The announcement yesterday by the Minister for the Environment to put in place the building blocks of an EPA under the nature positive plan, that will administer the existing legislation ahead of the main body of Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) reform, was welcomed by the Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA).
The decision promises more accountability and transparency under the new EPA with industry access to data and progress reports. Critically, it assures industry that there will be faster environmental approvals on projects.
“For too long the EPBC Act has been a significant drag on new housing projects. It has undermined project viability due to inconsistent application, interpretation and governance, which adds substantially to the time and cost of new projects. This has led to an eroding of confidence in the environmental process,” said Col Dutton, UDIA National President.
UDIA supports the Government’s approach towards developing the EPBC & Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) reforms as a necessary step to allow administration functions to be set up and troubleshoot the framework ahead of any major changes to the EPBC itself.
Industries across Australia are concerned by projects being held up in the EPBC process for approvals. Yesterday’s announcement of the building blocks of an EPA is a necessary step in addressing those concerns.
“The Minister is doing the right thing by taking time to reform the environmental system in stages to make sure it works for all the industries that need efficient and effective decisions. It also gives industry a chance to see how the EPA performs to remove the significant backlog of environmental issues currently holding up projects,“ said Mr Dutton.
UDIA will always support the government in trying to create an efficient and effective system because it is absolutely vital for the prosperity of Australia.
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Media Enquiries:
Deanna Lane | Director, National Media & Communications | 0416 295 898 | media@udia.com.au
Building blocks of an EPA a necessary step in EPBC reforms
