The Federal and SA Governments have released a draft approval bilateral agreement for approvals under national environment law.
The draft approval bilateral agreement provides for accreditation of South Australia’s processes for approval of proposed actions that would otherwise be assessed by the Australian Government for approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
The finalised approval bilateral agreement will include a list of South Australian processes that have been accredited by the Federal Environment Minister. These processes are known as ‘accredited processes’. No separate Australian Government referral, assessment or approval will be required for proposed actions that fall under an accredited process.
