PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (Amec) has welcomed plans by the Western Australian government to modernise the Environmental Protection Act.

Environment Minister Stephen Dawson on Monday released a discussion paper outlining its plans to modernise environmental protection legislation and is seeking community and industry feedback on the proposed amendments.

Some of the key changes proposed include reforming clearing provisions to deliver efficient, targeted, flexible and transparent outcomes, improving efficiency by accreditation of environmental practitioners to certify documents prior to their submission, and enabling cost recovery of environmental impact assessment and services provided by the state on behalf of the Commonwealth government through bilateral agreements.


“Improving the efficiency of the Western Australian environmental regulation framework is an essential outcome of the proposed changes,” said Amec CEO Warren Pearce. 

“The proposed legislation supports the general thrust of the Western Australian Streamline initiative which includes the outcomes of two workshops which had constructive input from key industry, government and nongovernmental orginsation stakeholders.”



“Amec is pleased to see a proposed inclusion of a head power for certified environmental practitioners to certify that environmental impact assessment documents meet agreed minimum standards when submitted. This proposal should result in a significant reduction in the number of applications that are referred back to the proponent for further information or additional supporting documentation.”



Pearce said that other proposed amendments would allow the government to fully implement the assessment and approval bilateral agreements under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. 


“This has the capacity to also significantly reduce costs to industry and government and result in a shortening of timeframes without compromising environmental values”