Title: National Environmental Management Act, 1998: Amendment to the Protocols for the Specialist Assessment and Minimum Report Content Requirements for Environmental Impacts on Terrestrial Animal and Plant Species 

Gazette reference: GN 3717 in GG 49028 of 28 July 2023 

Commencement date: 28 July 2023 

On 28 July 2023, the Minister for Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, amended the protocols in respect of specialist assessment and minimum report content requirements for environmental impacts on terrestrial animal and terrestrial plant species, by removing the reference to “terrestrial” where it occurs in the protocols. The amendment allows the protocols to apply to all animal and plant species (and not just terrestrial species) as well as providing for minor adjustments to the requirements for compliance statements.  

The amendment is necessary to allow for the protocols to apply to freshwater species (many of which are threatened species). The requirements of the protocols will apply to freshwater species from the date of publication, except where the application provides proof to the competent authority that the specialist assessment affected by these amendments were commissioned prior to the date of publication of the amended protocols, in which case Appendix 6 of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, 2014, will apply to such applications.