Adani will learn on Thursday if it has the final state approval it needs to get on with building its Queensland coal mine amid fears for a million-year-old ecosystem.
Queensland's environment department is poised to reveal if it's happy with Adani's groundwater management plan, including a strategy to protect sacred wetlands some experts believe could permanently dry up if the mine proceeds.
Hydrologists say Adani has grossly underestimated the mine's groundwater impacts.
It comes as the federal government conceded it may have failed to take into account some public submissions when determining how to assess part of Adani's proposed Queensland coal mine.
A spokesman for Environment Minister Sussan Ley says the concession, relating to a water scheme, has no bearing on the federal approval of the mine.
Queensland's environment department will reveal if it's happy with Adani's groundwater management plan, including a strategy to protect sacred wetlands some experts believe could permanently dry up if the mine proceeds.
The department went back to Adani with additional requirements last week after the CSIRO and Geoscience Australia provided fresh advice on the company's water plans.
Adani says it has already updated the plan and sent it back.
Protestors holding signage during a Stop Adani rally outside Parliament House in Canberra, Sunday May 5. Source: AAP
If its water plans are approved, Adani has vowed to immediately restart mine construction.
The federal government will be required to seek public comment for the second time on the North Galilee Water Scheme and make a new decision on the extent to which it should be assessed.
The government conceded the error on Wednesday in a Federal Court case initiated by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
The issue emerged after Adani referred its North Galilee scheme - which includes building a reservoir and drawing water to the mine from the nearby Suttor River - to the government last year.
The government invited public comments to help it decide whether the scheme should be considered a "controlled action", which would mean it is subjected to a federal assessment.
After receiving more than 2000 submissions, an environment department official decided on September 17 the scheme was a "controlled action", and needed to be assessed in relation to its potential impact on threatened species and on communities.
The ACF launched its legal action to argue the project should have been assessed through a section of environmental laws known as the "water trigger" which calls for a more rigorous analysis.
The government conceded the official who made the decision may not have not considered every public submission as required under law, but had considered a summary of some submissions prepared by another department officer.
The court has ordered the government set the September 17 decision aside and pay the ACF's legal costs.
Adani's plan to protect the endangered black-throated finch was approved last month Source: AAP
A spokesman for Ms Ley said the government will seek public comment on the water scheme again, before making a new decision on whether further assessment of it is required.
"The decision has no bearing on the federal approval for the Carmichael Coal mine itself," the spokesman said on Wednesday night.
The ACF says the decision shows the government has failed to properly scrutinise Adani's proposed mine.
"The government is fundamentally failing to properly apply national environment laws to its approvals for Adani's mine and has been ignoring deep public concern about the mine's environmental impact," chief executive Kelly O'Shannassy said.
The government did not concede the ACF's original argument that the "water trigger" should be applied to the scheme.
