On 7 March 2018 the NSW Minister for Planning declared Snowy 2.0 to be Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) on the basis that it is critical to the State for environmental, economic or social reasons.

This EIS is for Exploratory Works (a separate application to Snowy 2.0) to primarily undertake investigative works to gather technical and environmental information for Snowy 2.0. The justification for the Exploratory Works is because the underground power station is one of, if not the most, challenging areas for the design of Snowy 2.0.

The EIS has considered the key issues for Exploratory Works, and provided an assessment of the likely impacts and how they will be avoided, minimised and managed.