New measures to slash green tape could shave years off approvals as the state government prepares to focus the EPA and the energy transition.
New measures to slash green tape could shave years off approvals timelines as the state government prepares to focus the Environmental Protection Authority on housing and the energy transition.
The state government on Wednesday introduced legislation to parliament to allow multiple government agencies to progress permit applications at the same time.
The current system requires departments to wait for environmental approvals to be cleared before starting work in their own areas.
Premier Roger Cook said that system was sluggish and had held some projects up for years.
“Under these reforms, proponents can obtain their approvals while environmental assessments are still underway,” he said.
“They still have to wait for the environmental approval process to be completed, but they are ready to go in the event that they get that environmental approval.
“Western Australia needs an environmental approvals framework that is modern, fit-for-purpose, and delivers for the environment, the green energy transition and local jobs.”
Measures put forward to parliament form some of the 39 recommendations made by the Vogel McFerran review completed last year into the EPA.
The state government has also put forward a $44 million package to retain and hire more staff, with Mr Cook noting many senior officers had been lured away by the resources sector in recent years.
Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson said the reforms were common sense.
“Getting our projects to market quicker leads to stronger investment in WA and more jobs,” she said.
“We know that if we can't get those approvals in place, we lose projects to overseas jurisdictions.
“Our commodities are superior quality but Australia is a relatively high-cost jurisdiction. So we have to be easy to do business with, and we have to maintain our ESG standards.”
Ms Tomkinson said it was incumbent on the state government to progress other recommendations from the Vogel McFerran review.
Those recommendations included a call to reform the culture of departments to improve approvals processes, a ban on appeals where the EPA does not review a project, and to reduce duplication on emissions assessments where federal or Aboriginal cultural heritage processes had already done this work.
Ms Tomkinson said clear, time-based metrics and transparent reporting were critical at all stages of the assessment process.
“We still need to see put in place an end-to-end process that builds productivity and has accountability measures in play, so that we can ensure those approvals are delivered,” she said.
“We need to do more mining than ever before to ensure that we can deliver the minerals and energy sources required for electrification to deliver our net zero ambitions.”
Ms Tomkinson said gas projects couldn't be ruled out for the projects of state significance list.
That list appears likely to focus on housing and green energy projects. Mr Cook said the EPA needed to operate more like a hospital.
“At the moment, the EPA takes on projects pretty much on a first-come, best-dressed basis,” he said.
“This (change) is a bit like a hospital system: you want the organisation to triage the projects and make sure that they get to the ones that state significance first.”
