Progress on the new EPBC regulations and standards

Question

1. When do you intend to have the regulations - including the standards - completed? a. When will the remaining new EPBC standards actually come out? b. Is it still mid-year? It's coming up pretty soon? c. How much consultation will be done on the remaining standards if they are all meant to be ready asap,mid year? i. With complex legislation and standards should there be/why isn't there a 12-18mth review to ensure any unintended consequences can be resolved? ii. Isn't it better to get things right before they commence than try and fix things later? 2. How will the EPA ensure it balances environmental issues with facilitating housing projects? a. Is the intention to have this in place before the EPA starts mid-year? b. What happens if there are delays? 3. Why have some standards been released before the indigenous consultation arrangements / standards are updated? a. How will the intended Indigenous Engagement standard apply in practice? 4. What evidence base have you used to develop the standards? a. For example, have you tested the concepts of the standards against case studies? If so, who developed the case studies? 5. Have you done any case studies with industry representatives to ensure their perspectives are considered? 6. How is the department engaging in a meaningful way with business stakeholders? a. If business groups put forward any major concerns with the approach, do you have time to make changes in the timeframes you are targeting? 7. Regarding offsets, how do you intend to balance the views of applicants and government on what is an acceptable offset? a. When will the offset calculator be updated? b. How do the offsets work, what are the assumptions - for example if someone cuts down 1 tree, how many trees do they need to plan / replace? c. Does it depend on the type of tree? d. How do you expect everyday people to understand all this? On the upcoming data and information standard 8. Are you confident you have the capability to create the national environmental accounts? 9. How will your methodology differ from what the States are doing? 10. Can you confirm that the climate emissions data will not be considered in the decisions?

Answer

Please see the attached answer.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• SQ26-000643.pdf (opens in a new tab)