Australia's Clean Energy Investors Want the EPBC Reforms to Actually Work

Australia passed its most significant overhaul of national environmental law in November 2025. The question now isn't whether the reforms exist - it's whether they'll be implemented fast enough to matter for the gigawatts of solar, wind, and storage sitting in the approvals queue.

That's the core argument in a new report from the Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG), published this week and focused squarely on the mechanics of rolling out the reformed Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

The Backlog That Prompted the Push

The numbers behind CEIG's concern are stark. Data from law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer shows 27 renewable energy projects were deemed EPBC controlled actions in 2023, and 49 projects in 2024. Of those, 23 controlled actions were still awaiting final approval - and no controlled action from 2023 or 2024 had received final approval as of the data cut.

CEIG's 2024 report identified that it typically takes years for a final decision on EPBC Act referred projects, with one project noted to be under assessment for over 800 days.

That kind of delay has a direct effect on investment decisions. CEIG's July 2025 survey of clean energy developers and investors identified that planning and environmental assessments are two of the top four challenges experienced in renewable energy development.

Photo: Caspar Rae / Unsplash

What the Reforms Actually Changed

In November 2025, the Federal Government passed new reforms to the EPBC Act, representing the most significant changes to Australia's national environmental laws since the Act was introduced. The government's stated objective was to strengthen environmental protection and restoration while delivering more efficient, robust, and transparent project assessments.

The rollout is staged. On 20 February 2026, the first tranche of reforms to the EPBC Act commenced. The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) and Environment Information Australia (EIA) were scheduled to commence operations on 1 July 2026. The remaining reforms are set to take effect from 1 December 2026.

One of the main changes is the establishment of NEPA - the country's first independent regulator under the EPBC Act. NEPA will function as an independent regulator with administration and enforcement powers, with the CEO responsible for compliance and enforcement, approving or cancelling environmental permits and licences, and monitoring accreditation instruments and bilateral agreements.

On offsets, the reforms introduce a structural change. For the first time, the concept of environmental offsets and restoration contributions will be included in the EPBC Act itself - previously managed only through the 2012 Environmental Offsets Policy. The amendments facilitate the ability to pay a restoration contribution charge for a residual significant impact, and the Restoration Contributions Holder is able to pool amounts to cover residual significant impacts across multiple projects.

Where CEIG Says the Gaps Remain

Passing legislation is one thing. Consistent, timely administration is another. CEIG's new report focuses on the latter.

Project proponents frequently report delays in the environmental assessment process because of differing views between experts and the Department, and inconsistent views within the Department itself, on the definitions of habitat - and therefore impacts - and the approach to project conditioning.

That inconsistency is a practical problem for developers trying to scope surveys, model impacts, and price risk into project finance. When the goalposts shift between assessors, or between an early referral and a later assessment phase, timelines blow out and costs compound.

CEIG has recommended that assessment bodies, including the new National EPA, work with industry to better standardise habitat definition and conditioning for projects.

On offsets, the group wants the new pooled mechanism used strategically rather than project-by-project. CEIG recommends optimising the use of the Restoration Contributions Holder to deliver environmental offsets at a strategic, scaled level. The logic is sound: coordinated landscape-scale offsets are more ecologically coherent than dozens of disconnected patches negotiated individually for each wind farm or battery project.

The Bigger Picture: Targets Under Pressure

The urgency behind CEIG's report is not abstract. AEMO calculated some 50 gigawatts of projects were progressing through its connections process, up by a third in the last two years. But moving that pipeline into live projects has proved more challenging, faced with cost, planning, construction, and investment hurdles.

The independent Climate Change Authority has identified an 8 gigawatt gap between current project pipelines and what is required to meet the 82 per cent renewable target. All major transmission projects are now delayed relative to 2024 forecasts, with the peak in transmission construction pushed from 2028 to 2030.

Environmental approvals are one piece of that puzzle, but a critical one. Recent changes to the EPBC Act will speed up environmental approvals, but the separate planning and development processes can still take years - and a further tranche of EPBC changes expected in the second half of 2026 includes a new fast-track option for projects with the correct upfront information.

The Clean Energy Council frames it similarly. Its 2026 report lists cutting excess red tape - including resolving approval requirements and duplication across jurisdictions and reducing project approval times and costs through EPBC Act reforms - as a core priority for the sector.

What Planners and Developers Should Watch

The EPBC reform rollout has a defined schedule, but the quality of implementation will be determined by how NEPA operationalises its mandate in its first months. For project teams, the key variables are:

• Habitat definition guidance - whether NEPA publishes standardised assessment frameworks that reduce expert-versus-department disputes
• Restoration Contributions Holder - how quickly the pooled offset mechanism becomes operational and whether it covers the project types and regions where demand is highest
• National Environmental Standards - binding rules that sit above individual project decisions, setting clear expectations around assessment and carrying a "no regression" principle, meaning the Commonwealth cannot weaken environmental protections or dilute consultation requirements
• Fast-track pathway - the conditions under which projects can access the expedited route, and whether upfront information requirements are clearly defined enough to be bankable

The reforms represent substantive progress - particularly in promoting net positive biodiversity outcomes - but the term "net positive" remains undefined, creating ongoing commercial and legal uncertainty for industry.

That last point is the one that will keep project finance teams up at night. A law that promises net positive outcomes but leaves the definition to future policy creates a risk premium that sits in every project model until the guidance lands.

CEIG's report is, in that sense, a practical checklist for the new regulator. The reforms are on the books. The pipeline is waiting. The question is whether NEPA and the Department can turn legislative intent into consistent, timely decisions before the 82 per cent target window closes.