Once an environmental impact statement is lodged under the Environment Act 2000, sections 54 to 59 take it through to a decision.
Section 54 — assessment
On receipt, the Director shall cause the statement to be assessed.
Within 30 days of receipt, the Director shall notify the proponent in writing of the period he will require to assess it and decide whether to accept it.
During that period the Director may notify the proponent in writing that he requires a further period, specifying the period and the reasons for it.
(a) require any person to provide information;
(b) call a conference of interested persons to discuss the application;
(c) refer the statement to the Environment Consultative Group;
(d) appoint a committee to conduct a public inquiry and report its findings; or
(e) take any or all of those courses, or such other investigations and inquiries as he thinks fit.
And under section 54(5), where a Provincial Environment Committee has been established for a province to which the statement relates, the Director shall, before completing his assessment, refer the statement to that committee for its comments. That is a mandatory step, and a point to check in any province with a committee in place.
Section 55 — public review and submissions
The Director shall cause any information provided under section 54, and any environmental impact statement, to be made available for public review, and shall determine the period within which, the extent to which and the manner in which governmental authorities or persons may make submissions to the Director or the Council.
The Director may require the proponent, at his own expense and to the Director’s satisfaction, to:
(a) make copies of the information or statement and advertise its availability for public review;
(b) provide copies to such public authorities, persons and members of the public as the Director determines, at such price (if any) as he determines; and
(c) make a public presentation to persons likely to be affected by the activity.
The Director may also require a proposed programme of public review to be submitted for approval (s 55(3)).
The proponent may meet the cost of persons attending a public presentation, including persons representing the Director — but the fact that it has done so shall not place any obligation on a person to form a particular view of the proposal.
The provision is a candid acknowledgement of how these processes work in practice, and a statutory answer to the suggestion that paid attendance implies agreement.
Where a statement contains information about a manufacturing or industrial process or trade secret, or information of a business or financial nature, which is confidential to the applicant, the Director shall exclude it before the statement is made available for public review.
The exclusion is confined to those categories. It does not extend to environmental data, monitoring results or impact predictions.
Under section 55(6), the Director may at any time before accepting the statement refer issues raised during assessment and public review back to the proponent and require the statement to be amended to address them.
Section 56 — acceptance of the statement
(a) it contains an adequate description of the nature and extent of the physical and social environmental impacts likely to result;
(b) all reasonable steps will be taken to minimise environmental harm that may result; and
(c) the activity will be carried out in a manner consistent with all relevant Environment Policies and the Regulation.
The decision shall be in writing and specify the reasons (s 56(2)).
Where the Director has not made a decision within the period notified under section 54(2), as extended under section 54(3), the Director is deemed to have refused the statement — and section 68 review applies to that deemed refusal.
Sections 57 and 58 — referral and recommendation
Within 14 days of acceptance the Director must refer the statement to the Environment Council, together with his assessment report and any public submissions and other information (s 57).
The Council then has 90 days to consider the material and either (a) accept the statement and recommend to the Minister that the activity be approved in principle, specifying the conditions to which it should be subject; or (b) refuse to accept it and advise the proponent to amend and resubmit. Its satisfaction is tested against the same three matters as the Director’s under section 56(1).
the objects of the Act; the matters of national importance; the general environmental duty; any relevant Environment Policy; the impact statement; any assessment or report prepared at the Director’s request; the views of any Provincial Environment Committee; any environmental harm likely to result; the character, resilience and beneficial values of the receiving environment; any environmental improvement plan lodged; public submissions and views expressed at a presentation, hearing or conference; the suitability of the applicant to hold a permit; best practice environmental management for the activity; international treaty obligations; and public interest in the proposed activity.
The decision must be in writing with reasons (s 58(4)). Where the Council refuses to accept a statement, section 58(5) requires it, on the proponent’s written application, to allow representations and, if then satisfied, to accept the statement and recommend accordingly.
Section 59 — the Minister’s approval in principle
On receiving the Council’s recommendation, the Minister shall within 28 days either (a) issue an approval in principle, or (b) refuse to approve the activity.
The decision shall be in writing and give reasons.
Where the Minister refuses, he shall immediately require the Council to appoint a Working Committee to provide advice under section 24.
The Regulations may prescribe the form in which the decision is recorded and the process for making it available to the public (s 59(4)).
How to take part in the process
- Watch for the advertisement of the statement’s availability under section 55(2)(a).
- Get the statement — the Director may require the proponent to provide copies at a determined price.
- Note the submission period the Director has determined, and the manner required.
- Attend the public presentation under section 55(2)(c) if you are likely to be affected.
- Address the section 58(2) criteria by name — particularly matters of national importance, the receiving environment’s character, resilience and beneficial values, the suitability of the applicant, and best practice environmental management.
- Ask the Provincial Environment Committee to comment — the Director must refer the statement to it.
- Ask for the written reasons under sections 56(2), 58(4) and 59(2).
- If a decision is unreasonably delayed, note the deemed refusal in section 56(3) and the review that follows.
Sources
- Environment Act 2000 — ss 4, 5, 7, 24, 29, 54–59, 68; Part V Division 3
- Conservation and Environment Protection Authority Act 2014
- Constitution — s 59 (natural justice); Preamble, Fourth National Goal
Before relying on anything here, read the current text of the Environment Act 2000 and check for later amendments. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.