A consent authority may refuse a development application on the ground of environmental impacts on threatened species even where those impacts do not attain the threshold of 'significant effect' under s 5A of the EPA Act. Section 5A only applies to determine whether effects reach the 'significant' threshold for the purposes of requiring a species impact statement, concurrence, or as a specific head of consideration; it does not limit the broader assessment of environmental impacts under s 79C(1)(b). The Director-General's concurrence under s 79B(3) is only required and can only be granted where development is on critical habitat or likely to significantly affect threatened species; a written notice under cl 64 of the EPA Regulation that concurrence may be assumed does not create a freestanding obligation on the consent authority where those preconditions are not met.
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