Strengthen WA’s environmental laws and processes to ensure cumulative impacts are properly and comprehensively assessed through the use of best-practice environmental controls and enforcement (see Recommendation 2 under ‘Adopt a Bioregional Planning Framework’, and Recommendation 4 under ‘Expand Strategic Advice’). To do this we recommend:
- advancing the draft guidelines for Cumulative Impact Assessment and Holistic Impact Assessment and mandate their use in EIA;
- providing clear methodologies for assessing cumulative and interactive environmental impacts, ensuring that assessments reflect the full scope of potential harm;
- incorporating mechanisms to enforce CIA and prevent over-development of regions; and
- resourcing regulatory bodies to provide detailed CIA assessments and to enforce compliance.