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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Western Australia Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 CONTENTS Part 1 -- Preliminary 1. Short title 2 2. Commencement 2 Part 2 -- Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended 3. Act amended 3 4. Section 6 amended 3 5. Section 7A inserted 4 7A. Listing of threatened fauna and flora 4 6. Section 9 amended 4 7. Section 14 amended 5 8. Section 15A amended 5 9. Section 16 amended 5 10. Section 16A amended 6 11. Section 17 amended 7 12. Section 17A amended 7 13. Section 20 amended 8 14. Section 23B amended 8 15. Section 23D amended 8 16. Section 23F amended 8 17. Sections 24 to 25I inserted 9 24. Terms used in provisions about listed ecological communities 9 25A. Minister may authorise modification of listed ecological community 10 25B. Conditions of authorisation 11 25C. Modifying a listed ecological community 12 64--1 page i Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Contents 25D. Duty of owner or occupier to report occurrence of listed ecological community 13 25E. Duty of certain other people to report occurrence of listed ecological community 13 25F. Notice to owner and occupier as to presence of listed ecological community 14 25G. Lodgment of notification documents with Registrar 15 25H. Visitors to be notified 17 25I. Compensation for owners or occupiers of private land 18 18. Section 26 amended 18 19. Section 27CA inserted 19 27CA. Offences: orders as to prevention, restoration, remediation, recovery of costs 19 20. Section 28 amended 19 21. Schedule 1 inserted 20 Schedule 1 -- Listing of threatened fauna and flora 1. Terms used 20 2. List of threatened taxa and threatened ecological communities 20 3. Establishment of threatened list 20 4. The listing criteria 21 5. Matters for consideration in making listing decisions 21 6. How alterations to the threatened list are made 21 7. Additions to threatened list by Minister 22 8. Additions to threatened list through nomination process 22 9. Deletions from threatened list 23 10. Corrections to threatened list 24 Part 3 -- Environmental Protection Act 1986 amended 22. Act amended 25 23. Section 51QA inserted 25 51QA. State Administrative Tribunal may review decisions about clearing permits in certain cases 25 24. Schedule 5 amended 26 page ii Western Australia LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL (Introduced by Hon Lynn MacLaren, MLC) Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 A Bill for An Act to amend the -- • Wildlife Conservation Act 1950; and • Environmental Protection Act 1986. The Parliament of Western Australia enacts as follows: page 1 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 1 Preliminary s. 1 1 Part 1 -- Preliminary 2 1. Short title 3 This is the Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Act 2014. 4 2. Commencement 5 This Act comes into operation as follows -- 6 (a) Part 1 -- on the day on which this Act receives the 7 Royal Assent; 8 (b) the rest of the Act -- on a day fixed by proclamation, 9 and different days may be fixed for different provisions. page 2 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 3 1 Part 2 -- Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended 2 3. Act amended 3 This Part amends the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950. 4 4. Section 6 amended 5 (1) In section 6(1) insert in alphabetical order: 6 7 ecological community means the extent in nature in the 8 State of an assemblage of fauna or flora, or fauna and 9 flora, that -- 10 (a) inhabits a particular area in nature; and 11 (b) if the regulations set out any other criteria for 12 the purposes of this definition, meets those 13 criteria; 14 listed includes listed on an interim basis; 15 listed ecological community means an ecological 16 community listed in the threatened list; 17 listed fauna means fauna of a taxon listed in the 18 threatened list; 19 listed flora means flora of a taxon listed in the 20 threatened list; 21 taxon means any taxonomic category of fauna or flora 22 (for example, a species or a genus), and includes a 23 particular population; 24 threatened list means the list established and 25 maintained under Schedule 1 clause 2; 26 27 (2) After section 6(1a) insert: 28 29 (2A) Listed flora is protected flora for the purposes of this 30 Act throughout the whole of the State. page 3 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 5 1 (2B) Until the threatened list is established the items 2 referred to in Schedule 1 clause 3(2) are taken to be 3 listed fauna and listed flora by force of this subsection. 4 5 (3) After section 6(6) insert: 6 7 (7) In determining whether something constitutes the 8 taking of fauna or flora for the purposes of this Act it 9 does not matter that it was an incidental consequence 10 of an act performed for another purpose as long as that 11 consequence was or should have been foreseen. 12 (8) In provisions of this Act dealing with penalties for 13 offences a reference to a number of penalty units is a 14 reference to an amount (in dollars) that is that number 15 multiplied by 1 100. 16 17 5. Section 7A inserted 18 After section 6 insert: 19 20 7A. Listing of threatened fauna and flora 21 Schedule 1 sets out provisions relating to the listing 22 of -- 23 (a) taxa of fauna and flora; and 24 (b) ecological communities, 25 as threatened for the purposes of this Act. 26 27 6. Section 9 amended 28 (1) In section 9(1) delete "relating to flora". 29 (2) Delete section 9(2) to (4). page 4 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 7 1 7. Section 14 amended 2 (1) In section 14(2) after "Subject to" insert: 3 4 subsection (4) and 5 6 (2) In section 14(3) delete "The" and insert: 7 8 Subject to subsection (4) and section 15A, the 9 10 (3) Delete section 14(4) and insert: 11 12 (4) The Minister must not publish any notice under this 13 section in relation to listed fauna. 14 15 8. Section 15A amended 16 In section 15A(1) delete "The Minister shall not make any 17 declaration under section 14(2)" and insert: 18 19 The Minister must not publish any notice under section 14 20 21 9. Section 16 amended 22 (1) Delete section 16(1) and insert: 23 24 (1) Subject to subsection (3), a person who takes protected 25 fauna otherwise than by -- 26 (a) the authority of a licence under section 15; or page 5 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 10 1 (b) the authority of section 23, 2 commits an offence against this Act. 3 Penalty: 4 (a) in the case of fauna that is listed fauna, 5 100 penalty units; 6 (b) in any other case, 40 penalty units. 7 8 (2) In section 16(1a) delete "In the case of fauna other than fauna in 9 respect of which a declaration under section 14(4) is in 10 operation," and insert: 11 12 Except in the case of listed fauna, 13 14 (3) Delete section 16(2) and insert: 15 16 (2) Subject to subsection (3), a person who fails to observe 17 a close season declaration or any other restriction 18 placed by a notice under section 14 on -- 19 (a) the taking of fauna; or 20 (b) the disposal of fauna; or 21 (c) the taking and disposal of fauna, 22 commits an offence against this Act. 23 Penalty: 40 penalty units. 24 25 10. Section 16A amended 26 (1) At the end of section 16A(1) insert: 27 28 Penalty: 29 (a) in the case of fauna that is listed fauna, 30 100 penalty units; page 6 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 11 1 (b) in any other case, 40 penalty units. 2 3 (2) At the end of section 16A(2) insert: 4 5 Penalty: 6 (a) in the case of the skin or carcass of listed 7 fauna, 100 penalty units; 8 (b) in any other case, 40 penalty units. 9 10 11. Section 17 amended 11 At the end of section 17(2) insert: 12 13 Penalty: 14 (a) in the case of fauna that is listed fauna, 15 100 penalty units; 16 (b) in any other case, 40 penalty units. 17 18 12. Section 17A amended 19 In section 17A delete the Penalty and insert: 20 21 Penalty: 10 penalty units, and in the case of a 22 continuing offence a further penalty of not less 23 than one penalty unit or more than 2 penalty units 24 for each day the offence continues after the 25 Minister serves notice of the offence on the 26 offender. 27 page 7 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 13 1 13. Section 20 amended 2 In section 20(2b) in the Penalty delete "$2 000." and insert: 3 4 20 penalty units. 5 6 14. Section 23B amended 7 At the end of section 23B(1) insert: 8 9 Penalty: 40 penalty units. 10 11 15. Section 23D amended 12 At the end of section 23D(1) insert: 13 14 Penalty: 40 penalty units. 15 16 16. Section 23F amended 17 (1) Delete section 23F(1) to (3). 18 (2) In section 23F(4): 19 (a) delete "shall not," and insert: 20 21 who, 22 23 (b) in paragraph (a) delete "flora; or" and insert: 24 25 flora on Crown land; or 26 27 (c) in paragraphs (b) and (c) delete "rare" and insert: 28 29 listed 30 page 8 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 17 1 (d) delete "take any rare flora unless --" and insert: 2 3 takes any listed flora commits an offence against this 4 Act unless -- 5 6 (3) At the end of section 23F(4) insert: 7 8 Penalty: 100 penalty units. 9 10 (4) Delete section 23F(6). 11 (5) In section 23F(7) and (8) delete "rare" and insert: 12 13 listed 14 15 Note: The heading to amended section 23F is to read: 16 Listed flora 17 17. Sections 24 to 25I inserted 18 Before section 25 insert: 19 20 24. Terms used in provisions about listed ecological 21 communities 22 In sections 25A to 25I -- 23 CALM Act means the Conservation and Land 24 Management Act 1984; 25 LEC notice means a notice under section 25F(1) 26 relating to a listed ecological community; page 9 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 17 1 modify, in relation to a listed ecological community, 2 means to take action that results in -- 3 (a) the modification of the ecological community 4 to such an extent that it is unlikely to 5 recover -- 6 (i) its species composition or structure; or 7 (ii) its species composition and structure; 8 or 9 (b) the destruction of the ecological community. 10 25A. Minister may authorise modification of listed 11 ecological community 12 (1) In this section -- 13 public authority means -- 14 (a) a department of the Public Service; or 15 (b) a State agency; or 16 (c) a local government or regional local 17 government; or 18 (d) a body, whether incorporated or not, or the 19 holder of an office, post or position, that is 20 established or continued for a public purpose 21 under a written law. 22 (2) The Minister may, by instrument, authorise a person 23 (including a public authority) to modify a listed 24 ecological community. 25 (3) An authorisation under subsection (2) does not 26 authorise the taking of listed fauna or listed flora. 27 (4) An application for authorisation under subsection (2) 28 must be in a form approved by the CEO. page 10 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 17 1 25B. Conditions of authorisation 2 (1) In this section -- 3 land of conservation value means land on which there 4 is an occurrence of the relevant community; 5 relevant community means the listed ecological 6 community to which the authorisation relates. 7 (2) An authorisation under section 25A may be given 8 subject to any conditions that the Minister considers 9 appropriate. 10 (3) Without limiting subsection (2), the conditions 11 imposed on an authorisation may include conditions 12 that the Minister considers necessary or convenient for 13 the purpose of mitigating or offsetting the impact that 14 activity carried out under the authorisation is likely to 15 have on the total known occurrences of the relevant 16 community in the State. 17 (4) The following list sets out things that the holder of an 18 authorisation can be required to do under conditions 19 referred to in subsection (3) -- 20 (a) make a monetary contribution towards the 21 purchase of land of conservation value; 22 (b) transfer, lease or otherwise dispose of land of 23 conservation value to a specified person 24 (including the CEO); 25 (c) exchange land of conservation value for other 26 land; 27 (d) enter into an agreement with the CEO under the 28 CALM Act section 8A in respect of land of 29 conservation value; 30 (e) take specified measures on land of conservation 31 value for the purpose of conserving and 32 protecting the relevant community; page 11 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 17 1 (f) provide equipment, facilities, resources or 2 services to assist in the conservation and 3 protection of the relevant community; 4 (g) conduct or fund surveys, studies or research in 5 relation to the relevant community; 6 (h) prepare and implement, or fund the preparation 7 and implementation of, plans or schemes for 8 the conservation or protection of the relevant 9 community; 10 (i) do anything else that is prescribed for the 11 purposes of this subsection. 12 (5) If a condition imposed on an authorisation requires the 13 transfer, lease or other disposal of land of conservation 14 value to the CEO, it is a function of the CEO to 15 acquire, hold, manage and otherwise deal with that 16 land for the purpose of conserving and protecting the 17 relevant community. 18 25C. Modifying a listed ecological community 19 (1) A person must not modify a listed ecological 20 community unless the person is authorised under 21 section 25A to modify it. 22 Penalty: 100 penalty units. 23 (2) It is a defence to a charge of an offence under 24 subsection (1) to prove that -- 25 (a) the modification of the listed ecological 26 community -- 27 (i) occurred in the course of a lawful 28 activity the sole or dominant purpose of 29 which was not to modify an ecological 30 community; and 31 (ii) could not reasonably have been 32 avoided; 33 and page 12 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 17 1 (b) the person charged did not know, and could not 2 reasonably have known, that the listed 3 ecological community was present. 4 25D. Duty of owner or occupier to report occurrence of 5 listed ecological community 6 (1) This section applies to an owner or occupier of land 7 if -- 8 (a) the owner or occupier has been given an LEC 9 notice in respect of the land; or 10 (b) a notification under section 25G(2) relating to 11 an LEC notice is registered in respect of the 12 land. 13 (2) An owner or occupier of land to whom this section 14 applies who finds the listed ecological community to 15 which the LEC notice relates on a part of the land (the 16 other location) other than the part of the land specified 17 in the LEC notice must report its presence at the other 18 location to the CEO. 19 Penalty: 40 penalty units. 20 (3) It is a defence to a charge of an offence under 21 subsection (2) to prove that the person charged had 22 reasonable grounds to believe that the CEO, or another 23 officer of the department of the Public Service 24 principally assisting in the administration of the CALM 25 Act, was already aware of the presence of the listed 26 ecological community at the other location. 27 25E. Duty of certain other people to report occurrence of 28 listed ecological community 29 (1) This section applies to a person who is engaged in 30 carrying out any work or study for the purposes of -- 31 (a) obtaining field survey evidence referred to in 32 Schedule 1; or page 13 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 17 1 (b) the making of an assessment under the 2 Environmental Protection Act 1986 Part IV; or 3 (c) complying with a requirement under the 4 Environmental Protection Act 1986 5 section 51E(1)(d) in relation to an application 6 for a clearing permit. 7 (2) A person to whom this section applies who, in the 8 course of carrying out any work or study referred to in 9 subsection (1), finds a listed ecological community on 10 land to which the work or study relates must report its 11 presence to the CEO. 12 Penalty: 20 penalty units. 13 (3) It is a defence to a charge of an offence under 14 subsection (2) to prove that the person charged did not 15 know, and could not reasonably have known, that the 16 ecological community found was a listed ecological 17 community. 18 25F. Notice to owner and occupier as to presence of listed 19 ecological community 20 (1) Where it appears to the Minister that there is 21 reasonable evidence that a listed ecological community 22 is present on land, the Minister may give each owner 23 and each occupier of the land a written notice that -- 24 (a) specifies the listed ecological community; and 25 (b) contains information to assist the owner or 26 occupier in the identification of the listed 27 ecological community; and 28 (c) specifies the part of the land on which the listed 29 ecological community is believed to be present; 30 and 31 (d) specifies the assistance that may be available to 32 the owner or occupier for the protection of the 33 listed ecological community; and page 14 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 17 1 (e) informs the owner or occupier about the effect 2 of section 25H. 3 (2) An LEC notice remains in force until it is cancelled 4 under subsection (3). 5 (3) The Minister may at any time by written notice given 6 to each owner and each occupier of the land amend or 7 cancel an LEC notice. 8 25G. Lodgment of notification documents with Registrar 9 (1) In this section -- 10 notification document means -- 11 (a) a notification lodged under subsection (2); or 12 (b) an amendment notification lodged under 13 subsection (3); or 14 (c) a removal of notification lodged under 15 subsection (4); 16 notified instrument means an LEC notice in respect of 17 which a notification under subsection (2) is registered; 18 register, in relation to a notification document, 19 means -- 20 (a) if the document relates to land that is under the 21 operation of the Transfer of Land Act 1893, to 22 endorse the particulars of the document on the 23 certificate of title for that land; or 24 (b) otherwise, to enter the particulars of the 25 document in the appropriate record under the 26 Registration of Deeds Act 1856; 27 Registrar means -- 28 (a) in relation to land that is under the operation of 29 the Transfer of Land Act 1893, the Registrar of 30 Titles under that Act; or page 15 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 17 1 (b) otherwise, the Registrar of Deeds and Transfers 2 under the Registration of Deeds Act 1856. 3 (2) The CEO may lodge a notification in respect of an 4 LEC notice with the Registrar. 5 (3) If a notified instrument is amended, the CEO may 6 lodge an amendment notification with the Registrar. 7 (4) If a notified instrument ceases to be in force, the CEO 8 must lodge a removal of notification with the Registrar. 9 (5) A notification document must be in a form approved by 10 the Registrar. 11 (6) If the land (the notification land) to which a 12 notification document relates comprises part of the land 13 the subject of a certificate of title, the notification 14 document must be accompanied by a plan in a form 15 approved by the Registrar showing the notification 16 land. 17 (7) The Registrar may, on the lodgment of a notification 18 document and the payment of any relevant fee, register 19 the document. 20 (8) The Registrar may -- 21 (a) approve the form of notification documents and 22 plans for the purposes of this section; and 23 (b) require the CEO to give to the Registrar the 24 information specified in a notification 25 document and any further information required 26 by the Registrar for the purpose of registering 27 the notification document. page 16 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 17 1 25H. Visitors to be notified 2 (1) This section applies to an owner or occupier of land 3 if -- 4 (a) the owner or occupier has been given an LEC 5 notice in respect of the land; or 6 (b) a notification under section 25G(2) relating to 7 an LEC notice is registered in respect of the 8 land, 9 unless the Minister has, by written notice, exempted 10 the owner or occupier from the application of this 11 section. 12 (2) An owner or occupier of land whom this section 13 applies who -- 14 (a) permits, either generally or in a particular case, 15 another person to have access to the part of the 16 land that is specified under section 25F(1)(c); 17 or 18 (b) knows that another person will have such 19 access, 20 must, if subsection (3) applies, take such steps as are 21 reasonably available to the owner or occupier to inform 22 the other person of the presence of the listed ecological 23 community mentioned in the LEC notice. 24 Penalty: 40 penalty units. 25 (3) The duty in subsection (2) arises if the owner or 26 occupier knows or ought reasonably to know that the 27 activities of the person having access to the land are 28 likely to result in the modification of the listed 29 ecological community mentioned in the LEC notice in 30 contravention of section 25C(1). page 17 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 18 1 25I. Compensation for owners or occupiers of private 2 land 3 (1) In this section -- 4 adverse decision means -- 5 (a) a refusal to give an authorisation under 6 section 25A to modify a listed ecological 7 community; or 8 (b) the giving of an authorisation under 9 section 25A on a condition that is not 10 acceptable to the owner or occupier. 11 (2) An owner or occupier of private land -- 12 (a) who applies for an authorisation under 13 section 25A in respect of a listed ecological 14 community on the land; and 15 (b) whose estate or interest in the land is 16 injuriously affected by an adverse decision 17 made in relation to that application, 18 is entitled to make a claim for compensation. 19 (3) Section 23F(7) applies, with any necessary 20 modifications, in relation to a claim for compensation 21 under this section. 22 23 18. Section 26 amended 24 (1) In section 26(1): 25 (a) delete "$4 000" and insert: 26 27 40 penalty units 28 29 (b) delete "$2 000" and insert: 30 31 20 penalty units 32 page 18 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 19 1 (2) After section 26(3) insert: 2 3 (4) If an offence against this Act is committed by an 4 individual and the offender is liable to a fine of 5 100 penalty units, the offender may be sentenced to 6 imprisonment for a term of not more than 2 years in 7 addition to or instead of a fine. 8 9 Note: The heading to amended section 26 is to read: 10 Offences and penalties 11 19. Section 27CA inserted 12 After section 27B insert: 13 14 27CA. Offences: orders as to prevention, restoration, 15 remediation, recovery of costs 16 The Environmental Protection Act 1986 Part VIA 17 Division 4 (other than sections 99V and 99W) applies 18 to an offence against this Act as if the offence were an 19 offence against that Act. 20 21 20. Section 28 amended 22 In section 28(1)(h) delete "$2 000," and insert: 23 24 20 penalty units, 25 page 19 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 21 1 21. Schedule 1 inserted 2 After section 28 insert: 3 4 Schedule 1 -- Listing of threatened fauna and flora 5 [s. 7A] 6 1. Terms used 7 In this Schedule -- 8 commencement day means the day of the coming into 9 operation of the Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) 10 Act 2014 section 5; 11 field survey evidence means evidence that -- 12 (a) is based wholly or primarily on actual on-site 13 biological survey work; and 14 (b) if the regulations set out any other criteria for the 15 purposes of this definition, meets those criteria; 16 listing criteria means the criteria set out in clause 4; 17 previous declaration means -- 18 (a) in relation to fauna, a declaration under 19 section 14(4) as enacted before the commencement 20 day; and 21 (b) in relation to flora, a declaration under 22 section 23F(2) as enacted before the 23 commencement day. 24 2. List of threatened taxa and threatened ecological 25 communities 26 The Minister is to establish and maintain a list of threatened 27 taxa and threatened ecological communities. 28 3. Establishment of threatened list 29 (1) On or as soon as practicable after the commencement day 30 the Minister must establish the threatened list by instrument 31 published in the Government Gazette. page 20 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 21 1 (2) The threatened list as first established must contain any 2 fauna or flora in respect of which a previous declaration was 3 in operation immediately before the commencement day. 4 4. The listing criteria 5 The criteria for the inclusion of a taxon or ecological 6 community in the threatened list are that the taxon or 7 ecological community -- 8 (a) is likely to become extinct; or 9 (b) is rare; or 10 (c) is otherwise in need of special protection. 11 5. Matters for consideration in making listing decisions 12 (1) In this clause -- 13 listing decision means -- 14 (a) a decision by the Minister under clause 7, 8(6) 15 or (8) or 9; or 16 (b) a decision by the CEO under clause 8(4); 17 precautionary principle means the principle set out in 18 item 1 of the Table to the Environmental Protection 19 Act 1986 section 4A as applied in accordance with that item. 20 (2) In making a listing decision the Minister or the CEO -- 21 (a) must have regard to the precautionary principle and 22 relevant and detailed field survey evidence; and 23 (b) may obtain, and have regard to, advice from any 24 person or body considered by the Minister or the 25 CEO to have relevant expertise. 26 6. How alterations to the threatened list are made 27 Alterations to the threatened list under clause 7, 8, 9 or 10 28 are to be made by instrument published by the Minister in 29 the Government Gazette. page 21 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 21 1 7. Additions to threatened list by Minister 2 The Minister may, at any time, decide to add a taxon or 3 ecological community to the threatened list if the Minister 4 considers that it meets the listing criteria. 5 8. Additions to threatened list through nomination process 6 (1) Any person (the nominator) may nominate a taxon or 7 ecological community (the nominated item) for addition to 8 the threatened list if the nominator considers that the 9 nominated item meets the listing criteria. 10 (2) A nomination must be made by written notice sent to the 11 CEO. 12 (3) As soon as practicable after receiving a nomination, the 13 CEO must -- 14 (a) publish notice in the Government Gazette that the 15 nomination has been received for consideration; or 16 (b) reject the nomination because it does not comply 17 with prescribed requirements as to the subject 18 matter of nominations, or the manner in which 19 nominations are to be made, or both. 20 (4) As soon as practicable, and not later than 12 months, after 21 publishing a notice under subclause (3)(a) the CEO must 22 consider the nomination and decide whether to recommend 23 to the Minister that the nominated item be added to the 24 threatened list or that it not be added to the threatened list. 25 (5) The CEO may decide to recommend to the Minister that the 26 nominated item not be added to the threatened list if, and 27 only if, the CEO is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, 28 that the item does not meet the listing criteria. 29 (6) Not later than 3 months after receiving a recommendation 30 under subclause (4) the Minister must consider the 31 recommendation and decide whether or not to add the 32 nominated item to the threatened list. 33 (7) If the CEO recommended that the nominated item be added 34 to the threatened list, the Minister may decide not to add the page 22 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended Part 2 s. 21 1 item to the threatened list if, and only if, the Minister is 2 satisfied -- 3 (a) on the balance of probabilities; and 4 (b) on the basis of field survey evidence that was not 5 available to, or not considered by, the CEO, 6 that the item does not meet the listing criteria. 7 (8) If at the expiration of 12 months after the publication of a 8 notice under subclause (3)(a) the Minister has not received a 9 recommendation under subclause (4), the Minister must, not 10 later than 15 months after the publication of the notice, 11 consider the nomination and decide whether or not to add 12 the nominated item to the threatened list. 13 (9) The Minister may decide not to add the item to the 14 threatened list if, and only if, the Minister is satisfied, on the 15 balance of probabilities, that the item does not meet the 16 listing criteria. 17 (10) The CEO must advise the nominator by written notice of 18 any of the following -- 19 (a) the publication of a notice under subclause (3)(a); 20 (b) the rejection of a nomination under 21 subclause (3)(b); 22 (c) a recommendation by the CEO under subclause (4); 23 (d) a decision by the Minister under subclause (6) 24 or (8). 25 9. Deletions from threatened list 26 (1) The Minister may decide to delete an item from the 27 threatened list if, and only if, the Minister is satisfied -- 28 (a) on the balance of probabilities; and 29 (b) on the basis of field survey evidence that was not 30 available, or not considered, when the item was 31 included in the threatened list, 32 that the item does not meet the listing criteria. page 23 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 2 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 amended s. 21 1 (2) For the purposes of subclause (1)(b), an item referred to in 2 clause 3(2) is taken to have been included in the threatened 3 list when the relevant previous declaration was made. 4 10. Corrections to threatened list 5 The Minister may, at any time, amend the threatened list by 6 correcting an inaccuracy or updating the name of a taxon or 7 ecological community. 8 page 24 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Environmental Protection Act 1986 amended Part 3 s. 22 1 Part 3 -- Environmental Protection Act 1986 amended 2 22. Act amended 3 This Part amends the Environmental Protection Act 1986. 4 23. Section 51QA inserted 5 After section 51P insert: 6 7 51QA. State Administrative Tribunal may review decisions 8 about clearing permits in certain cases 9 (1) In this section -- 10 decision has the meaning given in section 51O(1); 11 proceeding means a proceeding in the State 12 Administrative Tribunal. 13 (2) Any person may apply to the State Administrative 14 Tribunal for the review of a decision if the person is 15 dissatisfied with the decision on the grounds -- 16 (a) that the CEO considered that the decision was 17 not seriously at variance with the clearing 18 principles; or 19 (b) that the CEO considered that the decision was 20 seriously at variance with the clearing 21 principles but formed the opinion that there was 22 a good reason for making it. 23 (3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), the CEO is taken 24 to have considered that a decision was not seriously at 25 variance with the clearing principles unless the 26 particulars relating to the decision as published under 27 section 51Q include a reason as referred to in 28 section 51O(3). 29 (4) An application to the State Administrative Tribunal for 30 the review of a decision must be made within the page 25 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Part 3 Environmental Protection Act 1986 amended s. 24 1 period of 21 days after the particulars relating to the 2 decision are published under section 51Q. 3 (5) The State Administrative Tribunal Act 2004 section 20 4 does not apply to a decision. 5 (6) The applicant for, or holder of, the permit about which 6 a decision was made is a party to a proceeding for the 7 review of the decision. 8 (7) In a proceeding for the review of a decision the State 9 Administrative Tribunal may receive or hear 10 submissions from a person who is not a party to the 11 proceeding if the Tribunal is of the opinion that the 12 person has a sufficient interest in the matter. 13 (8) After the commencement of a proceeding for the 14 review of a decision -- 15 (a) no clearing is to take place under the permit 16 about which the decision was made; and 17 (b) no other action is to be taken to implement the 18 decision. 19 20 24. Schedule 5 amended 21 (1) In Schedule 5 before clause 1(a) insert: 22 23 (aa) it comprises the whole or a part of, or includes, an 24 area that is likely to be important as a climate 25 change refuge; or 26 27 (2) In Schedule 5 clause 1(c) delete "rare" and insert: 28 29 listed 30 page 26 Biodiversity Legislation (Priority Reforms) Bill 2014 Environmental Protection Act 1986 amended Part 3 s. 24 1 (3) In Schedule 5 before clause 1(e) insert: 2 3 (ea) it comprises the whole or a part of, or is necessary 4 for the maintenance of, an ecological community in 5 respect of which there is reason to believe that its 6 extent is less than 30 per cent of its extent 7 before 1750; or 8 (eb) it comprises the whole or a part of, or includes, an 9 area that is significant for ecological connectivity; 10 or 11 12 (4) In Schedule 5 clause 2 delete the definitions of: 13 rare flora 14 threatened ecological community 15 (5) In Schedule 5 clause 2 insert in alphabetical order: 16 17 listed flora has the meaning given in the Wildlife 18 Conservation Act 1950 section 6(1); 19 threatened ecological community means an ecological 20 community -- 21 (a) in the list established and maintained under the 22 Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 Schedule 1 23 clause 2; or 24 (b) listed, designated or declared under a law of the 25 Commonwealth as threatened, endangered or 26 vulnerable; 27 28
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