A December business breakfast attended by a number of WA moguls saw the Western Australian Government outline how it plans to overhaul the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to speed up approval processes.

The Authority is said to be moving too slowly with its assessments, which is driving away investors and harming the environment due to the slowdown. WA Premier Roger Cook believes it is time for change, a staggering $318 billion worth of investment yet to be greenlit by the EPA.

"Economic opportunity is being placed at risk by a process that has lost touch with the realities of doing business and protecting the environment," he says.

"Our approvals processes were once considered the best in the world but as the scale, the complexity, and then the volume of projects has increased, our processes have not kept pace. We have a situation where projects that could make a difference to the world's efforts to decarbonise are getting held back.

"It's a bitter irony that our environmental assessment process is now perceived as the biggest barrier to our ambition to becoming a renewable energy powerhouse."

A review of the Authority in 2023 made 39 recommendations to the WA Government on how to alter its operation. Many within WA believe the Authority has limited resources and new proposals are becoming more complex, with the need to decarbonise reaching a crucial juncture. The government also says it hopes to prevent approvals being tied up in court due to legislation and appeals processes utilised by environmentalists.

An $18 million injection will immediately assist in providing additional resources, as well as a new Coordinator General role within the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation. The board of the Authority is also expected to increase, while an office in the Perth CBD will also be established.

Projects of state significance will be in the hands of the WA Environment Minister, who will direct the EPA to complete an assessment of said project within a specific timeframe to speed up the process. Other government assessments and approvals will now run alongside the EPA, which typically had to wait for the authority’s approval.

The changes are not without their concerns. Former EPA Chair, Tom Hatton, tells the ABC he is concerned about a requirement for the Environment Minister to issue the EPA with a "statement of intent".

"It seems to be in tension with parts of the act that say, for instance, 'The minister shall not direct the Chairman'," he says.

"It could be very, very challenging, particularly in public perception of the independence of the EPA.”

Current Environmental Minister Reece Whitby has refuted these claims.

"The EPA is about providing independent evidence, but it's not independent of government, it has to appreciate the priorities and the issues that the government wants to confront and needs to confront," he says.

"The EPA will continue to have its independence in giving independent advice, but it'll be very aware of what the state's priorities are and what it has to make sure it delivers a decision on within a timely manner."

The WA Government plans to introduce a Bill regarding the changes to the EPA to parliament later this year.

Image: WA's Albany Wind Farm.

Jarrod Reedie

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