States will be able to carry out environmental assessments on behalf of the federal government under proposed changes to biodiversity laws. New national environmental rules will be finalised by the end of next month to fast-track major projects and unleash an investment boom ending two decades of “slow, complex and costly” duplication across state and federal laws. Source: Timberbiz
Graeme Samuel has released an interim review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, highlighting duplication between state and federal approvals.
The EPBC Act is “ineffective” and results in duplication with state and territory environment laws, according to independent reviewer professor Mr Samuel.
“It does not enable the commonwealth to protect and conserve environmental matters that are important for the nation. It is not fit to ad-dress current or future environmental challenges,” he said.
“The commonwealth process for assessing and approving developments is slow, complex to navigate and costly for business. Slow and cumbersome regulation results in significant additional costs for business, with little appreciable benefit for the environment.”
He called for new, legally enforceable national environmental standards as a “priority reform measure”. The standards should focus on detailed prescription of outcomes, not process.
“Interim standards could be developed immediately, followed by an iterative development process as more sophisticated data becomes accessible … Standards support clear and consistent decisions, regard-less of who makes them,” he said.
“Where states and territories can demonstrate their systems can deliver environmental outcomes consistent with the standards, responsibilities should be devolved, providing faster and lower cost development assessments and approvals.”
Community trust in the act and its administration is low, the review found. The report proposed that an “independent cop on the beat” is needed to build confidence. They would not be subject to political di-rection, should be properly resourced, and would have a range of powers.
The review also found that more needs to be done to improve the condition of the environment.
To do this, Mr Samuel said the EPBC Act needs a “firmer focus on avoiding impacts where possible and in-creasing the area of nationally important habitats” to allow future development to be sustainable. The government could also look at ways to speed up environmental restoration, such as markets and co-investing with the philanthropic and private sectors.
A final report is set to be delivered to the environment minister Sussan Ley by 31 October.
While industry groups in general, including forestry, are supportive, some have questioned handing control to State Governments.
Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries Jonno Duniam said the interim report was good news for Tasmania’s economy, and would help to unlock job-creating projects.
“The report has made it clear that the 20-year-old legislation no longer services the interests of business or the environment,” Senator Duniam said.
“It is as important as ever to ensure that legislation, such as the EPBC Act, meets the changing needs of business, agriculture, environment and community planners, particularly as we respond to the economic impacts of COVID-19.
“By cutting red tape and removing unnecessary regulatory burden, we can unlock job-creating projects to strengthen Tasmania’s economy, while still protecting the environment to the highest standard,” he said.
“This is our opportunity to get some balance back into the process and our Government is committed to delivering genuine reform.”
AFPA CEO Mr Ross Hampton said the recent Federal Court decision has created uncertainty around RFAs nationally and called on the EPBC Act to be amended to reaffirm the intent of the RFAs.
“RFAs are required by law to be independently reviewed every five years, and all reviews have found they are meeting or exceeding all environmental objectives, while providing a level of certainty to industry,” Mr Hampton said.
“However, the Federal Court decision has created enormous challenges for the future of Victoria’s sustainable hardwood timber industry. VicForests is appealing the decision, but in the meantime, it is causing significant damage to livelihoods and uncertainty for Australia’s native forest industries.
“This could be addressed if the Federal Government urgently amended section 38 of the EPBC Act to affirm and clarify the Commonwealth’s intent regarding RFAs. That would make it explicit that forestry operations in RFA regions are exempt from the Act, and that compliance matters are to be dealt with through the state regulatory framework and do not invalidate the RFA provisions.”
Mr Hampton said the minor amendments to clarify the intent of the RFA exemptions should be dealt with urgently and separately to the EPBC review process.
“VicForests is aware of the interim report into the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act and is considering its findings,” a spokesman said.
Environment Minister Sussan Ley said the government’s national environmental standards would underpin new bilateral agreements with state governments to “unlock job creating projects”.
The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of four key recommendations in Graeme Samuel’s interim review of the 20-year-old Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, which has been blamed for putting more than $65bn of investment at risk.
Ms Ley said the government would begin negotiations with states this week to enter agreements for “single-touch approvals”, removing duplication by “accrediting states to carry out environmental assessments and approvals on the commonwealth’s behalf”.
Professor Samuel said the community and industry had “lost trust” in the EPBC Act, describing the laws as “cumbersome and slow”.
The former Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chair said industry had raised concerns over legal challenges being used as a “tool to delay projects and drive up costs for businesses”.
“An underlying theme of industry distrust in the EPBC Act relates to perceived duplication with state and territory processes and the length of time it takes to receive an approval,” he said.
“On average, complex resource sector projects can take nearly three years, or 1013 days, to assess and approve, and this is too long.”
Mr Samuel said the development of national environment standards should focus on “detailed prescription of outcomes, not process”.
Ms Ley ruled out expanding the EPBC Act to include climate triggers.
Mr Samuel’s recommendation for an “independent cop on the beat” to oversee enforcement of new environmental rules was also rejected by the government to avoid “additional layers of bureaucracy”.
The Samuel report, which had up to 30,000 submissions, also calls for Indigenous cultural heritage laws to be reviewed, slamming state and federal governments for not providing adequate protections through environmental processes.
“There is a culture of tokenism and symbolism. Indigenous knowledge or views are not fully valued in decision making.
“The EPBC Act prioritises the views of Western science, and Indigenous knowledge and views are diluted in the formal provision of advice to decision-makers,” it said. Ms Ley said she would work with Indigenous Australians Minister Ken Wyatt and state Indigenous ministers to “commence a national engagement process for modernising the pro-tection of Indigenous cultural heritage”.
The government will also begin discussions with the private sector to explore “market-based solutions” for enhanced habitat restoration to “significantly improve environmental outcomes while providing greater certainty for business”.
