Western Australia's environmental watchdog has officially dumped a controversial recommendation for all new large resources projects to fully offset their greenhouse gas emissions.

Key points: The Environmental Protection Authority's original guidelines sparked a backlash

The Environmental Protection Authority's original guidelines sparked a backlash The controversial plans were shelved just days later after a crisis meeting

The controversial plans were shelved just days later after a crisis meeting The watchdog says the new scheme is not a watered-down version of the first plan

In March, the state's Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) released guidelines requiring new and expanding resources projects emitting more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year to entirely offset those emissions to get the environmental green light.

It prompted a backlash from the mining and oil and gas industries, who warned the proposal would threaten jobs and projects.

Following a crisis meeting between industry representatives and WA Premier Mark McGowan, the guidelines were shelved and the EPA began a new round of consultation.

No backdown: EPA

Under the EPA's revised draft guidelines released today, project proponents would need to demonstrate how they would avoid, reduce and offset emissions.

EPA chairman Tom Hatton said a proponent's plans would need to contribute to the WA Government's "aspiration" of net zero emissions by 2050.

"And we would be advising on any particular project that the Government put a condition that they come back periodically and publicly [to] report on whether they've done what they said they were going to do," he said.

EPA chairman Tom Hatton says the new scheme is not a watered-down version. ( ABC News: Eliza Laschon )

Dr Hatton said the new scheme was not a watered-down version of the original guidelines.

"We can't require a company to do anything," he said. "We advise the Government on conditions that should apply to the approval of a large project."

Dr Hatton said that in 2017, Western Australia contributed 88.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, a 23 per cent increase from 2005 levels.

He said the initial EPA guidelines were released during a period of "policy vacuum", when neither the WA Government nor the industrial sector had developed clear emission reduction targets.

"We have that now," he said.

"What we were doing in the original guidelines is establishing expectations and, as ever with our guidelines, it's always been up to the companies to show that they're doing all that's reasonably practicable to meet those expectations.

"So we haven't backed down on that."

Initial process not satisfactory: McGowan

WA Premier Mark McGowan said the move did not mean the EPA had caved into industry demands, but he said the initial consultation process was not acceptable.

"I think the EPA is ensuring it's listening, and I think that's an important thing to do," he said.

"There was a process that was gone through last time that wasn't satisfactory.

"Essentially what was consulted by the EPA — and was broadly agreed — was not what was released, therefore there was some pushback."

Premier Mark McGowan rejected suggestions the EPA caved into industry demands. ( ABC News: Gian De Poloni )

The EPA said the revised draft guidelines were shaped by almost 7,000 submissions during a 12-week public consultation period.

The WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) said it was "reasonably comfortable" with the revised guidelines.

"The last set of draft guidelines that came out in March … would have significantly impacted jobs in WA," CME chief executive Paul Everingham said.

Mr Everingham said the EPA had done a "thorough and steady" job drafting the new guidelines but industry would have to wait and see how they were implemented and regulated.

"Most of our membership believes that they should be able to work within these guidelines to progress to significant investment decisions," he said.

Woodside, which manages the Pluto LNG project, was among the critics of the original plan. ( Supplied: Woodside Energy Ltd )

But environmental groups called on the EPA to go further.

"There's been a huge amount of political pressure applied to the EPA, particularly by Western Australia's biggest polluters," Conservation Council of WA director Piers Verstegen said.

"We would prefer that there was more detail provided in this policy, more clarity, about how these polluters should be reducing emissions.

"It does say they have to use all available measures to reduce emissions and then offset the remainder of the emissions, but ultimately that would be left up to the discretion of the Minister."

The draft guidelines would be subject to further review by the EPA's stakeholder reference group before being finalised in March.