International and Individual State Environmental Impact Analysis Programs - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 317

r Ramsar wetlands of international significance. These significant
wetlands are those identified on the List of Wetlands of International
Importance , which originated during the Ramsar Convention on
Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) and has since resulted in an international
treaty with 162 signatories
r Listed migratory species
r The Commonwealth marine environment

The second category subject to EPBC is actions taken in a self-governing
territory or a state where there is agreement between the appropriate State
or Territorial Minister and the Commonwealth (i.e., national government)
Minister. The third category of actions addresses action on Commonwealth
land and the final category is actions by any Commonwealth agency taken
anywhere in the world.
The Australian protection of specific resources parallels U.S. legislation and
regulation, such as Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.)
for wetlands, the National Historic Preservation Act (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.),
which encompasses heritage properties and places, and the Marine Protection,
Research, and Sanctuaries Act (16 U.S.C. §1431 et seq. and 33 U.S.C. §1401 et seq.).
The provision in the Australian EPBC Act for activities on state lands reflects
NEPA “piggyback” provision (see Section 6.2.4) and the EPBC Act coverage of
Commonwealth lands and actions taken by the Commonwealth is identical to
the scope of NEPA's limitation to federal actions.
Australia's environmental process has matured and expanded beyond
original NEPA provisions. Coordinated with the national law, all Australian
provinces and territories have set procedures or put legislation in place requir-
ing environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for all activities they propose
which might affect the environment. Some states, such as Western Australia,
have expanded requirements to cover monitoring of post-implementation
impact and other significant features (Wood and Bailey 1994).

8.4 European Union Environmental Program

The European Union began addressing environmental issues in the early
1970s, shortly after the passage of NEPA (Hey 2006). However, they did not
enact legislation requiring environmental analysis until 1985, with the pas-
sage of their original Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (EC 1985).
The directive has been amended several times (1997 and 2003), with recent
consolidation and clarification in 2011 (Directive 2011/92/EU). Just as NEPA
placed environmental requirements on each federal agency and mandated
each agency develop implementing regulations, the EU Environmental
Impact Assessment Directive called for similar requirements for each