Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

The Minister must decide which one of the following approaches must be used for assessment of the relevant impacts of an action that the Minister has decided is a controlled action:

assessment by an accredited assessment process;

assessment on referral information under Division 3A;

assessment on preliminary documentation under Division 4;

assessment by public environment report under Division 5;

assessment by environmental impact statement under Division 6;

assessment by inquiry under Division 7.

In making the decision, the Minister must consider:

information relating to the action given to the Minister in the referral of the proposal to take the action; and

any other information available to the Minister about the relevant impacts of the action that the Minister considers relevant (including information in a report on the impacts of actions under a policy, plan or program under which the action is to be taken that was given to the Minister under an agreement under Part 10 (about strategic assessments)); and

any relevant information received in response to an invitation under subparagraph 74(2)(b)(ii); and

the matters (if any) prescribed by the regulations; and

the guidelines (if any) published under subsection (6).

The Minister may decide on an assessment by an accredited assessment process only if the Minister is satisfied that:

the process is to be carried out under a law of the Commonwealth, a State or a self‑governing Territory; and

the process and the law meet the standards (if any) prescribed by the regulations; and

the process will ensure that the relevant impacts of the action are adequately assessed; and

he or she will receive a report of the outcome of the process that will provide enough information on the relevant impacts of the action to let him or her make an informed decision whether or not to approve under Part 9 (for the purposes of each controlling provision) the taking of the action.

The Minister may decide on an assessment on referral information under Division 3A only if the Minister is satisfied (after considering the matters in subsection (3)) that the action meets the criteria prescribed in the regulations for the purposes of this subsection.

The Minister may decide on an assessment on preliminary documentation under Division 4 only if the Minister is satisfied (after considering the matters in subsection (3)) that that approach will allow the Minister to make an informed decision whether or not to approve under Part 9 (for the purposes of each controlling provision) the taking of the action.

The Minister may publish in the Gazette guidelines setting out criteria for deciding which approach must be used for assessing the relevant impacts of an action.