Eligible Interest Holder Consent - What is it?

What is Eligible Interest Holder Consent?

When you register a carbon project on your property, anyone who has a legal interest in your land needs to give their consent. This typically includes:

• You (the landowner)
• Your bank (if you have a mortgage)
• Any other parties listed on your land title (like easement holders or power line companies)

This consent is required by law under the Carbon Credits Act before you can receive carbon credits (ACCUs) from your project.

These needs to be completed before you can be credited or before the 5 year mark of your project when you are audited.  

Why Does the Bank Need to Consent?

Your bank needs to understand and approve the carbon project because:

• It's a legal requirement for the project to generate credits
• The project commits your land to certain management practices for 25 years
• It gives your bank confidence that the project won't negatively affect your farming operation or property value.

We've worked with all major Australian banks on this process, and most are supportive of carbon farming projects.

What Happens and When?

For Projects WITHOUT a Mortgage

If you own your land outright with no mortgage, the consent process is simple:

1. We'll send you a consent form to sign
2. Once signed, we can submit this consent for you. 
3. Your project can start generating credits right away

For Projects WITH a Mortgage

If you have a mortgage, here's the timeline:

1. At Registration: We register your project as "conditional" - meaning it's registered but can't receive credits until we get the bank's consent.
2. Once your project has begun we start the bank consent process. This ideally will occur straight after baselining so you have everything ready to go and it doesn't hold up your crediting in the future , however this may happen years into your project if you have not been resampled or measured an increase before your 5 year audit.
3. Contacting your bank: Depending on your bank we will contact them directly or give you the forms to pass onto them. This exact process and timeline will depend on the bank.
4. Bank Review: once the information is received by your bank they will review it and sign the necessary documentation. This can take a while and some back and forth, which is why it is best to do this as early as possible, so it doesn't hold up your crediting.
5. Final Step: Once your bank signs, we lodge the consent with the Clean Energy Regulator and your project becomes "unconditional", and can now be issued ACCU's.
   
   

What Do You Need to Do?

Step 1: Initiate the EIH process

We will be in contact to begin this process across your project, however if you haven't done this yet and want to be prepared for when you do measure an increase - get in touch and we can start it now.

Step 2: Provide us with any details we need

This will include:

• Your bank's name
• Your relationship manager's name and contact details (if you have one)
• Your loan/account number

Step 2: Sign Your Consent Form

We'll send you an Eligible Interest Holder Consent form pre-filled with your details. Simply:

• Review it
• Sign it
• Return it to us

Step 3: Give Your Bank a Heads Up (Optional but Helpful)

Consider letting your bank manager know:

• You're doing a carbon project with AgriProve
• They'll be receiving consent documents from us
• You support the project and would like them to review it

This can speed things up significantly.

Step 4: Be Available for Questions

Occasionally, banks have questions. If your bank contacts you, please:

• Respond promptly
• Let us know if you need help answering their questions
• We're here to support you through the process
  
  

How Long Does It Take?

Without a mortgage: 1-2 weeks after you sign

With a mortgage: This will depend on your bank. Generally 4-8 weeks for most banks depending who you are with and on their current workload.  It can take longer than this in busy times and especially if you are slow to get them any information they need.

Does This Cost Me Anything?

No. There are no fees for the bank consent process. It's part of our service.

What If My Bank Has Concerns?

In our experience, some banks are less familiar with soil carbon projects than others and can have a lot of questions. However banks very rarely decline projects as:

• Carbon farming improves soil health and farm productivity
• It creates an additional income stream
• It doesn't restrict normal farming operations
• Projects are backed by government legislation

Which are all benefits to your farm and your ability to repay your mortgage!

If your bank has questions, we'll work with them directly to address any concerns. We've successfully obtained consent from banks all across Australia.

Does waiting for this consent affect what I can do in my project?

No, you can continue with your project and farming as normal. The consent does not influence what you do in your project on the day to day.

Where it will impact you is this needs to be done before you can receive ACCU's, so your ACCU's will be delayed significantly if you have to complete this process in addition to the crediting requirements.

What Happens After Consent?

Once we receive signed consent from all parties:

1. We lodge a variation with the Clean Energy Regulator
2. Your project becomes "unconditional" (usually within 2-4 weeks)
3. Your project can start generating ACCUs
4. You can proceed with crediting once you've completed your required monitoring

Need Help?

If you have questions about the consent process or want to check on the status of your bank consent, contact your AgriProve project manager anytime on 1300GOSOIL.