The National Environmental Protection Agency has determined the Browse Carbon Capture and Storage Project in Western Australia is a controlled action meaning it will undergo a full federal environmental assessment.
The assessment will look at the project's potential impacts on nationally protected matters, including listed threatened and migratory species and the Commonwealth marine environment.
The project will be assessed by Environment Impact Statement (EIS). The decision to use this assessment approach reflects the scale and complexity of the proposal, the number of protected matters potentially affected, and the high level of public interest.
The Browse CCS is a related project to the Browse to North West Shelf Development proposal but was referred to the Agency separately and requires its own decision under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
The impacts of the Browse CCS Project on protected matters may be considered in the context of potential impacts of the Browse to NWS Development.
The agency now has 20 business days to prepare draft EIS guidelines for the proponent which will be published for public comment.
The decision will be published on: Referral summary · EPBC Act Public Portal.