Overview The draft Land Use Planning and Approvals Amendment (Major Projects) Bill 2018 provides for the assessment of projects that have been declared as major projects. The purpose of this fact sheet is to provide a high-level summary of the roles and responsibilities of the key decision-makers in the proposed major projects process. Key decision-makers are the: Minister for Planning and Local Government; Development Assessment Panel (the Panel); Regulators responsible for the project-associated Acts covered by the process; Tasmanian Planning Commission (the Commission); and Local councils who nominate a person with the appropriate qualifications and experience to be a member of the Panel. The Commonwealth Government may also have a role when a major project requires Commonwealth Government approval. This is where the project involves activities that are likely to impact significantly on matters of national environmental significance under the Commonwealth’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The Office of the Coordinator-General also has a facilitation role; however, this role is outside the statutory major projects assessment process. Role of the Minister The Minister’s primary role is to determine whether a project is eligible to declared a major project and assessed under the major projects assessment process. The Minister has no role in the assessment process of a major project, the selection of the Panel that is established by the Commission to assess a major project, or the determination of assessment criteria. In order to declare a project for assessment, the Minister must consider that it meets the eligibility criteria contained in the draft Bill (see Fact Sheet 2). After a proponent has requested the Minister to declare a project to be a major project, the Minister is responsible for:
Notifying each planning authority for the land to which the request relates about the request and providing them with a copy of the proponent’s Major Project Proposal; Requesting additional information from the proponent or planning authority, if required, to enable the Minister to determine whether to declare a project to be a major project; Declaring a project to be a major project in response to a request from a proponent, or by the Minister’s own motion; Nominating in the notice of declaration, a planning authority in a relevant regional area if the major project is to take place on an area of land that is not within any municipal area; Providing the Commission with a notice in relation to a declaration of a major project, the Major Project Proposal and any further information requested by the Minister from the proponent or a planning authority in relation to the major project; Considering any submission or comments received by the Panel when it notifies the Minister that a major project has ‘no reasonable prospect’ of being approved, prior to the Minister revoking a declaration of a major project; Revoking the declaration of a major project in prescribed circumstances; and Determining whether to extend a statutory assessment timeframe on application from the Panel or a participating regulator. Role of the Development Assessment Panel The Commission establishes the Panel, and a member or nominee of the Commission will chair the Panel. The Panel will also include local government representation and members with expertise in land use planning, urban and regional development, commerce or industry, or practical knowledge and experience in the provision of buildings and other infrastructure. The Panel comprises a minimum of three members but may consist of up to five members. The Panel must comply with the procedures that have been established and approved by the Commission, subject to the provisions of the draft Bill and Part 3 of the Tasmanian Planning Commission Act 1997. The role of the Panel is to coordinate the assessment process, conduct the land use planning assessment and determine whether to grant a Major Project Permit. This includes: In consultation with participating regulators, developing the Assessment Guidelines, including (where relevant) notifying the