EPA going all Speedy Gonzales to the tune of another $14m,...

EPA going all Speedy Gonzales to the tune of another $14m, according to  the WA media page today!

I’m not sure this will hurry the hon. Reece Whitby into a decision on AVL’s  ex-TMT Ġabanintha tenements (now in progress towards his final decision),  but maybe it will help ‘part 2’ ie  the separate approvals  needed (to build the plant  plus  progressing additional minesite areas)

See : https://www.manmonthly.com.au/14-million-to-boost-wa-environmental-approval-system/


Here’s the image (again) of  the Ġabanintha approvals outstanding as of the September Quarterly report;



And the original source EPA update:
https://www.wa.gov.au/government/media-statements/Cook Labor Government/Approvals-reform-continues-with-$14-million-resourcing-boost-20241111
Approvals reform continues with $14 million resourcing boost
Published
11 November 2024

The Cook Labor Government is continuing to strengthen and reform Western Australia's environmental approvals system with a $14 million resourcing boost to speed up approvals and secure major projects.

• $14 million for additional staffing at the Environmental Protection Authority and the Office of the Appeals Convenor
• Resourcing boost to slash approvals time and fast-track major job-creating projects
• Funding addresses key recommendation of the Vogel-McFerran Review
• 22 of 34 recommendations of the Vogel-McFerran Review now fully or partly actioned

The Cook Labor Government is continuing to strengthen and reform Western Australia's environmental approvals system with a $14 million resourcing boost to speed up approvals and secure major projects.

The funding will support the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the Office of the Appeals Convenor (OAC) to employ additional staff to help address existing backlogs, providing faster decisions without impacting the high standard for protection of WA's unique environment.
It comes in response to the Vogel-McFerran Review – commissioned last year by the Cook Labor Government – which made a series of recommendations for ensuring WA's environmental approvals system is fit for purpose.
Additional investment in the State's environmental assessment agencies follows the recently legislated amendments to the Environmental Protection Act, which are now in place.
Those reforms:

• allow other Government regulators to process and issue parallel approvals while EPA assessments are underway;
• provide the Environment Minister with the power to supply the EPA with a Statement of Expectation; and
• expand membership of the EPA's board.

The Cook Government has now partly or in full delivered on 22 of the Vogel-McFerran Review's 34 agreed recommendations.
To find out more, head to: https://www.wa.gov.au/government/government-initiatives-and-projects/streamline-wa.