On 1 July 2021, the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (the Department) introduced the Rapid Assessment Framework (RAF) to ensure that State significant projects in NSW are supported by better assessment, better coordination and better engagement. The RAF is a package of system improvements with a purpose to increase the efficiency of major state project assessments, and also aiming to improve quality, engagement standards and customer service.
A component of the RAF, with intention to improve quality assurance, mandates that all Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) attached to State Significant Development (SSD) and State Significant Infrastructure (SSI) applications are required to be reviewed and a declaration signed by a Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner (REAP). This declaration includes statements relating to the compliance, completeness, accuracy and legibility of the EIS. In order to be able to make this declaration, a REAP should also ideally oversee or be involved in the development of the entire EIS document.
A REAP Scheme has been developed by the Department to register suitably qualified persons and is delivered by third-party schemes.
The Certified Environmental Practitioner (CEnvP) Scheme is accredited by the Department to deliver the NSW Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner (REAP) Scheme.
To become a Registered Environmental Assessment Practitioner (REAP), you must also hold the CEnvP Impact Assessment Specialist (CEnvP-IA) certification. You can apply for both certifications simultaneously through a single application process. The requirements for becoming a REAP therefore depend on whether you already hold a current CEnvP-IA certification.
1- To become a REAP, without a current CEnvP-IA certification, you must successfully meet the requirements for the CEnvP Impact Assessment Specialist certification (CEnvP-IA) plus REAP module-specific requirements, which demonstrate relevant work experience in the jurisdiction of NSW.
2- To become a REAP, with a current CEnvP-IA certification, you only need to successfully meet the REAP module-specific requirements.
Overview
To become a REAP, without a current CEnvP-IA certification, you need:
• Educational Qualifications: An environmental-related degree, or a degree with a substantial environmental component and evidence thereof. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Work experience in lieu of educational qualifications: In exceptional circumstances, at the discretion of the Certification Board, sufficient years of appropriate work experience may be submitted in lieu of a suitable tertiary qualification.
• Work Experience: Ten (10) years of full-time experience in the functional areas of environmental practice gained during the last seventeen (17) years, with a minimum of five (5) recent years in the functional areas of impact assessment practice.
• A Curriculum Vitae: Containing as much detail as possible (experience, roles and responsibilities, skills, outcomes, project list etc.) to evidence you are a respected, competent, ethical and active member of the profession.
Please avoid marketing-style CVs or promotional documents. CVs that are overly generic, visually stylised for sales or branding purposes, or lacking in technical substance may not meet assessment requirements.
• Referees: Nomination of three (3) experienced environmental professionals who are willing to act as Referees with at least one (1) being a current CEnvP-IA or eligible to be a CEnvP-IA and one (1) being external to your current place of employment.
• Areas of Practice: Nomination of one to three (1 – 3) areas of practice that you currently or have been working in.
• IA Professional Competency: Through written demonstration and documentary evidence:
1- An essay style document demonstrating the three (3) IA Key Proficiencies listed below.
2- At least four (4) current (methodology/guidelines cited) projects or reports that demonstrate IA proficiencies at a Project lead level experience. At least one (1) report being from the past five (5) years and all reports under ten (10) years.
Relevant Experience in NSW: At least three (3) of these projects or reports must meet the NSW REAP Scheme Project Eligibility criteria.
3- An accompanying statement for each project or report addressing nine (9) specific questions.
• Past CPD: Detailing previous undertaken training and professional development is highly recommended. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Future CPD: Demonstration of ongoing commitment to training and professional development via a CPD plan that will meet the minimum one hundred (100) CPD points biennially once certified. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Commitment to ethics and professional practice: Including acceptance of the EIANZ Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. (Not required for current CEnvPs).
• Statement of Claim: A signed and witnessed statutory declaration confirming the accuracy of the materials provided to the Certification Board.
• Optional additional documentation: Such as reports, publications, presentations, awards etc.
To become a REAP, with a current CEnvP-IA certification, you need:
• A Curriculum Vitae: Containing as much detail as possible (experience, roles and responsibilities, skills, outcomes, project list etc.) to evidence you are a respected, competent, ethical and active member of the profession.
Please avoid marketing-style CVs or promotional documents. CVs that are overly generic, visually stylised for sales or branding purposes, or lacking in technical substance may not meet assessment requirements.
• Areas of Practice: Nomination of one to three (1 – 3) areas of practice that you currently or have been working in.
• Relevant Experience in NSW:
1- Submit three (3) projects or reports that meet the NSW REAP Scheme Project Eligibility criteria and demonstrate Project lead level experience.
2- An accompanying statement for each project or report answering nine (9) specific questions.
• Statement of Claim: A signed and witnessed statutory declaration confirming the accuracy of the materials provided to the Certification Board.
• Optional additional documentation: Such as reports, publications, presentations, awards etc.
Application Process
Application Process
To become a REAP, practitioners must also hold CEnvP General and Impact Assessment Specialist certification.
Practitioners can apply for CEnvP General, Impact Assessment Specialist certification and REAP simultaneously. If an applicant is not granted General certification by the Certification Board, the applicant will not be eligible for either IA Specialist certification or REAP status. If an applicant is not eligible for REAP status, they must still be eligible for IA Specialist certification.
Applications can be submitted online anytime during the year and a non-refundable application fee applies.
Applications are usually processed within 3 to 6 months. However, incomplete or flawed applications will be delayed until all missing documentation is received.
As part of the application process, you will be required to attend an online interview with a panel of three certified practitioners. During the interview, you will be asked a series of questions related to training, skills, knowledge, experience, contribution to and understanding of environmental practice, ethical behaviour, and other professional attitudes.
For example, you will:
1. Be asked about how you applied your skills in an ethical and professional environmental practice context.
2. Be provided with one (1) or more Ethical Scenarios to respond to.
3. Need to elaborate on your work experience and comment on specific roles in the context of being a competent professional within your nominated areas of environmental practice.
4. Be expected to discuss your understanding of sustainability and how your work has contributed to sustainability, environmental protection and practice excellence.
5. Need to comment on your capacity to undertake Continuing Professional Development (CPD) while certified.
Successful applicants will receive an official CEnvP certificate, a personalised CEnvP seal to use and will be entitled to use the title ‘Certified Environmental Practitioner’ and the post-nominal letters ‘CEnvP-IA + REAP’ as follows: Mr/s Alex Doe BSc CEnvP-IA + REAP.
To maintain your CEnvP status renewal fees must be paid annually and evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) must be provided on a two-year basis. The certification fee for the first year is calculated on a pro-rata basis from the month a practitioner was certified.
Unsuccessful applications can be either deferred for a period no longer than twelve (12) months or rejected and will receive an outcome letter from the Certification Board addressing their decision and shortcomings identified during the application process. Deferred applicants may re-apply within the deferral period without charge when the conditions of the deferral have been met.
Eligibility and Evidence
Definitions
Project Lead level experience: Considers roles such as Impact Assessment (IA) project manager or project director (demonstrating active involvement in leading the IA), regulatory assessment lead or similar, or independent peer reviewer for an IA-eligible project.
Eligible projects for the NSW REAP Scheme: These projects should involve developments of suitable complexity, where the environmental and/or social impact is considered potentially significant. Factors indicating suitable complexity include:
– The project is complex, large-scale, or significant in terms of type, financial investment, or complexity.
– The project location or setting is environmentally and/or socially sensitive or has a protected status.
– The project involves significant environmental and/or social risks and impacts.
– The project is of a high-risk type, including but not limited to chemical production, manufacturing, power generation, mining, petroleum, quarrying, or major transportation projects (e.g., highways, bridges, railways, marine ports/terminals, airports, and other infrastructure)
Examples of possible project types: A REAP is required to sign off on SSD and SSI projects in NSW. Alternate projects may also be considered if they meet the eligibility criteria outlined above.
– SSD Projects: Defined in Schedule 1 of the NSW State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021.
– SSI Projects: Defined in Schedule 3 of the NSW State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021.
– Alternate Projects: Eligible Project may include examples that are not SSD or SSI projects. If submitting an alternate project such as a Review of Environmental Factors (REF), ensure it is justified and demonstrates sufficient complexity to meet the criteria mentioned above and is within the jurisdiction of NSW.
Suitable reports: Suitable reports could include, but are not limited to:
– Environmental impact statements or equivalent documents
– Other project environmental assessment documents (e.g. Assessment of Environmental Effects, Review of Environmental Factors, Public Environment Report etc.) that demonstrate a suitable complexity of issues
– Assessment reports, or equivalent, prepared by government regulators
– Analysis of outcomes from stakeholder engagement, including implications for the project
– Peer review reports
– Impact assessment training documents
– Impact assessment policy documents
The applicant must have made a substantial contribution to the report. Where the report relates to a project or strategic environmental assessment, the work must be well advanced (for example, an environmental impact statement must be formally lodged and be considered at a minimum “under assessment” with the Department or relevant Regulatory Authority; a government assessment report should have been finalised).
Age of reports: To be considered for NSW REAP, submitted reports must be no older than ten (10) years.
Educational Qualifications
An environmental-related degree, or a degree with a substantial environmental component.
Evidence of your qualifications is required in the form of certified copies (refer to the FAQs on our website for a list of authorised signatories in Australia, and in New Zealand). These must be uploaded and submitted together with the online application. Alternatively, direct access via My eQuals is also accepted. Where necessary, transcript or academic record of your degree may be requested to verify its relevance.
Evidence of Name Change will be required if your current name differs from the name on the educational qualifications.
Work Experience
The minimum requirement is ten (10) years of full-time equivalent professional experience in the functional areas of environmental practice gained during the last seventeen (17) years, with a minimum of five (5) recent years in the functional areas of impact assessment practice.
Only experience gained after obtaining the lowest level of eligible educational qualifications can be counted towards the experience required.
Work experience timeframe: The seventeen (17) year window allows part-time workers as well as those returning to the workforce from a long leave period associated with caring, illness or parental leave, to meet the required full-time equivalence work experience.
For the purpose of calculating full-time equivalent (FTE) work experience, no more than thirty-five (35) hours per week will be recognised (even if working for more than one (1) employer at the time) and the following metrics are used:
• Full-time / 1.0 (35 hrs / week),
• 4 days / 0.8 (28 hrs / week),
• 3 days / 0.6 (21 hrs / week),
• 2 days / 0.4 (14 hrs / week),
• 1 day / 0.2 (7 hrs / week).
Functional work experience: Supervisory, teaching, research, policy, regulation, community development work, conservation work and volunteer work may be recognised as contributing to the years of ‘functional experience’, providing you can demonstrate how these have contributed to relevant competence.
Applicants with experience in lieu of education: In exceptional circumstances, at the discretion of the Certification Board, sufficient years of appropriate work experience may be submitted in lieu of a suitable tertiary qualification.
Work Verifiers: The experience claimed must be independently verified by a “Work Verifier”, a current or former employer, senior colleague, or Referee who knew you at that time and can specifically confirm the experience claimed. Work Verifiers are required to complete an online form sent to them by email after the application has been submitted (please ensure they are notified beforehand). These individuals may be contacted by the Administration team, Registrar, Assessment Panel or Certification Board.
Referees
Applicants must nominate three (3) respected environmental professionals as referees, ensuring the following criteria are met:
• At least one (1) must be an experienced impact assessment practitioner who is either a CEnvP-IA Specialist or would be eligible to apply for CEnvP-IA Specialist certification themselves.
• At least one (1) must be external to your current place of employment and familiar with one or more of the supporting documents supplied as part of your application.
• All referees must have must have known you for at least two (2) years in roles such as supervisor, educator, senior peer or client and must be able to comment on your experience, skills and attributes as they relate to the relevant areas of practice, ethics and professional integrity,
• Referees who are not CEnvPs must provide sufficient information / CV / LinkedIn in the Referee report to demonstrate that they are experienced environmental professionals.
Nominated Referees will be required to fill in an online Report sent to them by email after the Application form has been submitted. Please ensure the Referees are notified beforehand.
Areas of Practice
Areas of Practice are fields you are currently or have been working in (and not recognised as a CEnvP
specialisation). The Areas of Practice you nominate will be discussed during your interview. Once you are certified, these will be used in online profiles and directories.
IA Key Proficiencies
The following three (3) key proficiencies must be demonstrated by an Impact Assessment Specialist in both written application and interview.
1- Methods
Applicants must demonstrate a thorough understanding of IA methods, by describing the following using practical examples:
• The role and limitations of IA in environmental planning and decision making.
• The various stages in the IA process and their purposes.
• The use of strategic and cumulative assessment.
• Risk assessment and management principles and application.
• The use of other environmental management tools, such as environmental management systems; environmental auditing and life cycle assessment.
• Emerging issues and trends in IA nationally and internationally.
2- Analytical capability
Applicants must demonstrate high level analytical skills that draw on knowledge and experience and can be applied across disciplines by addressing the following:
• Describe the IA legislation in the jurisdiction within which they operate.
• Demonstrate an understanding of environmental and social issues as well as Indigenous considerations, and their interconnections through rational and objective thinking and the application of commonsense/professional judgment.
• Understand the regulatory frameworks, guidelines, methodologies and reporting requirements for specialist inputs to the IA process.
• Evaluate the impacts of a project as a whole by interpreting applicable government policy, integrating the findings of detailed technical studies and understanding and considering competing views on the merits of the project.
• Effectively apply scoping and prioritizing tools/methods to determine relevant environmental and social issues, relative importance and investigations required to address them.
• Identify how baseline information may be gathered and describe the factors that can affect the quality of this information.
• Determine the significance of impacts at scales from the strategic, to regional, local and site-specific levels.
• Identify when to apply adaptive measures such as avoid, mitigate, manage and/or offset.
• Review the technical quality of IA documents.
• Describe the role and limitations of modelling in IA.
• Identify opportunities for environmental enhancements and social benefits.
• Look beyond compliance to promote best practice.
• Explain the importance of monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management.
3- Interpersonal skills
Applicants must demonstrate robust interpersonal skills across a range of stakeholders by addressing the following:
• Demonstrate the communication skills required for effective public engagement, collaboration and consultation.
• Clearly express complex concepts and ideas, orally and in writing.
• Develop effective working relationships with stakeholders, including proponents, technical specialists, community groups and government regulators.
• Understand and address conflicting viewpoints of different stakeholders from their own perspectives.
• Exercise perception and judgment in dealing with complex and sensitive issues.
• Work collaboratively with technical specialists.
• Prepare EISs and other assessment documents that are succinct and easy to understand; technically robust; scientifically factual and capture community views.
IA Professional Competency and Relevant Experience in NSW
Relevant experience in NSW
To become a REAP, you must demonstrate relevant experience working on eligible NSW projects at project lead level. Practitioners whose primary practice is outside NSW are eligible to apply where they can demonstrate sufficient NSW project experience at project lead level. If you are uncertain whether your NSW project experience qualifies, contact the CEnvP Program Office before applying.
This includes practitioners working within government regulatory agencies who have held lead responsibility for the formal assessment of major project applications – regulatory assessment leads and equivalent roles qualify.
IA Professional Competency
As evidence to support claims of Impact Assessment Specialist proficiencies you are required to:
• Submit an essay style document outlining your experience in the three (3) IA Key Proficiencies (400-600+ words).
The essay represents the most informative stage of the application process and is where you should apply the most effort in demonstrating competency. Registrars are looking for both substantive descriptions of experience and the resultant demonstration of applied knowledge that together shows the applicant is a competent practitioner. Refer to your work evidence reports within your essay to substantiate your claims, explicitly address the relevant competencies/Key Proficiencies.
• Submit at least four (4) current (methodology/guidelines cited) projects or reports that demonstrate IA proficiencies at a Project lead level experience.
At least three (3) of these projects or reports must meet the NSW REAP Scheme Project Eligibility criteria.
At least one (1) of the (4) four reports being recent (from the past five (5) years) and all reports under ten (10) years old.
• Submit an accompanying statement for each of the projects or reports addressing the following nine (9) questions.
1. Explain how this project meets the eligibility criteria for the NSW REAP Scheme as defined above. If not, justify why you believe the complexity of this project qualifies for REAP assessment.
Note: For applicants applying for both IA and REAP, the project will be considered for either or both components based on your answer to this question (1).
2. What were the key features and context of the project?
3. What was the nature and extent of your role, and over what time period?
4. What were the main concerns or stakeholder conflicts (if any) related to the project? How did you contribute to resolving them?
5. What challenges did you encounter, how did you address them, and what recommendations or decisions did you make? Please explain your reasoning.
6. What environmental outcome did you achieve, and how did your advice influence these outcomes?
7. In hindsight, could a better outcome have been achieved?
8. What does your work on this project demonstrate your expertise in IA?
9. Was the document peer-reviewed ,and what was the outcome?
Commitment to CPD (Continued Professional Development)
To demonstrate commitment to CPD, you will need to provide details of:
• Past CPD. It is strongly recommended you submit a CPD log of the past two (2) years of activities or a statement explaining your past activities to enable the Registrar, Assessment Panel and Certification Board to ascertain your understanding of the requirement post certification.
• Future CPD. Provide a plan to accrue at least one hundred (100) CPD points biennially once certified. This should include the type of activities and the number of hours you are expecting to spend for each of them.
Ethical Conduct and Statement of Claim
It is intrinsic to the CEnvP Scheme that Certified Practitioners behave with the highest levels of integrity and professional conduct. Applicants are therefore asked to:
• ensure you have read, understood and confirmed that you abide by the EIANZ Code of Ethics & Professional Conduct.
• disclose matters relevant to past issues of professional conduct.
A statutory declaration confirming accuracy of the provided materials is required.
Important Information
Before you begin your online application form:
1- Read the Guidance Notes to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria for certification.
2- Review the Application Checklist to confirm you have all the necessary information and documents.
3- Download the following Templates: Official Statement of Claim, CPD Log, Commitment to CPD Statement and Key Proficiencies.
Once you start your application form you can save and resume later. However, the last saved link is only valid for 30 days.