What’s proposed for NSW environmental assessment
NSW environmental assessment for major projects could soon become a single process. Public consultation opened on 21 October 2026 on a proposed agreement between the Commonwealth and New South Wales. Under the deal, major projects in NSW would go through one combined assessment covering both Commonwealth and state environmental requirements, rather than two separate processes run by each level of government.
The Federal Government would still make the final approval decision under national environmental law. In a joint media release, federal Environment Minister Murray Watt and NSW Ministers Penny Sharpe and Paul Scully described it as the first new bilateral agreement to reach public consultation since the EPBC Act reforms passed Parliament at the end of last year.
Who is affected
Those mainly affected are proponents of major NSW projects that are assessed under the state planning system and also need approval under the Commonwealth’s EPBC Act. Projects assessed under the proposed agreement would have to meet the requirements introduced by the reforms, including the new National Environmental Standards.
Key dates
Comments close at 5pm (AEDT) on Thursday 19 November 2026. Submissions can be made through the Have Your Say consultation hub run by the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
What it means in practice
If adopted, the agreement would replace the existing NSW arrangement, first signed in 2015 and amended in 2020, which pre-dates the reforms. For NSW environmental assessment, this would mean an end to two parallel processes: proponents would prepare a single set of assessment documents covering both Commonwealth and state requirements, and the Commonwealth would keep the final say on approval.
The National Environmental Standards and other requirements of the reformed EPBC Act would apply to projects assessed this way.
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General information only, not legal advice. Check the official source before acting.
Source: Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
