- $14 million for additional staffing at the
Environmental Protection Authority and the Office of the Appeals Convenor
- Resourcing boost to slash approvals time and fast-track
major job-creating projects
- Funding addresses key recommendation of the
Vogel-McFerran Review
- 22 of 34 recommendations of the Vogel-McFerran Review
now fully or partly actioned
The
Cook Labor Government is continuing to strengthen and reform Western
Australia's environmental approvals system with a $14 million resourcing boost
to speed up approvals and secure major projects.
The
funding will support the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the
Office of the Appeals Convenor (OAC) to employ additional staff to help address
existing backlogs, providing faster decisions without impacting the high
standard for protection of WA's unique environment.
It
comes in response to the Vogel-McFerran Review – commissioned last year by the
Cook Labor Government – which made a series of recommendations for ensuring
WA's environmental approvals system is fit for purpose.
Additional
investment in the State's environmental assessment agencies follows the
recently legislated amendments to the Environmental Protection Act,
which are now in place.
Those
reforms:
- allow other Government regulators to process and
issue parallel approvals while EPA assessments are underway;
- provide the Environment Minister with the power
to supply the EPA with a Statement of Expectation; and
- expand membership of the EPA's board.
The
Cook Government has now partly or in full delivered on 22 of the Vogel-McFerran
Review's 34 agreed recommendations.
To
find out more, head to: https://www.wa.gov.au/government/government-initiatives-and-projects/streamline-wa.
Comments attributed to Premier Roger Cook:
"We're delivering on our clean
energy plan, securing major, job-creating projects to position WA as a global
renewable energy powerhouse.
"We've overhauled WA's
environmental approvals system to fast-track approvals while maintaining the
highest environmental standards in the world.
"This resourcing boost will
help our approvals agencies to clear the backlog of approvals and deliver
faster outcomes for project proponents across the State."
Comments attributed to Environment Minister Reece Whitby:
"This investment is
fundamentally good for the environment and good for business.
"Not only does it mean
Western Australia's environmental assessment agencies are better resourced to
provide high-quality environmental decisions, but it also means investors will
receive greater certainty and quicker decisions."
