Environmental Impact Assessment

Environmental impact assessment is the process by which the likely environmental effects of a proposed development are identified, evaluated and, where necessary, mitigated before approval is granted. Node 32320 addresses the triggers for environmental impact assessment in the Australian development context, the assessment instruments commonly applied, and the relationship between Commonwealth and state environmental assessment regimes.

Not every development application requires a discrete environmental impact assessment; the requirement is triggered where a proposal is likely to have a significant effect on the environment, on a matter of state environmental significance, or on a matter of national environmental significance under Commonwealth legislation. Where triggered, the assessment is typically documented in an environmental impact statement or equivalent instrument, prepared to address a scoping report or terms of reference issued by the relevant authority.

Australian environmental impact assessment operates across two levels of government that may apply concurrently to a single proposal — state-based assessment under planning or environmental legislation, and Commonwealth assessment under national environmental law — with bilateral assessment arrangements in place in some jurisdictions to avoid duplicated process.

This node covers:

• The triggers, instruments and procedural structure of environmental impact assessment applicable to property development
• The relationship between state and Commonwealth environmental assessment regimes, including bilateral assessment arrangements

This node does not cover:

• The development application process within which an environmental impact assessment is typically embedded → refer to Node 32310
• Environmental and heritage law substantively → refer to Node 35430
• Environmental due diligence conducted by a purchaser or financier independent of a statutory assessment process → refer to Node 33540

• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth)

  the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

  Establishes Commonwealth environmental impact assessment triggers for matters of national environmental significance.
• State environmental planning legislation (for example, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW))

  state planning departments

  Establishes state-level environmental impact assessment requirements and the environmental impact statement process.
• State biodiversity conservation legislation (for example, the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW))

  state environment departments

  Governs assessment of impacts on threatened species and ecological communities.
• State heritage legislation

  state heritage councils

  Requires assessment of impacts on listed heritage items or places as part of the environmental assessment process.

Environmental assessment outcomes also bear on site-specific holding cost and feasibility risk addressed within APN’s broader development analysis content, though detailed treatment of that analysis sits outside the scope of this node.