The Albanese Government’s landmark environmental law reforms will pass the Parliament this week, heralding a new era for the environment and productivity in Australia.

More than five years after Professor Graeme Samuel handed down his independent review into the nation’s 25-year-old environmental laws, the Government’s Environment Protection Reform Bill will be passed with the support of the Greens in the Senate.

The Bill will amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, providing a balanced set of reforms that not only protect the environment for future generations but also deliver for business and the community by helping speed up decision-making for projects in key areas of national priority like housing, renewable energy and critical minerals.

Key environmental measures in the Government’s amended Bill:

• For the first time, Australia will have a National Environment Protection Agency (EPA) – a strong, independent regulator with a clear focus on ensuring better compliance with and stronger enforcement of Australia’s new environmental laws.
• In another first, Australia will have National Environmental Standards, to ensure clear, strong guidelines to protect the environment.
• Higher penalties for the most significant breaches of environmental law, as well as environment protection orders for use in urgent circumstances to prevent and respond to major contraventions of the law.
• Removing and sunsetting the exemption from the EPBC Act for high-risk land clearing and regional forest agreements, so that they comply with the same rules and standards as other industries.
• Requiring proponents of large emitting projects to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and their emission reduction plans.
• Maintaining federal approval of “water trigger” coal and gas projects.

Key measures to speed up decision-making for business and the community:

• A new Streamlined Assessment Pathway, to significantly reduce the timeframe for proponents who provide sufficient information upfront, providing incentive to meet the standards upfront. This will deliver faster decisions, saving businesses time and money.
• New and improved bilateral agreements with states to remove duplication for the assessment and approval of projects.
• Regional planning, to deliver ‘go’ and ‘no go’ zones, delivering greater certainty to business, and future planning at a landscape scale, rather than project-by-project assessment.
• Clarifying definitions of “unacceptable impacts” and “net gain” for the environment and restraining the operation of Environmental Protection Orders.

Quotes attributable to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese

“Everyone agrees that the laws as they stand are broken and need to be reformed.

“Getting these laws passed is vital to protect our environment and to boost productivity in our economy.

“These reforms will help us meet our national priorities of building more homes, rolling out more renewables and accessing more critical minerals. They are also crucial to our Future Made in Australia agenda.”

Quotes attributable to the Minister for the Environment and Water Murray Watt

“This is a landmark day for the environment in our country.

“These reforms will deliver tangible benefits for the environment and protect what is precious.

“But these reforms will also be a power surge of productivity for our economy, cutting approval times for key projects and injecting up to $7 billion into the economy.”