The Environmental Approvals Process In Western Australia Is About To Get A Makeover

This year will see the implementation of major revisions to the environmental approvals process in Western Australia. A recent EPA report recommended several priority items for implementation.

In Western Australia the EPA undertakes Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of proposals referred to it under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA). In March 2009, a comprehensive review of the EIA process recommended significant changes to the EIA process, in an effort to streamline WA's approval regime.

Five "priority one" implementation recommendations are now being actioned.

1. New Administrative Procedures

A key recommendation was to increase the certainty and clarity of the EIA process by updating the eight-year old EIA Administrative Procedures.