Editors --- "The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act" [2010] AdminRw 20; (2010) 59 Admin Review 75

• The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

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The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act

On 31 October 2008 the Hon. Peter Garrett, then Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, commissioned an independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The review is a statutory requirement provided for by s 522A of the Act. The review was carried out by Dr Allan Hawke, who released an interim report on 3 August 2009. The report nominated a number of areas for additional consideration but made no conclusions or recommendations. Among the main areas for further consideration are the following:

• the purpose of the Act

• the division and harmonisation of responsibilities for the environment between the Commonwealth and the states and territories

• the appropriateness of the current matters of national environmental significance as triggers under the Act and proposals for the inclusion of additional triggers

• alternative approaches to biodiversity conservation

• improved arrangements for performance auditing and compliance—including for regional forest agreements and other bilateral agreements

• the scope for review of decisions made under the Act

• opportunities for streamlining environmental regulation.

On 30 October 2009 Dr Hawke presented his final report—The Australian Environment Act: report of the Independent Review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999—to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, who tabled it in parliament, as required by s 522A of the Act, on 21 December. The report recommends an integrated package of reforms, including the following:

• establishing an independent Environment Commission to advise government on project approvals, strategic assessments, bioregional plans and other statutory decisions

• streamlining approvals processes through earlier engagement in planning and providing for more effective use of and greater reliance on strategic assessments, bioregional planning and approvals, and bilateral agreements

• creating a new matter of national environmental significance for ‘ecosystems of national significance’ and introducing an interim greenhouse trigger

• improving transparency in decision making and providing greater access to the courts for public interest litigation.

The final report is available at www.environment.gov.au/epbc/review/index.html.