ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION (COST RECOVERY) REGULATIONS 2021 —
FEES
916. Hon TJORN SIBMA to the minister representing the
Minister for Environment:
I refer to the answer provided
yesterday that advised that the Department of Water and Environmental
Regulation had halted issuing invoices for conducting part IV environmental
assessments ''in response to the unprecedented number of environmental
assessments needed to facilitate the state's booming economic growth
and the staffing challenges faced across the public and private sectors''.
(1) How many environmental assessments are being, or are due
to be, actioned by the department?
(2) Please list
the individual project proposals against which the environmental assessments
are being, or are due to be, conducted.
(3) Regarding
(2), how long in calendar days has each relevant proposal been under
assessment?
(4) How many
staff, including FTE departmental officers and contractors, are allocated to
conduct these environmental assessments?
(5) How long will it take to clear
the backlog?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
The member will note that it was a long
question requiring lots of information in the answer. As a result, the answer
is that the production of this information will divert staff resources from
their usual work and it is not possible to provide the information requested in
the time frame. I request that the member place this question on notice.