Reform of Environmental Impact Assessment in Western Australia ‘Environmental Assessment in Federations: Current Dynamics and Emerging Issues’ Ottawa, Canada September 2009 Dr Paul Vogel Chairman WA Environmental Protection Authority

Economic and Environmental Context i) Western Australia - big and still growing! Western Australia 2.5M sq km; pop 2.2M –Australia 7.6M sq km; pop 21M –Canada 9M sq km; pop 33M WA consistently fastest population growth in Australia –WA 3.1%; Australia 1.9% (Dec 2008) –Perth 9% 06/07; 10.8% June 2008

ii) Advanced Energy and Mineral Projects (cap cost)¹ [Not including Gorgon, Wheatstone and Browse LNG (approximately $A 100 billion) and new and expanded iron ore projects, eg Mineralogy $A 20 billion] ¹ABARE May 2009

iii) Environmental Values, Threats and Challenges Values Huge range of terrestrial and marine ecosystems – temperate to tropical Home to some of most unusual and unique biodiversity on the planet –11,500 known taxa plants (50% of Australia) –8 of 12 national ‘biodiversity hotspots’ –1 of 18 marine biodiversity global ‘hotspots’ –3,747 islands important for species refuges (13 fauna taxa found only on islands, eg Barrow Island) –SW of WA one of world’s 34 ‘biodiversity hotspots’ –Pilbara region recently identified as ‘hotspot’

Threats and Challenges Climate change, fire, disease, plant and animal pests, population pressure, land-use change Institutional as well as biological and physical Frequent coincidence of high biodiversity values with high mineral and oil/gas prospectivity EIA is predictive tool but knowledge of ecosystems and interactions inadequate Decision-making in the face of uncertainty Politics of EIA

Key Characteristics of Environmental Impact Assessment in Western Australia ‘Significant’ proposals assessed: mining, energy, industrial, infrastructure, planning schemes Statutory assessment process with statutory approval decision EPA advises; government decides Legally-binding conditions with penalties for non- compliance EPA ‘call in’ powers Primacy of the EP Act and Minister for Environment’s whole-of-government decision, ie all other decision- makers constrained

Independence of the EPA –independent Board –not subject to direction by Government –public advice to Government Many appeal points (inc third party appeals) Environmental policy framework Strategic environmental advice and assessment – ‘derived’ proposals Bilateral Agreement with Australian Government for matters of National Environmental Significance (but a subset of state- based assessment) Statutory process for changes to proposals and conditions after implementation approval Key Characteristics (continued)

EIA Reform Criticisms: timeliness, certainty, information requirements, effectiveness, cost Strengths: independent, public, transparent, participatory, evidence-based Review commenced February 2008; completed March 2009 Stakeholder Reference Group Government support of recommendations

Key Reform Elements Focus conditions on outcomes –fewer EMPs, integration with regulation, accountability and auditability Improve timeliness –‘right of review’, project management, admin procedures with timelines and LoA reduced from 5 to 2 Improve environmental policy framework –new framework, priorities (eg marine habitat, greenhouse) Risk-based approach –novel, trialling, tailoring Increase parallel processing –align with EP Act, MoUs, DMA clarification Increase use of strategic assessment –strategic public advice followed by formal assessment, streamlined downstream approval, policy in advance of development Manage performance –‘measure and manage’, performance reporting, project tracking, escalation

Current & Emerging Issues Environmental approval on critical path for FID – project financing, market access, royalty streams Managing the politics of EIA – socio-political as much as science and ‘art’ Across-govt approvals reform –Short term legislative amendments –Lead agency/case management –Longer term legislative reforms: major project declaration, appeals, DMAs, public submissions on draft EPA report and conditions –EPA governance changes – independent admin entity Working with the Australian Govt – strategic approaches and early intervention to meet state and federal objectives

Current & Emerging Issues (ctd) Effectiveness of EIA – monitoring impact avoidance and risk reduction measures; collection of stories? EIA and sustainability decision-making –environmental offsets, trade-offs and CSR Strategic assessment, cumulative impacts and regional planning –knowledge of economic resources > environmental assets –‘Sharing Environmental Assessment Knowledge’ project –assessment of alternatives, eg Kimberley LNG precinct

Thank you

……and again!