Page 2545 - Week 08 - Thursday, 14 August 2014
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to the ACT. This option comes at the right time for the ACT. The commonwealth introduced cost recovery from 1 July 2014, which provides further impetus for moving to a one-stop shop.
I will now outline the key amendments in this bill. The first relates to the referral of proposed decisions to the commonwealth. In cases where a proposed development is likely to have significant adverse environmental impacts on matters of national environmental significance, and the approval decision is being made either by the planning authority or the minister, the proposed decision must be referred to the commonwealth minister responsible for the EPBC Act for comment. In this situation neither the ACT’s planning authority nor the minister can make a final decision that is inconsistent with the commonwealth minister’s advice.
Another key amendment relates to the role of the Conservator for Flora and Fauna. The bill gives the conservator a central role in the assessment and approval for development proposals that are likely to have a significant adverse environmental impact on matters of national environmental significance. Most importantly, all development applications for proposals that are likely to have these impacts on matters of national environmental significance must be referred to the conservator for advice.
A development approval given by the planning authority must be consistent with the advice given by the conservator. In the situation where the minister exercises the call-in powers, the minister can only make a decision that is inconsistent with the conservator’s advice if the approval is consistent with the ACT offsets policy and would provide a substantial public benefit. One example could be a development proposal for a key major piece of infrastructure.
In addition, the Conservator of Flora and Fauna plays a key role in the development of offsets policy guidelines as well as reviewing the offsets policy. The conservator is poised to provide an additional layer of independence to the regulatory scrutiny of impacts on matters of national environmental significance. This will reinforce and emphasise the ACT’s objective to meet the environmental standards required under the EPBC act.
Madam Speaker, the bill also gives legislative force to an offsets policy and offsets policy guidelines in the ACT. This is a mandatory prerequisite for establishing a one-stop shop as it will help to address relevant commonwealth standards for accreditation. Offsets are actions designed to provide environmental compensation for unavoidable significant adverse environmental impacts associated with development.
Offsets are an important part of the environmental approvals process and are designed to maintain or improve the likelihood of ecological communities and threatened species and their habitat persisting in the ACT. Offsets are considered only after avoidance and mitigation measures have been taken. If offsets are required, they can be calculated by either the commonwealth or the ACT offsets calculator and this will be available publicly. The ACT works closely with the commonwealth to ensure the ACT calculator provides for appropriate offsets.
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