Four environmental standards will guide EPBC Act decisions
Four national environmental standards will guide decision-making under the reformed Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, with industry attention turning to how they affect project approvals.
The standards cover Matters of National Environmental Significance, Environmental Offsets, Data and Information, and Community Engagement. Cement Concrete & Aggregates Australia said the focus must shift to whether the environmental standards deliver clearer, faster and more predictable approvals in practice.
CCAA chief executive officer Michael Kilgariff said industry supported strong environmental protections, but said the reforms would be judged by how the standards operate. “The objective must be better environmental outcomes alongside a more efficient and predictable approvals system,” Kilgariff said.
Offsets and data rules changed
CCAA said the final Environmental Offsets Standard allows offsets for each distinct stage of a long-life development to be identified and secured before impacts from that stage occur, instead of requiring future offsets to be secured when a project is first approved. The group also said eligible State or Territory offsets can satisfy Commonwealth requirements.
Under the Data and Information Standard, environmental information is to be collected, managed and provided in a way that promotes reuse with minimal additional effort, where practicable. CCAA said that reflects its “collect once, use many times” position and could reduce repeated collection of substantially the same information.
On community engagement, CCAA said it supports input informing environmental decisions but has argued the process should not become an additional approval stage or require proponents to demonstrate community consensus or social licence.
Kilgariff said clearer guidance was still needed on the definition of “net gain”, the interaction between “significant” and “unacceptable impacts”, when progressive rehabilitation qualifies as repair, and how Commonwealth and State requirements will work together without duplicated assessment or double-offsetting.
