WA-Federal EPBC Single-Assessment Agreement Explained
On 21 April 2026, Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt and Western Australian Premier Roger Cook signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing both governments to establishing a single-assessment bilateral agreement under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The agreement will formally accredit the WA Government to assess major projects against both state and federal environmental requirements through a unified process, eliminating the parallel assessment pathways that have long drawn criticism from proponents, industry groups, and planning practitioners alike.
The bilateral agreement is expected to be finalised by the end of 2026, with the federal reform framework scheduled to be in full effect by 1 December 2026. This timing is contingent on the National Environmental Standards, which are being progressively developed and are scheduled for finalisation from mid-2026. Public consultation on two draft Standards closed on 30 January 2026, with further revised consultation rounds required before the full suite of Standards is complete. For environmental consultants, planners, and proponents working on major projects in Western Australia, this changes the EPBC referral strategy and assessment workflow heading into 2027.
The significance of this announcement extends well beyond Western Australia’s borders. WA is the first jurisdiction to pursue a bilateral agreement under the reformed EPBC framework following new federal environment reform legislation passed in late November 2025. The manner in which WA negotiates, implements, and operates this agreement will serve as the national test case for how other states and territories might secure their own streamlined assessment powers. For developers, lawyers, councils, and environmental consultants across Australia, understanding the mechanics of this transition is now an operational priority.
Key details of the WA-Federal EPBC bilateral assessment agreement
The MoU signed on 21 April 2026 establishes the political and procedural commitment to a bilateral assessment agreement under the EPBC Act. Under this model, the WA Government will be formally accredited to conduct environmental impact assessments that satisfy both the state’s own environmental legislation and the Commonwealth’s requirements under the EPBC Act. Proponents of controlled actions will no longer be required to separately address federal referral requirements through a parallel Commonwealth assessment process. Instead, a single state-led assessment will carry the legal weight of both jurisdictions.
The bilateral agreement will be underpinned by the new National Environmental Standards, which represent one of the most substantive changes introduced by the recent federal environment reform legislation. These Standards establish the ecological thresholds, assessment methodologies, and outcomes that state-level assessments must meet in order to satisfy Commonwealth requirements. Two draft Standards were released for public consultation, with that consultation period closing on 30 January 2026. However, the finalisation of the full suite of Standards will not occur as a single event. The Standards are being progressively developed and finalised from mid-2026 onwards, meaning practitioners cannot treat mid-2026 as a single completion date. Multiple consultation rounds are required before all Standards are locked in.
The precedent value of NSW bilateral assessment arrangements provides useful reference data. According to NSW Planning, between 2020 and 2025, the NSW and Australian Governments avoided duplicated assessment work on 50 determined bilateral projects representing $39.5 billion in proposed investment. Since 2015, 77 state significant development proposals in NSW have been assessed under bilateral or accredited assessment arrangements. These figures illustrate the scale of administrative efficiency that can be achieved through well-functioning bilateral agreements, and they set a reasonable benchmark against which WA’s new agreement will ultimately be measured.
The reform framework will be in full effect by 1 December 2026. This creates a defined transition window, and any major project scheduled for environmental assessment submission in 2027 will need to be scoped and prepared within the new bilateral framework. Projects already in the referral pipeline under legacy EPBC processes will need to be assessed for transition risk. Practitioners should note that the new federal environment reform legislation, passed in late November 2025, provides the statutory foundation for the bilateral agreement, but the operationalisation of that foundation depends on the National Environmental Standards being progressively finalised through 2026.
Impact of National EPBC Reform on WA Projects
Australia’s environmental assessment landscape has long been characterised by jurisdictional overlap between the Commonwealth’s EPBC Act and state and territory planning and environmental legislation. In WA, major projects have historically required parallel assessment processes: proponents needed to satisfy both the WA Environmental Protection Act 1986 and the Commonwealth EPBC Act, often running concurrent documentation requirements, information requests, and approval conditions. This dual-track burden has been consistently identified as a source of delay and inefficiency, particularly for large-scale renewables, housing, and critical minerals projects that are central to WA’s economic pipeline.
The WA bilateral agreement is the first to be pursued under the reformed EPBC framework following the passage of new federal environment reform legislation in late November 2025. This distinguishes it from earlier bilateral agreements, including those previously operating under the pre-reform EPBC framework, which were not underpinned by National Environmental Standards and did not carry the same accreditation model now being established.
References and related sources
- Primary source: minister.dcceew.gov.au
- EPBC Act
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This is an iEnvi Machete news summary. Prepared by iEnvi to summarise the source article for contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, approvals and site risk professionals.
Published: 23 Apr 2026
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