Directions Paper - Western Australian Planning Commission

Directions Paper on the Integration of NRM and Land Use PlanningPreston Industrial Park. Recommendationswere provided on the need to protect significantareas of regionally significant vegetation andother natural areas required for the purpose ofenhancing and restoring ecological linkages,and on the need for additional studies on arange of matters including wetland buffers,water quantity and quality, acid sulphate soils,floodway management and waste management.The DPI and the EPA have been collaborating ona process to resolve the environmental mattersat an early stage in order to allow for detailedplanning for the area to proceed. (EPA BulletinNo. 1282).Referral of schemes (s48)Region schemes, local planning schemesand their amendments are referred by theresponsible authority (the Local Governmentin respect to local planning schemes andamendments, and the WAPC in respect toRegion Schemes and amendments) to theEPA under section 48 of the EP Act 1986for assessment. The underlying reasoningbehind requiring the referral of schemes andamendments is to ensure the environmentalsuitability of land for proposed uses priorto rezoning, and identification of criticalenvironmental management requirementsaffecting the use and development of the land,so that it is not necessary for all subsequentdevelopment and subdivision applications to besubject to environmental assessment.Currently all schemes and amendments arerequired to be referred regardless of the levelof potential impact on the environment theamendment may have. In addition, referral ofscheme amendments by the local governmentoccurs prior to consideration of the validityof the amendment by the Western AustralianPlanning Commission, which can result inthe EPA assessing a proposal that is unlikelyto be approved (eg. an amendment that isinconsistent with a local planning strategy).There is therefore a potential ability to furtherstreamline the environmental assessmentprocess.Referral of proposals (s38)Section 38 of the EP Act requires all proposalsthat are likely to have a significant effect onthe environment to be referred to the EPA forassessment by the decision making authority.Subdivisions and development applications aretypes of proposals that fall under this category.Not all significant proposals are required to bereferred to the EPA. Proposals are generally notrequired to be referred if they;a) have environmental impacts that can bemanaged by enforceable requirements;b) are in accordance with an assessedscheme, that has had all theenvironmental issues previously assessed;c) have been previously referred;d) are likely to be refused; ore) will be subject to an amendment;In addition to significant proposals, amendmentsto the EP Act in 2003 introduced the ability of theEPA to assess strategic proposals under s38.Under section 37B(2) a proposal is classifiedas a strategic proposal if, and to the extent withwhich it identifies:a) a future proposal that will be a significantproposal; orb) future proposals likely, if implementedin combination with each other, to havesignificant effect on the environment.The concept of strategic environmentalassessment of proposals is relatively new, andthe EPA is currently trialling the assessment ofstrategic proposals before publishing detailedguidelines. Referral of a strategic proposal willusually be by the proponent on a voluntary basisand is initiated through discussions with theEPA.Environmental impact assessmentIn determining the environmental significanceof a proposal and deciding whether a proposalwill be formally assessed, several factors aretaken into consideration as prescribed in the19