2015 - The year of environmental bilateral agreements in WA

Western Australia has welcomed 2015 with the commencement of an environmental assessment bilateral agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of Western Australia, and the release of another draft bilateral agreement with respect to environmental approval processes.

In this Alert, Associates Olivia Williamson and Kylie Panckhurst set out the key points and an overview of the bilaterals.

Key points

The bilateral agreements aim to reduce the overlap that many proponents encounter in obtaining an environmental approval where there are both Commonwealth and State requirements.

The Assessment Bilateral:

• commenced on 1 January 2015;
• applies to actions notified by the Commonwealth as "controlled actions" and subject to State assessment under an accredited process; and