A Mayfield community group has slammed the state's environment watchdog for failing to provide it with enough time to properly scrutinise new environmental licences for rolling stock operators.
The new licences, to be issued by the Environment Protection Authority, will apply to all rolling stock operators and infrastructure operators.
They will replace the licences currently held by the Australian Rail Track Corporation, Sydney Trains, John Holland Rail Pty Ltd and V/Line.
Community groups were given 48 hours notice of a community briefing to be held on Thursday night to discuss the new licences.
Convenor of Correct Planning and Consultation For Mayfield group John L Hayes said the group had provided hundreds of photos to the EPA and the ARTC since 2014 that proved thousands of tonnes of coal was falling from coal wagons in Newcastle.
It had also lodged between up to 50 formal complaints on the subject.
"Not once has the EPA issued any penalty notices, nor commenced legal proceedings," Mr Hayes said.
"The coal trains are just as dirty and polluting in 2019, as when we sent in the first photos in 2014. The whole coal chain is just thumbing its nose, with complete Impunity, at the authority whose job it is to protect the environment."
Mr Hayes said his group received hundreds of pages of documents about the new environmental licences on Tuesday. The documents had been promised in mid-November.
"The EPA said 'These documents are provided to you for information only. The EPA is not seeking further feedback from you on these documents,'" he said.
Mr Hayes said the group's rushed examination of the documents revealed the draft licenses did not provide solutions to the problems that had been identified over five years.
"We call upon Tracy Mackey, the newly appointed chief executive of the EPA to take a personal interest in this debacle," Mr Hayes said.
