Lodging your environmental authority application

Use our forms and fees finder for information on applying for a new environmental authority (EA) or managing your existing EAs.

Register as a suitable operator

An EA cannot be approved unless you are a registered suitable operator. To check if you are already a registered suitable operator, or to obtain your registration number, refer to the online register of suitable operators.

If you are not a registered suitable operator, you must become one before applying for your EA.

You can apply to become a registered suitable operator by completing an application through Online Services (preferred).

Alternatively, you can complete the form Application to be a registered suitable operator (ESR/2015/1771) (DOCX, 132KB) and submit it to the Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) using the details provided in the form. This application form can be submitted with your EA application.

Application forms

To find the correct application form for your EA, you need to know the following:

Where local government is your administering authority, contact the relevant local government for the relevant form and details of where and how to lodge your application.

If DES is your administering authority, you can apply by:

  • completing an application through Online Services
  • or
  • completing the relevant standard, variation or site-specific application form (see the EA application – prescribed ERAs section below) and submitting it to DESI using the details provided in the form.

If the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) is your administering authority, you can apply by completing the relevant standard, variation or site-specific application form (see the EA application – prescribed ERAs section below) and submitting to DAF using the details provided in the form.

EA application – resource activities

Before applying for an EA for resource activities, you must have already applied for a mineral or coal resource permit or a petroleum or energy resource permit.

Contact the Department of Resources for more information about applying for a resource permit.

Mining activities

To apply for an EA for a mining activity, you can:

Read more about mining resource activities.

Non-mining resource activities

To apply for an EA for a non-mining resource activity, you must have first applied for either a:

  • petroleum tenure or licence
  • geothermal tenure
  • greenhouse gas storage tenure.

You must lodge your EA application for a non-mining resource activity directly with DESI once you have received your tenure application acknowledgement letter from the Department of Resources.

To apply, you can:

Read more about non-mining resource activities.

EA application – prescribed ERAs

Prescribed ERAs that require concurrence development assessment by the state

Some prescribed ERAs may require a development permit for a material change of use. These ERAs are identified in schedule 2 of the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019 and are known as concurrence ERAs. These ERAs are identified in column 3 of schedule 2 with a capital 'C'.

Where a concurrence ERA is a material change of use, a development application is referred to the state for assessment under State code 22: Environmentally Relevant Activities (PDF, 282KB) and the guideline (PDF, 439KB).

Refer to the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning (DSDILGP) for more detail on how to prepare and lodge development applications. The development application must include the Development application Form 1 – Application details—attachment for an application for an environmental authority (ESR/2015/1791) (DOCX, 152KB).

A development application for a concurrence ERA is also an application for an EA and the assessment will be integrated during lodgement and assessment stages. At decision stage, the EA will be issued within 5 days of the issue of the development assessment's decision notice.

The State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) is the point of contact for development applications involving assessment by the state. For information on how to organise a pre-lodgement meeting, contact your local DSDILGP office.

The Department of Environment, Science and Innovation (DESI) is the point of contact for environmental authorities for the ERAs administered by DESI. To arrange a pre-lodgement meeting, complete and submit the Application for a pre-lodgement services for an environmental authority.

Prescribed ERAs which do not require a concurrence assessment by the state

Some prescribed ERAs are not subject to concurrence assessment by the state.

Common examples are prescribed ERAs which:

  • are not identified in column 3 of schedule 2 of the Environmental Protection Regulation with a capital 'C'
  • are mobile or temporary operations
  • the concurrence ERA will be carried out under an existing EA for an ERA for the premises, where the existing ERA has a higher Aggregate Environmental Score (AES) in the Environmental Protection Regulation
  • are devolved to local government for both development assessment and EA.

These proposals may still require development assessment if triggered by the relevant local planning scheme, or other parts of Schedule 10 of the Planning Regulation 2017.

In these instances, the development application must be lodged with the assessment agency (usually with the local government but sometimes other agencies such as a port authority (for development on strategic port land) or the state if the development is not assessable against the local government planning scheme) at the same time, or before the environmental authority application is lodged.

The EA can be approved prior to the development permit but will not take effect until the development permit has taken effect.

It is an offence to carry out an EA for an ERA if the EA has not taken effect. Incorrectly claiming that a development permit has been issued or is not required, may result in prosecution for operating without an EA and for providing false or misleading information.

To apply for an EA for a prescribed ERA activity, other than ERA 13A, you can:

Read environmentally relevant activity (ERA) 13A – Commercial cropping and horticulture in the Great Barrier Reef catchment for more information on application forms for ERA 13A.

'Properly made' applications for an EA

You must address the mandatory information requirements in section 125 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (as well as section 126 for site-specific coal seam gas activities and section 126A for particular resource projects and activities). Where an application does not meet these requirements, it will not be 'properly made' and will be returned to you without assessment.

There are important aspects of the mandatory application requirements. These relate to assessing and detailing any potential environmental impacts, and proposing measures to avoid, minimise or manage them. Refer to the technical information requirements for an EA application. The application form provides prompts for applicants to address these matters. Where an application does not meet these requirements, the administering authority will write to you to:

  • explain why and in what ways they consider your application to be deficient
  • explain what action you should take to address these matters
  • inform how long you have to do these things.

If you do not respond sufficiently to this notice then your application will lapse and be returned to you without assessment.

For an EA application where DESI is the administering authority

When DESI is your administering authority, your application for an EA will be assessed in line with the DESI Regulatory Strategy.

Also consider...

  • Last reviewed: 21 Jul 2023
  • Last updated: 11 Jan 2024