Instructions, templates and forms

The purpose of these instructions is to assist proponents to provide the necessary information with their request to amend their proposal under section 43A of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act).  

Proponents must seek approval from the EPA under section 43A of the EP Act if they wish to amend a proposal during assessment phase before the EPA publishes its assessment report.  

A request under section 43A will not be approved by the EPA if the requested amendment is considered to be a significant amendment. 

The purpose of these instructions is to assist proponents to prepare an Environmental Review Document (ERD), which is required where the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has decided that the proponent must undertake an environmental review under section 40(2)(b) of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act). The instructions sets out the standard form and content that an ERD must contain to ensure consistency for EPA decision-making and to set out the expectations for proponents and the community.

The template attached to these instructions provides the structure of the ERD, including required tables and figures. The EPA expects that the ERD contains the content outlined in the template in addition to any proposal-specific requirements specified in the approved Environmental Scoping Document.

The EPA expects that proponents follow the ERD template.

This template is to be used for new, significant amendments and strategic proposals.

This version has been updated to reflect the EPA's new Environmental Impact Assessment Practice Guide Assessment of Proposals in Western Australia under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EIA Practice Guide), which comes into effect on 1 January 2026. The EIA Practice Guide implements a streamlined method of providing the EPA the necessary information for decision-making and assessment, achieved by providing a single assessment document (an Environmental Review Document) that will now cover both the referral and assessment stages. This version of the instructions has been updated to outline this new process.

The purpose of these instructions is to assist proponents to provide the necessary information with their request to amend their proposal under section 38C of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act).

Proponents must seek approval from the EPA under section 38C of the EP Act if they wish to amend a referred proposal during referral phase before the EPA sets level of assessment.

A request under section 38C will not be approved by the EPA if the requested amendment is considered to be a significant amendment.

The purpose of the Instructions is to assist referrers to provide the necessary information in their Referral Form.

The referrer of a proposal should provide the information in the form provided to the EPA to enable them to determine whether the proposal is a valid referral and whether or not to assess it.

This version on the instructions and form has been updated to reflect the EPA's new Environmental Impact Assessment Practice Guide Assessment of Proposals in Western Australia under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EIA Practice Guide), which comes into effect on 1 January 2026.

The EIA Practice Guide implements a streamlined method of providing the EPA the necessary information for decision-making and assessment, achieved by providing a single assessment document (an Environmental Review Document) that will now cover both the referral and assessment stages. An Environmental Review Document (ERD) is now required with a referral, and the EIA Practice Guide and the Instructions on how to prepare an ERD provide more information on how to prepare an ERD during the referral stage. The Referral Form has been simplified to reflect this new requirement.

This form is to be used for referral of Planning Schemes and Amendments to the EPA under the Planning and Development Act 2005, the Metropolitan Redevelopment Act 2011 and the Hope Valley Wattleup Redevelopment Act 2000.

All planning schemes and amendments must be referred to the EPA by the responsible authority.

Important update: Changes to survey data package submissions

From 13 October 2025, all biodiversity and marine survey data packages should be submitted via Environment Online.

Environment Online provides step-by-step instructions, guidance and templates to help proponents prepare and submit data packages as part of the assessment process under the Environmental Protection Act 1986.

Visit Environment Online to learn more and submit your survey data package.

Important update: Changes to survey data package submissions

From 13 October 2025, all biodiversity and marine survey data packages should be submitted via Environment Online.

Environment Online provides step-by-step instructions, guidance and templates to help proponents prepare and submit data packages as part of the assessment process under the Environmental Protection Act 1986.

Visit Environment Online to learn more and submit your survey data package.

These instructions are provided to assist proponents to prepare Impact Reconciliation Procedures (IRP) and Impact Reconciliation Reports (IRR) submitted under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. Proponents are encouraged to submit IRPs at referral, noting they must be provided during an assessment by the EPA, or otherwise to comply with an implementation condition under a Ministerial Statement. 

These instructions set out the standard submission requirements for the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) to assess and/or approve an IRP or IRR. Templates are provided with the instructions to assist proponents and facilitate an efficient environmental impact assessment process. Proponents are required to follow the supplied templates, unless otherwise agreed with DWER. 

The purpose of these instructions is to assist proponents in their request for approval to amend their approved proposal and/or the conditions of their approved proposal. The Environmental Protection Authority Chair usually exercises a delegation to consider these applications on behalf of the Minister for Environment. 

A request under s. 45C will not be approved if the requested amendment is considered to be a significant amendment.

The Instructions assist proponents to provide the necessary information with their request to enable the decision maker to determine whether to approve an amendment to a proposal and/or implementation conditions under s. 45C.  

The purpose of the instructions is to assist proponents to prepare a request to amend implementation conditions of an approved Ministerial statement

The Minister for Environment needs sufficient information from the proponent to decide whether to request that the Environmental Protection Authority conduct an inquiry and report on whether the implementation conditions for an existing Ministerial statement, or any of them, should be amended.

Proponents are required to use the Form for all requests relating to an amendment to implementation conditions under section 46 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986.

The purpose of the attached instructions and form is to assist a proponent in transferring responsibility for a proposal to another person.

The Minister for Environment (or delegate) is the decision-maker for transferring responsibility of a proposal after a Ministerial statement has been published.

The instruction and form outline the information that is required for requests to transfer responsibility of a proposal.

The attached instruction and form assist proponents in requesting withdrawal of a Ministerial Statement under s. 47A of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) (EP Act).

The Minister for Environment (or delegate) is the decision-maker for withdrawing a Ministerial Statement.

The instruction and form outline the information proponents should provide with their request to enable the Minister (or delegate) to determine whether to approve a request to withdraw the relevant Ministerial statement under s. 47A of the EP Act

An audit table for the Statement addressed in this Statement of Compliance must be provided as Attachment 2. Post Assessment Guideline 1 provides an audit table template and describes its attributes.

The purpose of these instructions is to ensure proponents provide the necessary information with their request for EPA consent to undertake minor or preliminary work. A form is also provided to assist proponents.

The purpose of these instructions is to provide proponents with relevant information regarding the release of their draft Environmental Scoping Document (ESD) or Environmental Review Document (ERD) for public review during an assessment.

A template for the format and content of an advertisement of a document for public review is attached to these instructions

The purpose of these instructions is to assist proponents to characterise their proposal for an environmental impact assessment under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act). The instructions do not apply to strategic proposals.

The template provided with these instructions provides the structure for defining the General proposal content description and the Proposal content elements for new proposals, for changes to proposals during referral and assessment and for changes to approved proposals.

Examples of Proposal Content Document are contained in the Instructions.

An Environmental Scoping Document (ESD) is required when the EPA decides an ESD is the most appropriate way to prescribe the additional information required for an assessment. While an ESD will usually be prepared by the EPA, in some limited circumstances an ESD will be prepared by the proponent. The purpose of this document is to instruct proponents in how to provide the necessary information to prepare an Environmental Scoping Document (ESD) if they are requested to do so under section 40(2)(b) of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act).

The EPA requires that proponents use the template included with these instructions for all proponent-prepared ESDs.

This version of the instructions and template have been updated to reflect the EPA's new Environmental Impact Assessment Practice Guide Assessment of Proposals in Western Australia under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EIA Practice Guide), which comes into effect on 1 January 2026.

Key changes from the previous version is the removal of duplication with Environmental Review Document requirements, and to reflect that the EPA will usually prepare an ESD in most circumstances.

These instructions are provided to assist proponents to prepare Environmental Management Plans (EMPs) submitted under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. EMPs may be provided at referral, during an assessment by the EPA, or required as an implementation condition under a Ministerial statement. The term ‘Environmental Management Plan’ is used generically to refer to documents that set out the above information. Documents may be referred to in various ways, e.g. ‘Fauna Management Plan’ or ‘Groundwater Monitoring and Management and Plan’ or ‘Greenhouse Gas Management Plan’.

Some of the EPA’s environmental factors have additional guidance on the development of EMPs. Refer to the relevant technical guidance in the EPA’s Framework for environmental considerations in EIA.

This guidance does not cover the preparation of mine closure plans. Refer to the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety’s (DMIRS) Statutory Guideline for Mine Closure Plans and Mine Closure Plan Guidance - how to prepare in accordance with the Statutory Guidelines when preparing mine closure plans. These documents are available on the DMIRS website.

This revised version contains greater emphasis on outcomes and it should be noted that the EPA’s preference is for outcomes-based conditions where practical. When there is an outcomes-based condition, the EPA may recommend an outcomes based environmental management plan (for monitoring). While the EPA’s preference is for outcomes-based conditions, the EPA may recommend objectives-based management plan conditions, where this is not practical or appropriate.

These instructions set out the minimum requirements that the EPA needs to assess and/or approve the plan. Templates and examples are provided with the instructions to assist proponents and facilitate an efficient environmental impact assessment process.

As part of the review of the EPA’s Environmental Factor Guideline- Greenhouse Gas Emissions (2023) a template Greenhouse Gas Environmental Management Plan has been developed to support transparency and consistency of these EMPs.

A Greenhouse Gas Environmental Management Plan summary report template has also been developed based on the requirements of current greenhouse gas Ministerial conditions.

The purpose of these instruction and form is to assist a proponent in transferring responsibility for a proposal to another person.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) (or the EPA Chair or Deputy Chair as delegate) is the decision-maker for transferring responsibility of a proposal during assessment.

The instruction and form outline the information that is required for requests to transfer responsibility of a proposal.