Recommendations
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Bill 1998
Environmental Reform (Consequential Provisions) Bill 1998
The Committee has examined the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Bill 1998 and the Environmental Reform (Consequential Provisions)
Bill 1998. The Committee has made 26 recommendations in relation
to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Bill 1998,
as listed below. The Committee has not made any recommendations in relation
to the Environmental Reform (Consequential Provisions) Bill 1998.
The Committee recommends that the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Bill 1998 be passed with the recommended amendments.
The Committee recommends that the Environmental Reform (Consequential
Provisions) Bill 1998 be passed without amendment.
Recommendations
Chapter 3 – Overview of the Bill Process
- The Committee recommends that summary clauses be inserted for all
chapters and parts of the Bill and a consolidated outline be included
in Part 1 of the Bill.
- The Committee recommends that the parts of the Bill be renumbered
so that their parent chapter can be identified. For example, Parts 2
and 3 should be renumbered as either Parts 2A and 2B or Parts 2.01 and
2.02.
- Chapter 6 – Protecting the Environment
- The Committee recommends that clause 25(3) be amended to strengthen
the obligation to consult with the States and Territories before regulations
are made to prescribe an additional matter of national environmental
significance.
- The Committee recommends that clause 523(2) be amended to clarify
that an enlargement, expansion or intensification of a use of land,
sea or seabed which had been authorised by law immediately before the
commencement of the Act is not an `action'.
- The Committee recommends that clause 14(1)(b)(ii) be amended so that
the Minister must be satisfied that some or all of the World Heritage
values of the property are under significant threat before declaring
a property to be a declared World Heritage property. The Committee recommends
that clause 17(3)(b) relating to declared Ramsar wetlands should be
similarly amended.
- The Committee recommends that the Minister and/or the Department of
the Environment and Heritage confirm the boundaries of Ramsar wetlands
prior to the commencement of the Act.
- The Committee recommends that consideration be given to including
a definition of `mining and milling of uranium ore' or of `uranium ore'
to ensure that the mining and milling of non-uranium ores are not misinterpreted
as a nuclear action.
- The Committee recommends that the authorisation under the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Act 1975 of an action which has, will have,
or is likely to have, a significant impact on the environment should
be prescribed as an action under clause 160(2)(d) of the Bill.
- Chapter 7 – Bilateral Agreements and Other Accreditation Mechanisms
- The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to apply prerequisites,
which are equivalent to those set out in clauses 50 to 56 for bilateral
agreements, to the making of declarations.
- Chapter 8 – Environmental Assessments and Approvals
- The Committee recommends that the Minister consider whether clause
131 is sufficient to ensure that all relevant Ministers are consulted
or whether an amendment is needed to achieve this.
- The Committee recommends that consideration be given to providing
for approval conditions which are expressed, where appropriate, in terms
of objectives and outcomes, and criteria for assessing the achievement
of those objectives and outcomes.
- The Committee recommends that clause 145(2) of the Bill be amended
to require that where an unforeseen environmental impact arises from
an approved action, the Minister may not revoke the approval unless
satisfied that conditions attached to the approval cannot be revoked,
varied or added in such a way as to mitigate that impact. The Committee
further recommends that the Minister be required to consult with the
proponent regarding any revocation, variation or addition of conditions.
- The Committee recommends that the Bill provide for a simple and secure
system for the transfer of an approval where a project changes ownership
or management.
- The Committee recommends that the Bill specify appropriate timelines
for the development of guidelines for the content of public environment
reports and environmental impact statements.
- Chapter 9 – Conservation of Biodiversity, Part 1
- The Committee recommends that the Bill include a definition of a bioregion.
- The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to provide for public
consultation during the creation of bioregional plans over both Commonwealth
and State areas.
- The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to enable the re-nomination
of a key threatening process initially rejected for the reason of it
not being practicable and feasible to prepare and implement a nationally
coordinated threat abatement plan, when new information makes it practicable
and feasible to develop a plan for abating the key threatening process.
- The Committee recommends that clause 191(2) of the Bill be amended
to provide that the Minister must forward a nomination of a threatened
species, threatened ecological community, or key threatening process
to the Scientific Committee within a reasonable period of time from
receipt of the nomination.
- The Committee recommends that the Minister gives consideration to
amending the Bill to provide for the protection of all species on Commonwealth
land unless the protection has been deliberately exempted by a Schedule
attached to the Bill.
- The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to provide that
the Minister can order further reasonable action to be taken in the
case of notification of a humane action that has occurred, such as returning
the animal to the wild or seeking professional care for it.
- The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to provide for public
notification of permits relating to cetaceans and to provide the opportunity
for public scrutiny by way of comments, similar to the current section
18 under the Whale Protection Act 1980.
- The Committee recommends that the Minister consider including in regulations
made under clause 301, a mechanism to provide for appropriate consultation
with the traditional owners where a person seeks access to biological
resources in a Commonwealth area, involving indigenous land or knowledge.
- Chapter 10 – Conservation of Biodiversity, Part 2
- The Committee recommends that the Minister continue to consult with
relevant indigenous groups in relation to the implementation of the
provisions of the Bill dealing with jointly managed National Parks.
- Chapter 11 - Administration
- The Committee recommends that existing provisions in the Endangered
Species Protection Act 1992 relating to merits review for permits
be reintroduced into the Bill.
- The Committee recommends that in relation to environment protection
consideration be given to amending the Bill to provide for the prosecuting
authority to have a choice between civil and criminal proceedings in
consideration of the seriousness of the offence.
- The Committee recommends that the Bill be amended to make provision
for the inclusion of an indigenous representative on the Biological
Diversity Advisory Committee in recognition of the significant contribution
made by indigenous people to the conservation and sustainable use of
biodiversity.
Top
|