Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021

The NSW Government is building a faster, simpler planning system to support jobs, homes and public space.

As part of this commitment, the department sought feedback on how to improve the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (the 2000 Regulation) to help make a simpler, better, and more transparent planning system.

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (2021 EP&A Regulation) commenced on 1 March 2022 and replaced the 2000 Regulation.

Benefits of the changes

The 2021 EP&A Regulation:

• Reduces administrative burden and complexity in development assessment processes by updating application requirements and refining notification requirements.
• Increases procedural efficiency by simplifying stop the clock provisions, concurrence and referral procedures, and the calculation of the assessment and deemed refusal periods.
• Modernises designated development to help protect green space and support economic activity by updating this assessment system in response to new technologies and industry practice.
• Increases the transparency and effectiveness of the Part 5 assessment system by introducing criteria-based publication of environmental assessments (REFs) for certain infrastructure proposals. Changes also support efficient impact assessment and alignment with strategic plans.
• Makes planning certificates simpler and easier to administer by refining and reordering the matters to focus on land use and development controls essential to conveyancing. Further information on planning certificates can be found on the Planning Portal, in the frequently asked questions (PDF, 81 KB) and the Guide to the 2021 EP&A Regulation (PDF, 534 KB).
• Allows a greater capacity for consent authorities to recover costs for planning services by:
  • Updating fixed fees to reflect movements in the consumer price index (CPI) that have occurred since the last CPI-related increase to fees in the Regulation in 2011.
  • Allowing for ongoing minor adjustments in these fees either annually or biannually to reflect changes in CPI.
• Further improve planning system efficiency and accessibility through a range of other changes that amend, remove, or insert new regulatory provisions.

How did we do it?

We worked closely with stakeholders and reviewed the 2000 Regulation to identify outdated, redundant, and unnecessarily complex provisions.

The 2021 EP&A Regulation is an update to modernise and simplify the system for all users.

See the Planning Portal for more information on the changes including supporting documents.

More information

For more information, please email regulation.review@planning.nsw.gov.au or call the Information Centre on 1300 305 695. If you would like to speak with us in a language other than English, call 131 450. Ask for an interpreter in your language and then request to be connected to our Information Centre on 1300 305 695.