Hunter Transmission Project

Approval process

From an environmental approvals perspective: 

• the NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces has decided the HTP is essential to the State for economic, social and environmental reasons and has declared it critical State significant infrastructure under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) 
• the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Water is likely to declare the HTP a controlled action under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) because it may have a significant impact on matters of national environment significance. 

This means the HTP needs the approval of both ministers before it can go ahead. Under the existing bilateral agreement, the NSW Government will co-ordinate a detailed assessment of the impacts of the HTP under both the EP&A Act and EPBC Act in a single, integrated approvals process that includes extensive community consultation before both ministers make a final decision.