PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Western Australian government has urged the federal government to establish an Environmental Approvals Bilateral Agreement that would fast-track approvals for major resources projects.

The proposed agreement, under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, would significantly reduce major project timeframes, duplication and costs, whilst maintaining the highest environmental standards, Premier Mark McGowan said.

"This is a vital agreement that would slash approval times for major projects and unleash Western Australian jobs.

"Industry has been crying out for bilateral approvals and we are responding to these calls. This plan ensures we maintain the highest environmental standards, but don't get bogged down in bureaucracy.

“Signing this agreement would complement the recent cooperative work by the state and federal governments to streamline the way we do business,” the Premier said, pointing out that a bilateral agreement of this nature is possible under the current Western Australian and federal legislation, and requires no additional legislative change.

"Western Australia is on the cusp of a new era in large-scale resources projects, including the Browse and Scarborough developments, which will deliver a pipeline of jobs into the future.

"The current approvals process is too slow and there is too much duplication at state and Commonwealth levels.

The state government’s call comes just days after Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the state government would partner with Western Australia to develop a system that would allow project proponents to submit a single application through an online portal, track its progress and access a database of biodiversity studies relevant to their project.

Morrison estimated that the time-frame could be reduced from the current three-and-a-half years to between 6 and 18 months, through the better use of technology.

McGowan said that if the Prime Minister agrees to the bilateral agreement, it is expected to reduce assessment processes for major projects by around six months, making it easier to do business in the state.

The bilateral agreement would complement the state and Commonwealth governments' recent agreement to create a new online portal system to submit and track approval applications.

With billions of dollars' worth of new job-creating projects such as Browse and Scarborough earmarked to get underway in coming years, the state government is working to ensure unnecessary bureaucracy is minimized, said Environment Minister Stephen Dawson.

“The government is committed to improving regulation in order to support the Western Australian economy and ensure our environment is protected, and I urge the Commonwealth to establish an environmental approvals bilateral agreement,” Dawson said.

"By improving transparency, consistency and timeliness of environmental approvals, the government's latest reforms are a genuine win-win for the environment.

"With better systems, improved legislation and extra resources for our environmental agencies, the government is serious about making it easier to do business in Western Australia and it's great to see our Commonwealth counterparts recognise and support our initiatives.”

The Western Australian government will also deliver a further A$1.7-million to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to build a team of assessment professionals to deal specifically with state significant proposals - reducing assessment timelines.  

This comes on top of A$3-million to fund 14 additional staff announced in October 2018 to assist the EPA manage the steep increase in major projects requiring assessment and new growth for Western Australia.

The Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy on Wednesday said that the establishment of a bilateral environment approvals agreement would have a significant impact on state projects that are set to create thousands of jobs for Western Australians over the next few years.

“Today’s landmark announcement is a massive win for the State’s economy as it seizes the opportunity to bring forward the next wave of major projects through a level of cooperation between the state and federal government not seen before,” said CEO Paul Everingham.

“It provides an effective solution to the duplication that exists within the current approvals process, by equipping the state government with the accreditation to conduct assessments and issue a single approval, which will provide a huge boost to productivity.

“The renewed commitment from the state and federal government this year, to reduce red tape for industry, to create more job opportunities for Western Australians, has been very promising and a welcome relief from years of overly bureaucratic approval systems that industry has had to deal with, which has stifled growth in this state.”