But while the business sector appears to be in favour of the proposed tweaking, it is unlikely the changes are sufficient to move many environmentalists from protesting to dancing in the streets.
Possibly, the most contentious aspect of the Fast-Track Approvals Bill in its original form was that ultimate power for deciding which projects would proceed would lie with three ministers, for infrastructure, regional development and transport. There was no obligation to involve the Minister for the Environment.
An expert panel to be set up to advise on projects put before it by the ministers would have no environmental voice on it, and anything it recommended could be overridden by the ministers.
Now, in response to some of the criticism, Cabinet is recommending changes which would result in the final decisions on projects resting with the expert panel rather than the three ministers.
Under the new proposals, the infrastructure minister, at present Chris Bishop, will refer projects to the expert panel. He will be required to consult the Minister for the Environment and other relevant portfolio ministers as part of the referral process.
In further response to concern about the lack of environmental input, the new recommendations propose expert panels will include expertise in environmental matters. Already, questions are being raised about how independent any chosen environmental expert might be.
Without amending the purpose of the Bill to include some emphasis on environmental considerations, it is difficult to see how involving environmental expertise will have much impact on the sorts of decisions likely to be made.
The current purpose of the Bill is to provide a streamlined decision-making process to facilitate the delivery of infrastructure and development projects with significant regional or national benefits.
Under the Cabinet proposals, applicants will be required to include information on previous decisions by approving authorities, including previous court decisions, for the referring minister to consider. It is not clear what heed the minister is expected to take of such information.
It was inevitable some alterations would need to be made to the Bill after it attracted wide-ranging criticism and more than 27,000 submissions to the environment committee, most of them unfavourable.
Some are viewing the changes as clever political window-dressing, a case of Cabinet doing just enough to take some of the sting out of the criticism, and to avoid getting projects tied up in lengthy and expensive judicial reviews of ministerial decisions.
While the recommendations remove the decision-making power of what might have been seen as the unholy trinity of Mr Bishop, Shane Jones and Simeon Brown, whoever holds Mr Bishop’s infrastructure portfolio will still have considerable power because they decide what goes forward to the expert panel. The wisdom of this is questionable given our lack of transparency around lobbying.
Since the Bill is still wending its way through the select committee process, we do not yet know what shape it will take when the environment committee reports it to Parliament on October 18. There may be further changes than those proposed by Cabinet.
It would be good to know more about the 384 applications which Mr Bishop has already received for inclusion in schedule 2 of the Bill, 28 of them in Otago and 14 in Southland.
These have been considered by an independent advisory group which has provided recommendations on which projects should be included and which will be considered by Cabinet.
Once the Bill is enacted, projects on this list which have received Cabinet approval will go straight to the expert panel for a final decision and the imposition of any conditions deemed necessary.
It is very much an old-fashioned "trust us, we know what we are doing" model. It is gambling that if the legislation means the rapid production of major infrastructure, renewable energy projects, housing, mines and quarries, any downsides, including environmental degradation and community upset, will be forgiven.
It’s a big call.
