ARTICLE · 30 OCTOBER 2013

Commonwealth plans to give States EPBC approval powers within 12 months

Clayton Utz

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However, the scope of the approval bilateral powers may be constrained to some extent by the operation of the EPBC Act.

AustraliaEnvironment

Juliette King (Formerly With Clayton Utz)

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Key Points:

While it appears that the Federal Government intends the proposed approval bilaterals to apply to the broadest range of approvals possible, the scope of the approval bilaterals may be constrained to some extent by the operation of the EPBC Act.

The Federal Government has announced a plan to achieve its proposed "one stop shop" for environmental approvals within 12 months. The objective is to accredit State approvals processes for the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), to remove the need to obtain separate State and Commonwealth approvals for agreed classes of actions.

In a media statement released last week, Environment Minister Greg Hunt said that the "one stop shop" will be achieved through a three stage process:

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