LAWS20009 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Ramsar Convention, Environmental Impact Assessment, Civil Penalty
LECTURE 11: ENVIRONMENTAL OFFENCES AND PENALTIES – THE
RESPONSIBILITY NOT TO POLLUTE
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ACT (Cth)
• Applies to: world heritage properties, national heritage places, wetlands
of international importance, listed threatened species and ecological
communities, migratory species protected under international
agreements, commonwealth marine area, GBRMPA, nuclear actions,
environment of commonwealth land & a water resource in relation to
CSG and coal mining development
Offences under the EPBC Act
• Makes it an offence to have actions that may have significant impact on a MNES (matters of national environmental
significance)
• Example: s. 16:
o A person must not take an action that: has or is likely to have significant impact on the ecological character of a
declared Ramsar wetland
o Civil penalty: individual 5,000 penalty units (1 mil), body corporate 50,000 penalty units (10 mil)
Role of Approvals under the EPBC Act
• s. 16(2): provisions created to reduce harm to the environment and to provide information/assess the harm to the
environment
• Offence doesn’t apply in 3 circumstances:
o When there’s an exemption in the law
o Approval to do the action
o Minister decides there won’t be an impact at all
Environmental Impact Assessment
Responsibility to Provide Information
• s. 68 (1): a person proposing to take an action must get Ministers approval about whether it is a controlled action
o Controlled action – one likely to have a significant impact
• EPBC regulations, schedule 2 – prescribed information
o Designated proponent, whether the action is a controlled action, description of proposal (an alternatives),
nature and extent of likely impacts, measures to avoid or reduce impacts, environmental record of person
proposing to take the action, information sources
Lecture Overview
• Responsibilities to provide information and
assess environmental impacts
o EPBC Act 1999 (Cth) and
relevant case law
• Responsibilities imposed on polluters
o Environment Protection Act
1970 (Vic)
• Penalties for causing environmental harm
Document Summary
Lecture 11: environmental offences and penalties the. Lecture overview: responsibilities to provide information and assess environmental impacts, epbc act 1999 (cth) and relevant case law, responsibilities imposed on polluters, environment protection act. Offences under the epbc act: makes it an offence to have actions that may have significant impact on a mnes (matters of national environmental significance) Eastli(cid:374)k free(cid:449)a(cid:455), vi(cid:272) oads seeki(cid:374)g appro(cid:448)al to (cid:271)uild this road, sought (cid:373)i(cid:374)ister(cid:859)s appro(cid:448)als. Concerned impact on fauna of habitats near future freeway. Case tells us there is an obligation to provide correct information: referral document must contain information that is truthful and complete, so as not to mislead. Purpose of the epbc act, to protect the environment, would be subverted if the environment minister were called upon to make determinations in relation to proposals without full information of the kinds required by epbc act and the epbc. Mnes fulfilled under eis: responsibility rests with proponent and scientific team.
