Impact assessed development

The Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 sets out the impact assessed development process as the most rigorous level of development assessment, through the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

An EIS facilitates the overall consideration of major developments that are of social, economic and environmental importance to the State.

There are two ways a development proposals are determined as impact assessed

The Minister declares the proposal as impact assessed development at the request of the proponent or at the Minister's discretion.

It is a specific type of development classified by the Regulations as being impact assessed development

Following the declaration or classification of a development as impact assessed, the applicant is required to lodge a formal application. The application should include identification of key social, environmental and economic issues and impacts associated with the development, accordance with Practice Direction 17.

Once a development application has been received, it is referred to the State Planning Commission (the Commission) to determine the Assessment Requirements.

The Assessment Requirements identify the environmental attributes relevant to the development, and the associated environmental, economic and social impacts that must be addressed in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

A model Library of Assessment Requirements (PDF, 1037 KB) has been developed to provide a baseline suite of detailed and/or standard assessment criteria. Project specific requirements will then be informed through state agency, local council and proponent feedback, before being considered by the Commission.

The Commission will determine the level of assessment required for each impact (standard or detailed), based on consideration of the key factors:

• scale of the impact
• nature of the impact
• sensitivity of the environment
• ability to avoid, mitigate and/or offset the impact
• technical assessment and investigations required to identify and assess mitigation measures.

The Commission will have regard to relevant legislation, policy and other guidance documents.

During this process the Commission may consult with relevant Commonwealth and state agency, and subject matter experts. The applicant will also be given an opportunity to provide comment on the draft Assessment Requirements.

Following the Commission’s endorsement of the final Assessment Requirements, they will be publicly released for information on the PlanSA portal.

The applicant prepares an EIS that responds to the Assessment Requirements.

The length of time it takes for the applicant to prepare an EIS is not set and varies depending on the complexity of the development.

Once completed, the EIS is released for public, council and agency comment for a minimum period of 30 business days, depending on the scale it could be more.

The Minister may also undertake, or require the applicant to undertake, any other consultation in relation to the EIS as the Minister sees fit, in accordance with the Commission’s Community Engagement Charter. The purpose of this process is to enable the public to express their views on the proposal. All comments received during this period are considered in the assessment process.

Following the public comment period, the applicant prepares a document that responds to all the submissions received during the public consultation period.

The document may include:

• amendments to the EIS
• changes to the original proposal in response to issues that have been raised
• answers and / or clarification of issues raised.

The completed document and associated public comments are made publicly available on the PlanSA portal.

Following receipt of the Response Document, the Commission will consider the whole proposal including the EIS, public submissions, council and agency comments to prepare an Assessment Report.

The Assessment Report is the culmination of the impact assessed process and will include recommendations to the Minister regarding the proposal.

Where a state-based development proposal has the potential to significantly affect a Matter of National Environmental Significance (NES) under the Environment Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC), a bilateral assessment process can be used to coordinate the preparation and consideration of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Under a bilateral, an EIS would consider both state and Commonwealth environmental issues, providing a ‘joined-up’ assessment process, based on one set of agreed documentation, thereby removing duplication, lowering costs and minimising project delays.

The previous bilateral agreement for major development processes expired with the introduction of the new Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016, however negotiations have commenced on a new bilateral agreement, subject to the findings of a review being undertaken by the Commonwealth Environment Minister. In the interim, administrative arrangements are being actively developed between the state and the Commonwealth to give affect to a project specific process, where documentation could be prepared in accordance with shared guidance and recognised processes, to enable a collaborative assessment approach.

The Assessment Report, along with all related documents, are provided to the Minister for a decision.

In deciding whether the proposal will be approved and any conditions that will apply, the Minister must have regard to the Assessment Report, EIS, Response Document as well as relevant provisions of the following:

• State Planning Policies
• Regional Plans
• Planning and Design Code
• Building Code of Australia
• Environment Protection Act 1999 (if the development involves a prescribed activity of environmental significance)
• any other special legislative schemes or other relevant government policy and/or legislation.

The proposal may be refused, approved or approved with conditions.

The Minister’s final decision will be publicly released on the PlanSA portal.

There are no appeal rights for an Impact Assessed development.

An applicant may request an extension of time to commence the project, and will be considered by the Minister or their delegate on a case-by-case basis.

Applicants may seek variations to the development approval. Depending on the scale of the change it may require a further consultation process.

The Minister for Planning has the power to revoke previous impact assessed declarations and cancel development authorisations under the PDI Act. This power is generally exercised when the assessment process has been discontinued or the projects abandoned, such that any approval previously granted cannot be implemented in the time required.

On 27 January 2023, the Minister determined that several projects declared and/or approved under the former Development Act 1993, should have their declarations revoked and/or authorisations cancelled. Further details of these projects can be found in the SA Government Gazette.