proponent for landholders for additional guidance.

The Client Portal only lets the current project participant report and claim ACCUs. This is a safety mechanism to prevent people whom are not the registered participant of the project from claiming ACCUs. Therefore, the new proponent will need to be approved and the project varied before that proponent can claim ACCUs. For questions about making changes to your project, email enquiries@cleanenergyregulator.gov.au or phone 1300 553 542.

Projects with a carbon abatement contract

If your project also operates under a carbon abatement contract with the Clean Energy Regulator, the project variation to change the participant will not automatically assign the obligations under a contract to the new participant.

If you wish to transfer the contract obligations to another participant, this must be agreed to by the Clean Energy Regulator. You will need to notify the Clean Energy Regulator in writing and provide a novation deed that contains all the relevant details. This is a requirement in addition to submitting a variation through the Client Portal.

Vary the crediting period start date of your project

When was your project registered?

1. After 30 June 2015 (Emissions Reduction Fund projects)
• You have one crediting period.
• You can change your crediting period start date once.
• Your new crediting period start date is no more than 18 months after your project’s declaration date.
• Your crediting period end date will change.
• You can vary your crediting period start date to a date in the past as long as it is within 18 months after the declaration date.

You can vary your crediting period start date to:

• before the original crediting period start date, but
• not before the date your project was declared.
  • For example, a project declared on 10 January 2017 with a crediting period start date of 1 July 2017 can vary its start date to 1 May 2017.
2. After 12 December 2014, and your registration application was received by 30 June 2015 (transitional projects)
• You have one crediting period.
• You can change your crediting period start date once.
• If your project has a ‘back-dated’ crediting period start date, your new crediting period start date is no more than 18 months after this date.
• If your project was not ‘back-dated’, you can vary your crediting period start date to a date in the past as long as it is within 18 months after the declaration date. The declaration date is the same date as the original crediting period start date for these projects.
• Your crediting period end date will change.
3. Before 12 December 2014 (previously Carbon Farming Initiative projects)
• You have two crediting periods:
  • one before 12 December 2014 (crediting period start date can be changed), and
  • one after 12 December 2014 (when all Carbon Farming Initiative projects transferred to the Emissions Reduction Fund and received new crediting periods and start dates which cannot be changed).
• You can change your first crediting period start date once.
• You cannot change your crediting period end date.

Vary the method used for your project

If your chosen method no longer fits your activities, you may apply to have your method changed to a different but related method. The change will apply from the start of the current reporting period.

You cannot change a method to one that has been cancelled or revoked. If you are currently operating under a method that has been revoked you may continue to use that method, but can not register new projects or move projects into the revoked method.

Projects with a carbon abatement contract

If you have entered into a contract with the Australian Government to deliver ACCUs, you must ensure that the change in method does not impact on your ability to deliver as per your contract delivery schedule.

How does a variation to a method affect my project?

If a method is varied after your project is declared but before your crediting period start date, your project will automatically transfer to the varied method.

If your crediting period has commenced before the change to the method you can continue to operate your project under the original method. See the method variation information pack for more information on method variations.

Dividing a project into parts for separate reporting

Participants can divide their projects into parts for the purposes of reporting. When a project is divided into separate parts, the participant may report on each part of the project as though they are an independent project. The same conditions, and obligations for reporting and compliance, will apply to each separate part.

This allows participants to submit a project report and apply for ACCUs for different parts of the registered project.

See dividing a project into parts for more information.

Revoking your project

Participants can withdraw from participating in the Emissions Reduction Fund at any time. To do so, you will need to voluntarily revoke your registered project under sections 29 or 30 of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015.

By voluntarily revoking your project, your project will no longer be able to apply for or receive ACCUs and there is no recourse to reverse your decision. However, in some situations, parcels of land that are part of a withdrawn project may be eligible to be included in a new project.

If you have entered into a contract with the Australian Government to deliver ACCUs you must ensure that you are able to continue to meet your obligations.

How to revoke your project

To revoke your project, you need to download the documentasset::Application for voluntary revocation of a registered project form and email it to ​ERF@cleanenergyregulator.gov.au.

Legislative information about withdrawing a project can be found in Part 3, Division 4 of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011.

Revoking sequestration projects

All ACCUs issued for sequestration projects must be returned (unless previously relinquished) to the Clean Energy Regulator if the:

• project is a sequestration project, and
• carbon has been stored for less than the permanence period (100 or 25 years).

If you have sold the ACCUs you must meet this relinquishment obligation by purchasing the same number and type of ACCUs and return them to the Clean Energy Regulator.

You will continue to have obligations under Emissions Reduction Fund until the process for revoking your project has been finalised, including relinquishment of any ACCUs.