About the EPBC Act
The Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) establishes a system of environmental assessment and approval by the Commonwealth for actions that significantly affect matters of national environmental significance or Commonwealth land, or that is undertaken by the Commonwealth.
Matters of national environmental significance include world and national heritage areas, wetlands of international importance, specified threatened species, migratory species and ecological communities, nuclear actions and actions affecting the Commonwealth marine environment. Further information on the EPBC Act is available from the Commonwealth Government's website, at http://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/about/index.html.
Implementation of EPBC Act in NSW
In January 2007, the Commonwealth and NSW governments signed a Bilateral Agreement which allows the assessment regimes under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Parts 3A, 4 and 5 of the EP&A Act) to be automatically accredited under the EPBC Act.
The agreement also accredits the assessment processes under Part 6 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act) and Part 7A of the Fisheries Management Act 1994. This means that separate assessment processes are not required. The bilateral agreement only covers matters that are determined to be 'controlled actions' by the Commonwealth Government. Guidelines are being prepared to assist councils, government agencies, proponents and the general public to understand the processes involved under the Bilateral Agreement.
In July 2009 an operational review of the TSC Act and EPBC Act was produced by an intergovernmental working group chaired by Brian Gilligan. The review makes recommendations to streamline assessment processes and improve conservation outcomes under four functional headings:
- Communication and coordination
- Offsets
- Strategic planning
- Listing (i.e. threatened species and communities)
The Department of Planning and other agencies are currently implementing the recommendations included in the report. The report and intergovernmental communique are available below.
Proposals in NSW being assessed under the Bilateral Agreement
Under the Bilateral Agreement, the NSW Government has agreed to maintain a register of proposals that are currently being assessed in NSW under the Agreement. The register includes all proposals, regardless of whether they are being assessed under Part 3A, Part 4 or Part 5 of the EP&A Act. The register lists details of the proponent, the proposal, current status under the EPBC Act referral process, and the consent/determining authority.