Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for the Environment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Cost Recovery) Bill 2014 (the bill) amends the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Commonwealth) (otherwise known as the EPBC Act) to allow for cost recovery for environmental assessment activities under the EPBC Act. The EPBC Act already includes cost recovery for some permitting activities.

The purpose of the bill is to allow for cost recovery for environmental impact assessments, including strategic assessments, under the EPBC Act, consistent with the Australian Government Cost Recovery Guidelines. The underpinning principles and the steps taken in advancing this bill were part of the last budget of the previous government. The commitments made were accepted prior to the election by the then opposition and now government.

Environmental assessment activities are appropriate for cost recovery because the activities deliver a clear benefit for a particular beneficiary by enabling them to undertake an activity approved under the EPBC Act. Cost recovery will also improve the department's ability to meet statutory time frames by providing a sustainable source of resources to improve the efficiency of the assessment process. It will also provide incentives to industry to undertake early engagement and incorporate the most environmentally acceptable outcomes into their business planning, as this may reduce the level of assessment required and therefore any costs payable. The relevant fees will be specified in the regulations, except the fees in relation to assessment by an inquiry or strategic assessment. The bill will also allow the regulations to specify administrative requirements for applications, processes for payment, and for refunds, exemptions and waivers.

I would note that, in response to a specific inquiry from the member for Wannon, the waiver capacity will be available in relation to public institutions, such as local governments carrying out activities such as prescribed burns in areas where they may have to make an environmental assessment. It is an important recognition that public entities will carry out activities which may be covered by the EPBC Act, which should be treated as for the public benefit and for which exemptions will be available on a case-by-case basis. I thank the member for Wannon for raising this point, and I can confirm that his concern will be met and will be accommodated within the act.

The regulations can also specify a method for calculating fees—for example where a fee will be calculated with reference to the complexity of an action. The bill provides a process for proponents to apply for a reconsideration of the way in which a method may be used to calculate fees. My department will shortly release a cost recovery impact statement, approved by me and the Minister for Finance, which details the fees payable and the methods for calculating variable fees. We will, of course, consult with industry and the community in the process of so doing.

Fees in relation to inquiries or strategic assessments will be made through a ministerial determination, due to the wide variations in the complexity and scale of such assessments. Some strategic assessments which deliver a public benefit will continue to be budget funded. Cost-recovered strategic assessments would be considered appropriate where the outcome of the strategic assessment delivers a clear private benefit to an identifiable beneficiary (or identifiable group of beneficiaries), and charging would be efficient and effective. Costs could be determined on a case by case basis. Where the one-stop shop process is in place, it will be a matter for states to make their own determinations within this space. They will have the capacity to do so.

The bill also allows for cost recovery for the assessment and approval of action management plans submitted after the minister has granted an approval under the EPBC Act, and for the variation of those plans. Action management plans are plans for managing the impacts of the action on a matter protected by a provision of part 3, such as a plan for conserving habitat of a species.

The preparation of and approval of action management plans is a common requirement of conditions of approval. The bill allows for cost recovery for these activities by allowing a person to elect to submit a management plan for approval after the decision is made approving the action. The regulations can then specify that a fee can be charged for the assessment and approval of the plan when it is submitted.

Action management plans allow the minister to have flexibility to specify required environmental outcomes or management strategies as more data becomes available or new technologies are developed for environmental management. If proponents choose to submit action management plans prior to approval, there will be no additional fee for assessment of the plan, providing a cost incentive for proponents which can provide the plan up front to do so. Once an approval has been issued, the approval holder would be charged for assessments of variations to the plan.

The Australian government is also committed to delivering a 'one stop shop' for environmental approvals that will accredit state planning systems under the EPBC Act through approval bilateral agreements, to create a single environmental assessment and approval process where such state processes meet the highest of Commonwealth standards.

The cost recovery arrangements will only apply to Commonwealth assessment activities and, as I said, they will not apply to state assessment activities. But states will have the option of cost recovering for their assessment activities. It will be a matter for each of the states to determine.

The introduction of cost recovery by this bill will provide an incentive to businesses proposing to take activities which require approvals under the EPBC Act to engage early and actively with my department to reduce costs. Cost recovery will also drive efficiencies in the environmental assessment process. The introduction of cost recovery complements the government's commitment to streamlining environmental approvals under the one-stop shop process by ensuring Commonwealth assessment activities are as efficient and effective as possible.

I would note again that we are implementing a matter announced in the Labor government's last budget. It was their measure, which we have accepted. We did so prior to the election, during the then opposition leader's budget in reply speech, and so I would hope that the ALP will show the good grace to accept the very measure which they proposed, which they announced and for which they budgeted.

I also wish to thank all of those departmental officers involved not just in the preparation of this legislation but in the arduous task of negotiating the agreements with the states and territories—although the states and territories have been remarkably cooperative, because they see the benefit of high environmental standards and efficient streamlining of what would otherwise have been duplicated process. In particular, I wish to thank my departmental deputy secretary, Kimberley Dripps, and the relevant officer, Rachel Bacon, who has led the process of negotiating with the states. I also want to thank Rachael de Hosson from my office and all other officers who have committed to this process. It has been quite a dramatic transformation, in a faster time than we had expected, and I commend this bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.