Overview
The Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority (NT EPA) invited the public, community and industry to provide comment and feedback on the draft General Guidance for Proponents Preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
About Preparing an Environmental Impact Statement
When the NT EPA has received notification of a proposal, it may decide that the proposal requires assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act 1982. If the NT EPA determines that a proposal will be assessed at the level of an EIS, the proponent is required to prepare the Draft EIS and make it available for public comment.
It is important that the Draft EIS is of an adequate standard to be published for public comment. The NT EPA has developed new guidance for an EIS to clearly communicate their expectations to proponents for the Draft EIS and the remainder of the assessment process. This guidance communicates the generic information that is required, and the structure, standards and protocols that are expected to be used by a proponent preparing an EIS, to help proponents achieve this standard.
In the Draft EIS, proponents are also required to address information requirements that are unique to their individual proposal. These matters are communicated in Terms of Reference (TOR). A draft of the TOR is made available to the public and any comments are considered before the TOR are finalised. Draft TOR for the Hayes Creek Project are also currently open for public comment and provide additional context for the general guidance.
What happens next
The Guideline will be amended to take into consideration comments received during the comment period. A final version of the Guideline will be issued in due course.
Submissions
The NT EPA will publish the received submissions once the final version of the Guideline is issued.