Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

A bilateral agreement may declare that actions in a class of actions identified wholly or partly by reference to the fact that they have been assessed in a specified manner need not be assessed under Part 8.

A declaration described in subsection (1) can accredit practices, procedures, systems of the State or self‑governing Territory for environmental assessment.

The Minister may enter into a bilateral agreement declaring that actions assessed in a specified manner need not be assessed under Part 8 only if the Minister is satisfied that assessment of an action in the specified manner:

will include assessment of the impacts the action has or will have, or is likely to have, on each matter protected by a provision of Part 3; and

will be consistent with any national environmental standard prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph.

The manner of assessment of actions that may be specified in a bilateral agreement between the Commonwealth and a State or Territory for the purposes of subsection (1) includes:

assessment by any person under a law of the State or Territory; and

assessment by any person under an agreement or other instrument made under a law of the State or Territory; and

assessment by any person in accordance with criteria specified in an instrument agreed by the parties to the bilateral agreement.

If a bilateral agreement has (or could have) the effect that an action need not be assessed under Part 8 but the action must still be approved under Part 9, the agreement must provide for the Minister to receive a report including, or accompanied by, enough information about the relevant impacts of the action to let the Minister make an informed decision whether or not to approve under Part 9 (for the purposes of each controlling provision) the taking of the action.