Posted on March 3, 2026 by Anna Guerrero and Megan Hawley 8

ALERT: Further Planning System Reforms commencing on 21 March 2026

On 21 March 2026, further amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EPA Act) and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation (EPA Regulation) made by the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning Systems Reforms) Act 2025 (Planning Systems Reforms Act) will commence.

The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning Systems Reforms) Regulation 2026 (Planning Systems Reforms Regulation) also introduces amendments to the EPA Regulation, which will also commence on 21 March 2026.

The reforms to the EPA Act commencing on 21 March 2026 include:

• Establishing a ‘targeted assessment development’ approvals pathway in Division 4.3A,
• Clarifying that modification applications may be in respect of modifications involving minor error, misdescription or miscalculations or of no environmental impact under section 4.55(1),
• Directing consent authorities to determine ‘certain minor modification applications’ made under section 4.55(1) within 14 days of lodgment and providing that consent authorities cannot refuse these minor modification applications if the 14 days has lapsed: the consent authority “must, as soon as practicable, determine the application” instead,
• Clarifying that modification applications may also be made in respect of a development consent for a targeted assessment development under section 4.55,
• Reducing the requirement for a determining authority to take into account “to the fullest extent possible all” matters affecting or likely to affect the environment to “a manner that is proportionate to the nature and risk of the activity” when considering whether to carry out an activity under Part 5,
• Clarifying that a determination or decision in relation to an approval made under Part 4 cannot be reviewed under Division 8.3 if the Court has disposed of an appeal against that same determination or decision, and
• Clarifying that an appeal to the Court in relation to a modification application cannot be made while an application for review of that modification application to the consent authority under Division 8.3 is also on foot.

The reforms to the EPA Regulation commencing on 21 March 2026, as introduced by the Planning Systems Reform Act include:

• Prescribing the period of 14 days as the time for determination of ‘certain minor modification applications’ under section 4.55(1) of the EPA Act, and
• Directing consent authorities to notify all modification applications made under section 4.56, removing the option for the consent authority to do so if the modification application is “in the consent authority’s opinion” of no or minimal environmental impact,

The reforms to the EPA Regulation commencing on 21 March 2026, as introduced by the Planning Systems Regulation include:

• Removing the requirement for “an analysis of feasible alternatives” in an environmental impact statement,
• Requiring that environmental impact statements contain an analysis of the significant likely impacts of the proposed development/activity/infrastructure only, and
• Introducing savings provisions for modification applications that were lodged and not determined before 16 March 2026 such that the provisions of section 4.55 and Div 8.3 of the EPA Act (and relevant provisions in the EPA Regulation) as they were prior to 16 March 2026 continue to apply to those modification applications.

Lastly, it should be noted that a full scheme of amendments to the EPA Act and EPA Regulation was introduced by the Planning Systems Reforms Act. However, the rollout of the amendments has been staggered – first on 15 December 2025, 16 January 2026 and now, the 21 March 2026 amendments described above.  We wrote about the previous amendments that came into effect on 15 December 2025 and 16 January 2026 here.

The rollout of the amendments to the EPA Act and EPA Regulation by the Planning Systems Reform Act are dictated by commencement proclamations given by the Minister, which identify certain provisions in the Planning Systems Reform Act that are to be ‘switched on’ and therefore amend the EPA Act and EPA Regulation. For this reason, it is important to read the commencement proclamations in conjunction with a full copy of the Planning Systems Reform Act.

Full copies of the relevant commencement proclamation, Planning Systems Reforms Act and Planning Systems Reforms Regulation are available at the links provided below:

• Commencement Proclamation made on 25 February 2026
• Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning Systems Reforms Act) 2025
• Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning Systems Reforms) Regulation 2026 

If you have any questions regarding this article, please contact Megan Hawley on (02) 8235 9703 or Anna Guerrero on (02) 8235 9739.