Comparative practice - Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment - page 324

interesting features but are generally not as powerful as those of Canada or the
Netherlands. The Commonwealth EIA system was established as early as 1974 under the
Environmental Protection (Impact of Proposals) Act. It applied only to federal activities.
During the life of the Act (1974-2000) about 4,000 proposals were referred for
consideration, but on average less than 10 formal assessments were carried out each year
(Wood 2003). As such, the states put in place their own legislation or procedures to
extend the scope of EIA to their own activities, and many of these state systems have
become stronger and more effective than the national system. Over time there has been
concern about the variation in EIA procedures, and their implementation, between states
in Australia and there have been attempts to increase harmonization (Australian and New
Zealand Environment and Conservation Council—ANZECC 1991, 1996, 1997) (see also
Harvey 1998, Thomas 1998). In addition, a major review of Commonwealth EIA
processes was undertaken in 1994 producing a set of very useful reports on cumulative
impact and strategic assessment; social impact assessment; public participation; the
public inquiry process; EIA practices in Australia and overseas comparative EIA practice
(CEPA 1994). The review highlighted, among other issues, the need to reform EIA at the
Commonwealth level—including a better consideration of cumulative impacts, social and
health impacts, SEA, public participation and monitoring.
Following Government changes and a further review of federal/state roles in
environmental protection, Australia repealed its Commonwealth EIA legislation, and
several other environmental statutes, to create the Environmental Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBCA) in 1999. The EPBCA provides a lot more
procedural detail than the original EIA legislation, and a range of documents has been
produced to explain the processes (Environment Australia 2000). EIA is undertaken for
matters of national environmental significance, defined as World Heritage properties,
Ramsar wetlands, threatened and migratory species, the Commonwealth marine
environment and nuclear actions. The Act promotes ecologically sustainable
development; it also provides for SEA (IEMA 2002). In its first year, the EPBCA did not
appear to increase the rate of Commonwealth EIA activity (Wood 2003). See Padgett &
Kriwoken (2001), Scanlon & Dyson (2001), and Marsden & Dovers (2002) for further
commentary on the Act and on recent developments in EIA and SEA in Australia.
10.9.1 EIA in Western Australia (WA)
The Western Australian (WA) EIA system provides an interesting example of a good
state system that includes many innovative features. Central to the success of the Western
Australian system is the role of the EPA (Wood & Bailey 1994). The Environmental
Protection Authority (EPA) was established by the WA Parliament as an Authority with
the broad objective of protecting the State's environment and it is the independent
environmental adviser that recommends to the WA government whether projects are
acceptable. It is independent of political direction. The EPA determines the form, content,
timing and procedures of assessment and can call for all relevant information; the advice
it provides to the Minister for the Environment must be published. The EPA overrides
virtually all other legislation, and the environmental decision (with conditions) is central
to the authorization of new proposals. Other permits must await the environmental
approval, based on the EIA.