Coordinator-General's evaluation report

The Coordinator-General is required to write a report evaluating the EIS or IAR.

The report includes the Coordinator-General's evaluation of, and conclusions regarding, the project's environmental impacts and proposed mitigation measures.

In writing the report, the Coordinator-General takes into account the final EIS or the final IAR, which incorporate relevant information from:

• all properly made submissions
• other submissions accepted by the Coordinator-General
• comments and advice from government advisory agencies and other entities
• technical reports and other advice.

After considering all relevant information, the Coordinator-General recommends the project either:

• proceed subject to conditions and recommendations designed to ensure the project's environmental impacts are properly managed
• be refused on the grounds its environmental impacts cannot be adequately addressed.

The Coordinator-General's report on the EIS or IAR is published on the department's website.

Conditions of approval

The Coordinator-General's evaluation report is not an approval in itself. The conditions of approval stated in the report only gain legal effect when they are attached to a statutory approval given under other specific legislation.

The Coordinator-General's conditions of approval do not relieve the coordinated project proponent of its obligation to obtain all other necessary approvals.

The Coordinator-General's evaluation report may state conditions that must be attached to a:

• development approval under the Planning Act 2016

• mining lease under the Mineral Resources Act 1989
• environmental  authority (mining lease) under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act)
• petroleum lease, pipeline licence or petroleum facility licence under the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act 2004
• non-code compliant environmental authority (petroleum activities) under the EP Act
• greenhouse gas injection and storage lease under the Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2009
• geothermal production lease under the Geothermal Energy Act 2010.

The report on the EIS or IAR may also recommend conditions and requirements relating to:

• a community infrastructure designation under the planning act
• approvals under other legislation that require the preparation of an EIS or a similar statement.

The Coordinator-General may also impose conditions on a project in the absence of a relevant statutory approval.

In July 2014, the Coordinator-General released Standardised outcome-focused conditions for resource projects ( 324.5 KB), a baseline set of conditions that the Coordinator-General may state or impose for large-scale resource developments. The document is intended to be general in nature and each project is assessed and conditioned on a case-by-case basis.

Development approvals

The conditions of approval in the Coordinator-General's evaluation report on the EIS or IAR only gain legal effect when they are attached to a development approval given by an assessment manager under other specific legislation. Project proponents are still required to obtain all other development approvals from local authorities (e.g. for a material change of use) and state government agencies (e.g. an environmental authority).

Assessment managers ultimately decide whether development approvals are granted for the project. These assessment managers:

• must attach the Coordinator-General's conditions to any development approval that is granted
• are not limited in their ability to refuse a project, even if the Coordinator-General's report on the EIS has recommended the project be approved
• can impose additional conditions on the development approval, provided they are not inconsistent with the conditions stated in the Coordinator-General's evaluation report.

Lapsing

The Coordinator-General's report on the EIS or IAR generally lapses three years after it is published.

The Coordinator-General may extend this time period before the report lapses.