Environmental approvals

'Scoping' is the next step in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process following referral earlier this year. The purpose of the Environmental Scoping Document (ESD) is to specify the form and content requirements of the Environmental Review Document (ERD) that we will produce as part of the Public Environmental Review.

Public comment on the draft ESD opened for two weeks from 14 November to 28 November 2024. 

During the public comment period, 35 public submissions were received. Westport considered each public comment and/or issue raised and made amendments to the ESD where required. You can review how Westport addressed these submissions in “the proponent’s response to the submissions” available on the EPA’s Consultation Hub.

The EPA approved the ESD on 4 February 2025. You can view the final ESD here, or on the EPA website under section 3: Assessment and 'Scoping’.

Westport is now in the assessment phase where an Environmental Review Document (ERD) will be prepared and submitted to the EPA. The EPA will publish the ERD for an eight-week public comment period in line with its referral decision. The public comment period is expected to begin in mid-2026.

The EPA will evaluate if the environmental impacts can be managed to meet the objective for each environmental factor. Where significant residual impacts remain following consideration of Westport’s mitigation and management measures, appropriate environmental offsets will be required.

In response to public comments, Westport will then prepare a ‘Response to Submissions’ document which will also be made publicly available on the EPA website.

At the completion of the assessment, the EPA will prepare a report and recommendations for the Minister for Environment. The assessment report sets out what the EPA considers are the key environmental factors, the EPA’s recommendations as to whether the proposal may be implemented and the conditions to which Westport should be subject. The EPA’s report and recommendations are made publicly available on their website.

Following publication of the EPA report an appeal period is open for 21 days. Any person may lodge an appeal with the Minister in response to the content of the EPA report and recommendations.

The Western Australian (WA) Minister for Environment will consider the EPA’s assessment report and any appeals before determining, in consultation with other Ministers and decision-making authorities, whether the project should be allowed to proceed, and if so, under what conditions.

If the WA Minister for Environment determines that a proposal may be implemented, a Ministerial Statement is issued with a set of conditions that the proponent must comply with to proceed.

Learn more about the WA environmental approvals process at the EPA website.

Following referral, DCCEEW then released for public comment draft Assessment Guidelines for the proposed marine and landside port infrastructure (the controlled action).  

The Assessment Guidelines outline the requirements for the Commonwealth Public Environmental Report (PER).  

The public comment period commenced on 25 November and was open until 6 December 2024.

The final Assessment Guidelines were approved on 6 January 2025 and are available on EPBC Act Public Portal. The direct link to the document is here.

As part of the assessment process, the draft PER will be published for public comment. The public comment period will be at least 20 business days.

Following a review of comments, the PER will be updated by Westport to reflect how public comments have been considered.

The final PER will then be published for the public to view. There is no public comment period at this stage.

Following an assessment by DCCEEW, the Commonwealth Minister for Environment decides whether to approve a controlled action and whether there are conditions to an approval.

Learn more about the EPBC Act approvals process here.