Western Sydney airport EIS details due

The federal government is set to unveil details of its environmental assessment for the proposed Western Sydney airport next week.

In October the government said an environmental referral was being prepared for Badgerys Creek with the assessment to start before the end of the year.

Consultants SMEC were contracted in September to conduct an initial survey of the site and its environmental assets.

Transport Minister Warren Truss will release details of the type of environmental assessment the government plans to undertake and the public consultation process.

Under the conditions of the 2002 Sydney airport sale, its owners have a right of first refusal regarding a second major airport within 100km of Sydney's centre.

It will not be the first environmental study of the site, with the first conducted in the 1980s and another more comprehensive study in 1999.