BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ACT 2016 - SECT 6.23 Grounds for cancellation of biodiversity credit

BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ACT 2016 - SECT 6.23

6.23 Grounds for cancellation of biodiversity credit

(1) The Environment Agency Head may cancel a biodiversity credit that is in force, or that has been suspended under this Part--

(a) if the Environment Agency Head is of the opinion that any management action in respect of which the biodiversity credit was created has not been, or is not being, carried out in accordance with the biodiversity stewardship agreement, or

(b) if the credit was created on the basis of false or misleading information provided to the Environment Agency Head by the person who applied for the creation of the credit, or

(c) if the credit was created in error, or

(d) if the holder of the credit has requested or agreed to the cancellation, or

(e) if authorised to do so by any other provision of this Act or the regulations.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), if the Minister varies or terminates a biodiversity stewardship agreement because of activities authorised by a mining or petroleum authority granted in respect of a biodiversity stewardship site, the Environment Agency Head may cancel any biodiversity credits created in respect of the biodiversity stewardship site that have not been transferred by the biodiversity stewardship site owner.

(3) The Environment Agency Head must not cancel a biodiversity credit unless before doing so the Environment Agency Head--

(a) gives notice to the holder of the credit that he or she intends to do so, and

(b) specifies in that notice the reasons for his or her intention to do so, and

(c) gives the holder of the credit a reasonable opportunity to make submissions in relation to the proposed cancellation, and

(d) takes into consideration any such submissions by the holder of the credit.

(4) The Environment Agency Head is not to cancel a biodiversity credit if the Environment Agency Head is satisfied that the holder of the credit is a bona fide purchaser of the credit without notice of the circumstances that are grounds for the cancellation of the credit. The regulations may specify other circumstances in which the Environment Agency Head is not authorised to cancel a biodiversity credit.

Note : However, the Minister may require a wrongdoer to retire a specified number or class of credits under section 11.25.

(5) Subsections (3) and (4) do not apply if the holder of a biodiversity credit has requested or agreed to the cancellation of the credit.