The NSW Government yesterday amended the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (EPA Regulation) to expressly allow for the amendment of a modification application prior to determination by a consent authority. The amendment also permits the consent authority to request and receive additional information from an applicant for a modification application. The provisions will apply to all modification applications irrespective of the consent authority (including State significant development) and also apply to requests to modify approvals for State significant infrastructure.
These changes come after the recent judgment of Chief Judge Preston in the Court of Appeal and a decision of Land and Environment Court which concluded that there was no power, express or implied, to amend a modification application once lodged. We have previously written about these decisions here and here.
The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Modifications) Regulation 2021 has been published on the NSW Legislation website at the following link.
This article was written by Danielle Le Breton, Partner.
