27 March 2008
Introduction to the EPBC Act Fact Sheet
October 2009
I take my role as environment minister very seriously, and I work to ensure the highest standards of protection for our precious environment.
Still, a lot of people think the federal environment minister is the last port of call on all environmental issues with power to intervene in any environmental matter in Australia, but the actual situation is quite different under the laws and Constitution of our Federation.
Our national environmental law is set out in the Australian Government’s key piece of environmental legislation, called the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
Under the EPBC Act, the Australian Government only has authority over certain defined matters of national and international importance, called matters of ‘national environmental significance’ (NES).
Matters of NES include listed threatened species and ecological communities, listed migratory species, wetlands of international importance, Commonwealth marine areas, World Heritage properties and National Heritage places.
All other environmental matters are the sole responsibility of the states, territories and local governments, and are decided by these governments alone.
If a proposal is likely to significantly impact on one or more matters of NES and it is determined that assessment and approval is required under the EPBC Act, then that proposal will be subject to a comprehensive, rigorous and transparent assessment process that includes an opportunity for public comment.
Once the environmental assessment is complete I carefully review all relevant information before making my decision on whether or not to approve the proposal. Relevant information usually includes - at a minimum – the environmental assessment prepared by the proponent, the public comments received on that assessment and the proponent’s responses to those comments, and my Department’s independent recommendation report.
For more complex proposals, particularly those that raise concerns about potential environmental impacts that I feel are not fully answered by the material submitted to me, I may request further information from the proponent, or I may commission independent scientific advice.
In making my decisions as Environment Minister I am always mindful of the Objects of the EPBC Act, which include the protection of the environment, the conservation of biodiversity and the principles of ecologically sustainable development, including the Precautionary Principle. Although my primary focus is environmental matters, in making decisions I also take into account relevant social and economic matters.
It is also important to note that when I do decide to approve a project I will usually impose a number of conditions designed to either avoid impacts on matters of NES, or to ensure that impacts are mitigated or offset. Approval decisions are rarely a simple ‘yes or no’ question. These approval conditions are legally enforceable, and the Compliance and Enforcement Branch of my Department works to ensure that they are adhered to.
For example, I imposed stringent conditions on a number of recent significant projects in order to ensure that environmental impacts would be acceptable, including the Gorgon Gas project in Western Australia, the Wyaralong Dam in Queensland, the Four-Mile uranium mine in South Australia and the Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth.
Many people have written to me with concerns regarding the Gunns Pulp Mill. It is important to note that this project was approved by Malcolm Turnbull when he was environment minister under John Howard, and that approval has been challenged and found to be legally valid by the Federal Court. This means that my role under our national environmental law is to ensure that all the conditions of that legally valid approval are rigorously complied with, and I take this responsibility very seriously.
In cases where I don’t believe the environmental impacts of a proposal can be sufficiently avoided, mitigated or offset I have refused to approve those projects. Recent examples of such refusals include proposed coal facilities in Shoalwater Bay in Queensland, a proposed release of irrigation water from Lake Crescent in Tasmania, and a proposed housing development in critical Cassowary habitat near Mission Beach.
Last year the Government initiated the first independent review of the EPBC Act, under an expert panel led by Dr Alan Hawke. This review has involved extensive public and industry engagement, and Dr Hawke will soon issue his final report, which will include a number of recommendations designed to improve the Act to ensure that it operates as efficiently and effectively as possible to protect Australia’s unique environment.
To help explain the EPBC Act and the powers it gives me as federal environment minister, I have written a
Fact Sheet for media, community groups and students.