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Environmental management > Impact assessment

EPBC Bilateral Agreement

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) Bilateral Agreement between Queensland and the Commonwealth came into effect on Friday, 13 August 2004. While it is commonly referred to as the Bilateral Agreement, or more simply as ‘the Bilateral’, its full title is An Agreement between the Australian Government and the State of Queensland under Section 45 of the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 Relating to Environmental Assessment.

Its purpose is to avoid duplication of assessment process for proposals that are ‘controlled actions’ requiring assessment under Part 8 of the EPBC and which are undergoing an environmental impact statement (EIS) process under State legislation.

The Bilateral applies only to three classes of actions, specifically those assessed by an EIS under:

Once a state EIS process has been accredited, it will only cover the assessment part of the Commonwealth’s EPBC process. The Commonwealth will still retain its separate approval powers under Part 9 of the EPBC.

The Queensland and Commonwealth governments have agreed Administrative Procedures to make the Bilateral work. The procedures primarily detail when liaison between Queensland and the Commonwealth will occur during the EIS process and who has the delegation to sign related documents.

The EPA will only be responsible for the Administrative Procedures when they relate to an EIS under Chapter 3 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act).

Proponents wishing to obtain advice on whether their proposed project is a controlled action under the EPBC should contact the Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage.

Bilateral Agreement between the Queensland and the Australian governments
Administrative Procedures of the Bilateral Agreement

Last updated: 02 March 2007