Environmental Impact Assessment (Part IV Divisions 1 and 2) Procedures Manual

The EPA’s Environmental Impact Assessment (Part IV Divisions 1 and 2) Procedures Manual provides guidance, primarily for proponents and consultants, on the environmental impact assessment process for proposals.

The Procedures Manual supports the Administrative Procedures and contains more detailed information on each step of the EIA process, including processes after an implementation statement is published by the Minister. It also contains links to relevant instructions and forms used through the EIA process.

In the current version (4.0), amendments have been made throughout the document to reflect the Environmental Protection Amendment Act 2020. Key changes include the incorporation of procedures relating to s. 38C (amendment of a proposal during assessment), amended procedures for s. 43A (amendment of a proposal during assessment) and amended procedures for s. 45C (Request for a change of proposal and/or conditions after approval). It also outlines new procedures relating to processes for which the Minister for Environment is decision maker for, including s. 45D (Division or Consolidation of Ministerial statement/s) and s. 47A (Withdrawal of Ministerial statement); and further considerations under s. 46 (Amend implementation conditions with inquiry).

Other key changes from the previous version include a consistent application of key principles throughout the EIA process, focus on environmental outcomes and outcomes based conditions, consideration of significance, holistic impact and cumulative effect assessment, consideration of other decision-making processes, consultation process requirements and additional transparency measures.

The EPA have developed supplementary material to assist with the transition to the new procedures.

 EIA (Part IV Divisions 1 and 2) Procedures Manual.pdf (PDF, 4.18 MB)