Date Time EPBC: APPEA supports phased introduction of National Environmental Standards Earlier this week, APPEA appeared before the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee regarding the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Amendment (Standards and Assurance) Bill 2021. The Standards and Assurance Bill proposes frameworks that will establish a set of National Environmental Standards (NES) to be implemented by the states and territories and overseen by an Environment Assurance Commissioner. The Government has proposed interim NES that reflect the current requirements of the EPBC Act. APPEA supports these revisions, including the proposed interim NES. EPBC reform is critical to reduce duplication of environmental regulation between the Commonwealth and the States. A rigorous environmental protection regulatory framework with a nationally consistent set of standards will help to avoid unnecessary project delays and improve job and investment settings, not only for the Australian oil and gas sector, but for many industries. For an industry with large project costs such as oil and gas, a one- to two-year delay to a major offshore project can incur between $500 million and $2 billion in lost net revenue, according to the Productivity Commission.