"The reforms before Parliament to fix our primary environmental laws, while not perfect, provide much needed clarity for essential development and necessary protection for our environment," said Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association, Australian Industry Group.
"The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) is long standing and showing its age. Reforms have been essential for years. The Government's proposals include critical improvements after constructive feedback from the business community. More could have been done and it is unfortunate that the coalition was not involved in the final negotiations.
"The definitions of 'unacceptable impact' were intended to reduce uncertainty but were themselves ambiguous; revised definitions will be substantially clearer for developers and regulators. Stop work orders are more limited in scope, providing a temporary safety valve for up to 28 days rather than a potential permanent end run around due process. Decisions that a proposed development does not trigger the EPBC can be renewed. These are improvements many called for.
"Gas projects can benefit from some of the streamlined improvements made to the EPBC. While at first blush the gas approvals process does not go backwards, there will be concerns that the process is not clearly quickened. It is important, given the pace of development needed to keep meeting current gas demand, that the approvals process does not unnecessarily hold up proposed new projects even as that demand necessarily declines in the decades ahead with energy transition.
"The two critical revisions in the package around the 14-day provision and a more certain definition of what's simply barred and what isn't provide a lot of the greater certainty business was looking for.
"All up, the government has sought to strike a balance to provide clarity around the environmental approvals process to allow for critical future development with a more defined set of rules about environmental approvals.
"This amended reform package is not the end of the process. Delivering the full benefit of these changes will take years of intense effort, including standing up a National Environment Protection Agency with a pragmatic, can-do culture and negotiating assessment and approval bilaterals with the States and Territories.
"A single-touch assessment process is the ultimate goal and this legislation cannot deliver that on its own. Achieving that must be our ambition.
"While this is a reasonable start, there is a certain element of caution that more work must be done. Parliament must be prepared to revisit the approvals process to allow for more streamlining when possible," Mr Willox said.
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