New South Wales Consolidated Acts

WATER MANAGEMENT ACT 2000 - SECT 364

364 Proceedings for offences

(1) Proceedings for an offence against this Act or the regulations are to be disposed of summarily:

(a) by the Local Court, or

(b) by the Land and Environment Court in its summary jurisdiction.

(2) Proceedings for an offence against this Act or the regulations may be commenced at any time within, but not later than, 3 years after the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed.

(3) Proceedings for an offence against this Act or the regulations may also be commenced at any time within, but not later than, 3 years after the date on which evidence of the alleged offence first came to the attention of any relevant authorised officer.

(4) If subsection (3) is relied on for the purpose of commencing proceedings for an offence, the process by which the proceedings are commenced must contain particulars of the date on which evidence of the offence first came to the attention of any relevant authorised officer and need not contain particulars of the date on which the offence was committed.

(5) The date on which evidence first came to the attention of any relevant authorised officer is the date specified in the process by which the proceedings are commenced, unless the contrary is established.

(6) The maximum monetary penalty that may be imposed by the Local Court in proceedings for an offence against this Act or the regulations is:

(a) the lesser of the following:

(i) 200 penalty units,

(ii) the maximum monetary penalty specified in respect of the offence, and

(b) in the case of a continuing offence, 10 per cent of the further monetary penalty specified in respect of the offence for each day the offence continues.

(7) The maximum penalty that may be imposed by the Land and Environment Court in proceedings for an offence against this Act or the regulations is the maximum penalty specified in respect of the offence.

(8) In this section, "evidence" of an offence means evidence of any act or omission constituting the offence.