Guides to the Environmental Impact Assessment process
Detailed guides to the environmental impact assessment process under the
Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 (EMPC Act).
Guide to Environmental Impact Assessment
Detailed information for proponents, consultants and the community about the environmental impact assessment process, is available in the Guide to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA):
Guide to Environmental Impact Assessment ( EIA ) (PDF 2Mb)
Guide for Land Use Planners
Detailed information for land use planners about how the environmental impact assessment process relates to the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993, is available in the Guidance for Land Use Planners on EIA conducted by the EPA Board.
Guidance for Land Use Planners on EIA conducted by the EPA Board (PDF 2Mb)
Guidance on Community Engagement
Effective community engagement can help to achieve positive outcomes. Information for proponents on how to engage with the community is available in the Guidance on Community Engagement:
Guidance for Community Engagement (PDF 110Kb)
Guide for Preparing a Notice of Intent (NOI)
The assessment process may start when a proponent submits a Notice of Intent (NOI) to the EPA. A NOI contains basic information on a proposal and helps to coordinate the assessment approach between EPA, Council and the proponent. Submitting a NOI is optional, but recommended, and can only be used for 'level 2' activities where the proponent intends to apply to Council for a Land Use Permit.
Proponents who wish to submit a NOI should use the
Guide to Preparing a Notice of Intent:
Guide for preparing a notice of intent (NOI) (PDF 177Kb)
Guides for Preparing an EER or EIS
Proponents will prepare documentation (known as a 'case for assessment') that describes the proposal and its environmental impacts. This will be an Environmental Effects Report (EER) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), depending on the 'class of assessment'. To assist with this, the EPA will provide specific guidelines to each proponent on how to prepare the EER or EIS. The specific guidelines issued will be based on generic templates, but adapted to the proposed activity and site, and informed by specialist advice.
Environmental Effects Report Guidelines
Proponents will typically be required to prepare an EER for proposals with relatively low environmental risk.
For quarries and other extractive industry proposals, guidelines will be based on the generic
Extractive Industry Environmental Effects Report Guidelines:
Extractive Industry Environmental Effects Report Guidelines (PDF 586Kb)
For all other types of activity, guidelines will be based on the
General EER Guidelines:
Environmental Effects Report Guidelines (PDF 582Kb)
Environmental Impact Statement Guidelines
Proponents will typically be required to prepare an EIS for proposals with higher or more complex environmental risk.
All EIS guidelines will be based on the General EIS Guidelines:
Guidelines for Preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (PDF 365Kb)
Note: Before 2019, the term “Development Proposal and Environmental Management Plan" (DPEMP) was used instead of EIS. Proposals that started the assessment process before 2019 will still use the term DPEMP.