Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act) was introduced to prevent, control and abate pollution and environmental harm; as well as to conserve, preserve, protect, enhance and manage the environment (DWER, 2019a). The EP Act establishes the environmental assessment process for activities that may have a significant impact on the environment and public health and establishes environmental offences and penalties for works without approval. Part V of the EP Act sets out the process to obtain approvals such as Native Vegetation Clearing Permits (NVCPs), Works Approvals and Prescribed Premises Licences. These approvals are administered by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER), with the Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration (DMPE) given delegated authority to manage NVCP applications for clearing related to mineral or petroleum activities (DWER, 2019b; DMPE, 2025a). This InSight outlines the approvals process established via the EP Act Part V as well as follow up compliance.
Native Vegetation Clearing Permit
Clearing native vegetation, which is defined as indigenous aquatic or terrestrial vegetation that is not in a plantation, requires an NVCP unless the clearing is regulated under other laws or it aligns with an exemption (DWER, 2019c). Schedule 6 of the EP Act provides the list of laws which also regulate clearing, while Regulation 5 of the Environmental Protection (Clearing of Native Vegetation) Regulations 2004 (Native Vegetation Regulations) details exemptions. These additional laws include the Bush Fire Act 1954 (WA) for clearing a fire break or the Fish Resources Management Act 1994 (WA) for clearing aquatic vegetation (DWER, 2019c). Exemptions in Regulation 5 of the Native Vegetation Regulations, on the other hand, includes a 5ha limit for clearing related to building construction, vehicle or walking tracks; clearing along a fence line and provision of materials for fencing, woodworking or farming. When clearing for multiple purposes, the combined area must not exceed 5ha per financial year to be exempt (DWER, 2019c). Low-impact mineral or petroleum activities, or up to 10ha a year for other mineral or petroleum activities are also exempt.
To determine whether a NVCP is required (Figure 1), proponents can refer their proposed clearing project to DWER (or DMPE where mineral and petroleum activities apply) (DWER, 2021a). Referrals apply to proposed clearing that can be completed within two years, isn’t within a highly cleared area, doesn’t include marine vegetation and is unlikely to significantly impact Matters of National Environmental Significance (listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act)). Referring proposed clearing or applying for an NVCP utilises the same form regardless of whether it is submitted to DWER or DMPE (DWER, 2021a; DWER, 2024a). As a result, the referral/application form must specify which government department the form is sent to and the form type – namely whether it is a referral, or application for an area or purpose permit as they have different functions.
An area permit applies when the proponent (the landowner or an entity with permission from the landowner) proposes to clear a defined area on the property (DMPE, 2025a). A purpose permit, on the other hand, applies when the proponent isn’t the landowner but is authorised on the land and is proposing to clear different areas for a specified purpose. Generally, an area permit is in force for two years while purpose permits are valid for five years (DMPE, 2025a).
Each referral/application form must also include details about the applicant, the proposed clearing and methods to mitigate impacts (DWER, 2024a). When applying for an NVCP, a prescribed fee paid to either DWER or DMPE is required; it is not required for referrals. The proponent should also submit supporting information as attachments to their referral/application form (DWER, 2024a). These should include proof of ownership, documents detailing proposed work, explanations of mitigation measures and maps and/or spatial data of the proposed clearing area; optionally, spatial data from surveys can support the application. Complete referral/application forms are emailed to either DWER (info@dwer.wa.gov.au) or DMPE (online@dmpe.wa.gov.au), or alternatively, submitted via the Departments’ online portals (DWER, 2024b; DMPE, 2025b).
Upon receipt of the referral/application form, DWER and DMPE first determine whether the proposed clearing will have a significant impact on the environment and therefore, requires referral to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) in accordance with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process under the EP Act (DWER, 2024c). DWER and DMPE will continue to assess the application either as far as practical or through parallel approval as long as their assessment is required regardless of the EPA’s decision or EPA approval is unlikely to alter the application.
During the assessment process, applicants will be contacted if DWER or DMPE determine a permit is unnecessary for the proposed clearing or further information is required (DWER, 2024c). When everything is provided correctly, the referral/application form is deemed complete and the applicant is notified of the decision, generally within 60 business days (DWER, 2024c; DMPE, 2025c).
Complete applications are published online for public comment and are available for at least 21 days (DWER, 2024c). DWER or DMPE will notify and request a comment from people, organisations or public authorities likely to be directly impacted by the proposed clearing. Information gathered during the public consultation period is utilised when DWER or DMPE are deciding whether to approve or reject an application (DWER, 2014; DMPE, 2025d). The final decision is published online with the applicant and those who provided a comment notified directly.
When an application is approved, it will include conditions that the individual or company must follow, such as submission of an Annual Environmental Report every financial year or reporting on the health of the local ecosystem after clearing and/or rehabilitation efforts (Figure 2) (DWER, 2024c). The Annual Environmental Report must detail the extent of clearing during the year and include any monitoring data required as per the other permit conditions.
Works Approval and Prescribed Premises License
In accordance with the EP Act, the emission of pollution – which directly or indirectly alters the environment – requires a Works Approval and Prescribed Premises Licence or Registration (Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) s.53).
A Works Approval authorises construction of a Prescribed Premises, which is any structure that matches a category defined in Schedule 1 of the Environmental Protection Regulations 1987 (WA) (EP Regulations) and meets or exceeds the production or design capacity for that category (DWER, 2019b). For example, a premises which extracts and discharges water into the environment (Figure 3) to allow mining of ore is defined as a Mine Dewatering Premises, and therefore, a Works Approval is required if the extraction and discharge rate is at or above 50,000 tonnes a year (Environmental Protection Regulations 1987 (WA) Schedule 1). However, for some categories, there is no legal minimum production or design capacity threshold and DWER is required to assess whether the premises is Prescribed on a case-by-case basis (DWER, 2019b). Generally, a Prescribed Premises relates to commercial operations, while domestic or small-scale educational operations are not assessed as Prescribed.
A Prescribed Premises Licence or Registration, on the other hand, authorises emissions and pollution from a Prescribed Premises (DWER, 2019b). In Schedule 1 of the EP Regulations, Prescribed Premises are separated into two groups: Part 1 categories that have a high environmental risk and will require a Prescribed Premises Licence; and Part 2 categories with a lower environmental risk that can be approved under a Registration (DWER, 2019b).
Applications for a Works Approval, Prescribed Premises Licence or Registration all utilise the same form, with applicants specifying which approval the form relates to. Information in the application form must then include details on the applicant, Prescribed Premises, proposed activities and application fee calculation (DWER, 2022; DWER, 2023). Additional supporting information such as proof of occupier status, maps and/or shapefiles of the Prescribed Premises boundary and any information used to calculate the application fee must also be provided (DWER, 2022). Certain Prescribed Premises categories (such as Tailings Facilities) require additional details and attachments that are described in category checklists published by DWER (DWER, 2024d). If a category checklist does apply, it should be attached to the application form alongside the required additional attachments (DWER, 2022).
Complete application forms can either be emailed to DWER (info@dwer.wa.gov.au) or submitted via Environment Online (DWER, 2024b; DWER, 2024e). When the application is received, it is first reviewed to determine whether it should be referred to the EPA for assessment in accordance with the EIA process (DWER, 2024e). Similar to NVCP applications, parallel approval will occur as long as DWER’s assessment is required regardless of the EPA’s decision or if EPA approval is unlikely to alter the application, otherwise DWER will assess and process the application as far as practicable and issue a decision once the EPA assessment is complete (DWER, 2024e).
DWER will contact applicants during the assessment process if further information is required and notify them after the assessment process when the application is deemed complete (DWER, 2024e; DMPE, 2025c). Generally, the assessment process takes 60 days with complete applications then published on DWER’s website for public comment for at least 21 days (DWER, 2024e). Similar to NVCP applications, information from people, organisations or public authorities is considered when deciding to approve or reject an application. When a decision is made, it is published online with the applicant and those who provided a comment notified directly (DWER, 2024e).
Granted Works Approvals will include conditions such as requirements for submission of an Environmental Compliance Report, Critical Containment Infrastructure Report and/or Environmental Commissioning Report to DWER (DWER, 2024e). Once the specified reports are received, a Prescribed Premises Licence can be applied for (DWER, 2024e). In some instances, a granted Works Approval can include a condition permitting environmental commissioning and/or time limited operations while a Prescribed Premises Licence is under assessment (DWER, 2019b). An environmental commissioning condition permits limited operation for testing to validate and optimise plant and equipment for approved emissions (DWER, 2019b). DWER acknowledges and considers that emissions during plant and equipment optimisation can be higher than during standard operations; such as when determining the presence of emission leaks (Figure 4). Evidence of environmental risk, and efficiency and reliability of proposed controls are also considered before including the condition. Applicants requesting permission for environmental commissioning must provide sufficient information in their Works Approval application, such as attaching an environmental commissioning plan, which can be discussed with DWER (DWER, 2019b). Time limited operations, on the other hand, permit operations to commence for 90-180 days as specified, however, the allowable emission rate during this time is restricted to within the approved Works Approval limit (DWER, 2019b). Any emissions noted above this rate must be reported to DWER.
Granted Prescribed Premises Licences also include conditions for operation, while no conditions are included for a Registration unless it is within a Prescribed Premises Licence boundary (DWER, 2019b). An example condition for granted Prescribed Premises Licences is provision of an Annual Audit Compliance Report (AACR) with a template provided online (https://www.wa.gov.au/government/publications/guideline-annual-audit-compliance-reports) (DWER, 2019b; DWER, 2024e). The AACR is submitted to DWER and must include information on compliance with licence conditions and threshold limits, and any non-compliance that occurred (DWER, 2024e).
Approvals Compliance
DWER utilises a range of tools to monitor compliance with the EP Act, including inspections, desktop audits, self-reporting, reporting from the community and other regulatory authorities (DWER, 2021b). For NVCPs on mining tenure, compliance check tools utilised by DMPE include inspections, desktop audits and self-reporting (DMPE, 2022).
Self-reporting involves the individual or company who undertook the non-compliant activity notifying the relevant government department via the approved form rather than in a granted approval’s annual report (DMPE, 2025e; DWER, 2025a; DMPE, 2022). As soon as the non-compliant activity occurs, government departments should be notified. For example, environmental incidents on mining tenure must be reported within 24 hours to DMPE via the Environmental and Reportable Incident/Non-compliance Reporting Form, which is available on DMPE’s website (DMPE, 2025e). Depending on whether an incident occurs on mineral tenure or petroleum tenure, the form should be emailed to either incidents.environment@dmpe.wa.gov.au or petroleum.environment@dmpe.wa.gov.au, respectively. An incident investigation report is then required to be submitted in a timeframe agreed upon with DMPE (DMPE, 2025e). Environmental incidents at Prescribed Premises must initially be reported to Environment WAtch via phone call (number 1300 784 782) before a Waste Discharge Notification Form is emailed to environmentwatch@dwer.wa.gov.au (DWER, 2025a).
When a member of the community notices pollution, illegal dumping or another environmental matter, they can either call Environment WAtch or submit a form available at: https://www.wa.gov.au/service /environment/pollutant-prevention/environment-watch to report it (DWER, 2025b). Similarly, when regulatory authorities, such as local governments, water service providers or other State government departments notice unlawful conduct during their own compliance reporting, they can inform DWER of the incident.
Enforcement of the EP Act
When pollution is emitted or native vegetation is cleared without a valid approval, or an approval condition is contravened, DWER or DMPE will enact an enforcement action to the individual or company (DWER, 2021b; DMPE, 2022). There are seven enforcement actions that can be employed following an environmental breach:
- Non-statutory notice;
- Non-statutory written warning;
- Statutory notice or direction;
- Physical intervention;
- Suspension or revocation of instrument;
- Infringement notice; and
- Prosecution.
The specific enforcement action is chosen based on the seriousness of the alleged offence, behaviour of the alleged offender and previous history of non-compliance (DWER, 2021b). Consequently, prosecution only occurs when appropriate, when sufficient evidence is available and when it is in the public interest (DWER, 2020).
Penalties for non-compliance with the EP Act are detailed in Schedule 1 of the EP Act and can vary depending on whether the alleged offender is an individual or company. For example, under section 50A(1) of the EP Act, individuals convicted of intentionally causing or allowing serious environmental harm to be caused (including through negligence), such as through removing fauna habitat (Figure 5), can be fined up to $500,000 and/or face 5 years imprisonment with a daily penalty of up to $100,000 for serious cases (Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA)). Companies with the same charge, on the other hand, can be fined up to $1,000,000 with a daily penalty of up to $200,000.
Subsequently, given the potential penalties for non-compliance, it is important for individuals and companies to understand their obligations under the EP Act and to understand when an environmental approval is required for their proposed activity.
Integrate Sustainability Pty Ltd understands the importance of obtaining the correct environmental approvals to maintain compliance, so if your organisation would like more information on understanding environmental approval obligations, call us on 08 9468 0338 or email us at enquiries@integratesustainability.com.au.
ISPL- Environmental Protection Act 1986 Part V- PDF
Reference List
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