A controversial provision that would allow coal and gas projects to be approved if they were in the national interest could be scrapped as the government courts crucial Greens votes in the Senate.
Environment Minister Murray Watt has been negotiating with the minor party and the coalition in an attempt to get one side to provide the support needed for the reforms.
The government is looking to streamline approvals for key housing and energy projects, while bolstering nature protections.
To get the Greens on board, Senator Watt has offered to strip amendments that would allow a national-interest test to be used to approve fossil fuel projects.
But the minor party is demanding better native forest protection, and for the environmental impact of a project to be considered during the approval process, before signing up to the proposed reforms.
Labor has a week to pass environmental and conservation reforms before parliament rises for the year, but it needs a deal to get the legislation through a hostile Senate.
Independent senator David Pocock also called for the exclusion of fossil fuel projects from the national interest test and for safeguards around streamlined approvals.
"Without significant amendments to the bills, I can't back these reforms," Senator Pocock said on Saturday.
"We have a once-in-a-generation chance to get these reforms right, and I urge the government to listen to the feedback and take the time to ensure that these laws actually do what is promised."
The coalition has released proposed amendments and will pass the laws if the conditions are met, but some red lines for Labor persist.
They include how emissions are reported and the introduction of an independent Environmental Protection Agency.
The coalition wants to axe reporting, reduce fines and keep decision-making powers within the government's environment department.
But that has raised concerns a future minister could use their powers to tick and flick environmentally damaging projects - a possibility the Greens have leveraged in their attack on the proposals.
Labor's laws would allow the agency to halt projects if it believed environmental destruction was imminent, but the coalition warned this would create too much doubt.
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