EPA's Review of EIA process and a Taskforce to investigate state-of-the-art environmental data system

Environment Minister Donna Faragher has commended the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) on its comprehensive review of the Environmental Impact Assessment process (EIA) in Western Australia.

The EPA Review has covered all aspects of the EIA process and delivers on ensuring sustainable development in Western Australia by concentrating on risk based assessment, ensuring a focus on the environmental issues that matter, with enforceable outcome-based environmental conditions to hold proponents to account.

This has been achieved without diluting the rigour of the process or the independence of the EPA and with the broad agreement of all stakeholders through comprehensive consultation over the past year.

"The review's recommendations are also consistent with the State Government's commitment to reforming approval processes by reducing complexity and ensuring timeliness of reporting by requiring timeframes for each stage of assessment," Mrs Faragher said.

"The EPA has also raised several issues relevant to all approvals and I will be discussing these with the Ministerial Taskforce chaired by the Premier."

The Minister has also announced the appointment of a taskforce, to be chaired by EPA Chairman Dr Paul Vogel, to develop a state-of-the-art environmental data system for WA, using a co-investment government-industry-community partnership model for collecting, reporting and accessing environmental data.

"Significant government and industry resources are committed to environmental investigations, monitoring and research around the State.  Environmental data collection is often costly and uncoordinated," Mrs Faragher said.

"A shared environmental data system will be good for the environment by providing for better government decision-making, improved project planning and management by industry, greater access to information for natural resource managers and the community and reduced duplication of effort and expenditure generally.

"In addition, I will be establishing an Environmental Stakeholder Advisory Committee comprising of representatives from conservation and industry groups to consider the outcomes of the EIA Review and the current native vegetation clearing review (the 'Middle Review') when completed and to provide advice on future legislative reform within the environment portfolio."