Oil and gas companies must seek approval to undertake offshore oil and greenhouse gas activities in Australian waters.
In 2014 the government streamlined environmental assessments to a single process. This reduced administrative burden on companies, and consultation burden on stakeholders and the community.
The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) is now the sole assessor of environment plans for all offshore oil and gas activities in Australian waters, with the exception of the exclusions listed in the approval notice.
Reports
Read reports that enabled environmental approvals for offshore oil and gas activities to be streamlined.
The program report describes the process companies (titleholders) must comply with.
Approvals
The Minister for the Environment endorsed the program under Part 10 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.