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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AMENDMENT
BILL 1996
Queensland
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AMENDMENT BILL 1996
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4 Amendment of s 14 (Environmental harm) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5 Amendment of s 23 (Preparation of draft policies) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6 Amendment of s 35 (Application date) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
7 Amendment of s 39 (Level 1 environmentally relevant activities
to be licensed) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
8 Replacement of s 44 (Criteria for deciding application) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
44 Criteria for deciding application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
9 Amendment of s 46 (Conditions of environmental authority) . . . . . . . . . . . 8
10 Insertion of new s 47A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
47A Provisional licensee may apply for new licence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
11 Amendment of s 49 (Amendment of licence on application of
licensee) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
12 Insertion of new s 61A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
61A Special provisions for environmental authorities to carry
out new environmentally relevant activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
13 Amendment of s 68 (Annual licence fee and return) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
14 Amendment of s 88 (Administering authority to consider draft
programs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
15 Replacement of s 89 (Criteria for deciding draft program) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
89 Criteria for deciding draft program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
16 Amendment of s 92 (Extensions of time for decisions on
submission of draft programs) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2
Environmental Protection Amendment
17 Amendment of s 196 (Devolution of powers) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
18 Amendment of s 200 (Dissatisfied person) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
19 Amendment of s 202 (Procedure for review) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
20 Amendment of s 220 (Regulations) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
21 Amendment of ch 8 heading (Repeals, savings and transitional) . . . . . . . . 13
22 Amendment of s 224 (Definitions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
23 Insertion of new ss 236 to 237 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
236 Extension of period for consideration of applications for
environmental authorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
236A Postponement of requirement for environmental
authorities to carry out certain existing environmentally relevant
activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
237 Application of ch 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
24 Insertion of new s 240 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
240 Transitional provision for change in anniversary days . . . . . . . . . . . 15
25 Amendment of s 238 (Special transitional provision for
agricultural industry) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
26 Replacement of s 241 (Expiry of division) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
241 Expiry of division . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
27 Insertion of new ch 8, pt 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
PART 3--VALIDATIONS AND RELATED PROVISIONS
Division 1--Interpretation
242 Definitions for pt 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Division 2--Validations
243 Validation of fees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
244 Validation of amending regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
245 Validations for invalid past acts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
246 Validation of certain notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Division 3--Miscellaneous
247 Unlawful past acts authorised . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
248 Applications made during suspension period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
249 Reconsideration of applications refused during suspension
period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
250 Anniversary day for environmental authorities taking
3
Environmental Protection Amendment
effect during suspension period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
251 Special regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
252 Expiry of part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1996
A BILL
FOR
An Act to amend the Environmental Protection Act 1994
s1 6 s6
Environmental Protection Amendment
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
title 2
Short
Clause 1. This Act may be cited as the Environmental Protection Amendment 3
Act 1996. 4
amended 5
Act
Clause 2. This Act amends the Environmental Protection Act 1994. 6
7
Commencement
Clause 3. Sections 13 and 24 commence on 1 June 1996. 8
of s 14 (Environmental harm) 9
Amendment
Clause 4. Section 14, after `value'-- 10
insert-- 11
`, and includes environmental nuisance.'. 12
of s 23 (Preparation of draft policies) 13
Amendment
Clause 5. Section 23, after `to'-- 14
insert-- 15
`enhance or'. 16
of s 35 (Application date) 17
Amendment
Clause 6. Section 35(1), after `for, or'-- 18
insert-- 19
`amendment or'. 20
s7 7 s8
Environmental Protection Amendment
of s 39 (Level 1 environmentally relevant activities to be 1
Amendment
licensed) 2
Clause 7. Section 39-- 3
insert-- 4
`(2) Subsection (1) has effect subject to section 61A.1'. 5
of s 44 (Criteria for deciding application) 6
Replacement
Clause 8. Section 44-- 7
omit, insert-- 8
for deciding application 9
`Criteria
`44. In deciding whether to grant or refuse an application for an 10
environmental authority or what should be the conditions of the authority, 11
the administering authority-- 12
(a) must comply with any applicable environmental protection policy 13
requiring it to-- 14
(i) follow stated procedure in evaluating an application for an 15
environmental authority; or 16
(ii) grant or refuse to grant an application for an environmental 17
authority or to impose conditions on an environmental 18
authority; and 19
(b) subject to paragraph (a), must also consider the following-- 20
(i) the standard criteria; 21
(ii) additional information given in relation to the application; 22
(iii) any report about the applicant's suitability to hold, or 23
continue to hold, an environmental authority; 24
(iv) the views expressed at a conference held in relation to the 25
application.'. 26
1 Section 61A (Special provisions for environmental authorities to carry out new
environmentally relevant activities)
s9 8 s 11
Environmental Protection Amendment
of s 46 (Conditions of environmental authority) 1
Amendment
Clause 9.(1) Section 46, `subsection (1)'-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`subsection (2)'. 4
(2) Section 46(2) and (3)-- 5
renumber as section 46(3) and (4). 6
(3) Section 46-- 7
insert-- 8
`(2) The conditions must include any the administering authority is 9
required to impose under an applicable environmental protection policy.'. 10
of new s 47A 11
Insertion
Clause 10. After section 47-- 12
insert-- 13
licensee may apply for new licence 14
`Provisional
`47A.(1) A licensee under a provisional licence may apply to the 15
administering authority to have the licence cancelled and a new licence 16
under section 452 issued if the licensee is able to give it the information the 17
licensee was previously unable to give to permit the issue of a licence under 18
section 45. 19
`(2) This division (other than section 473 ) applies to the application with 20
all necessary changes and any changes prescribed under a regulation. 21
`(3) If the administering authority issues a new licence, it must cancel the 22
provisional licence.'. 23
of s 49 (Amendment of licence on application of licensee) 24
Amendment
Clause 11. Section 49(7), `its receipt'-- 25
2 Section 45 (Grant of application for environmental authority)
3 Section 47 (Provisional licence)
s 12 9 s 12
Environmental Protection Amendment
omit, insert-- 1
`the application date'. 2
of new s 61A 3
Insertion
Clause 12. After section 61-- 4
insert-- 5
provisions for environmental authorities to carry out new 6
`Special
environmentally relevant activities 7
`61A.(1) This section applies if-- 8
(a) an activity first becomes an environmentally relevant activity on 9
or after 1 July 1996; and 10
(b) immediately before the activity became an environmentally 11
relevant activity, a person was carrying out the activity; and 12
(c) within 4 months after the day the activity becomes an 13
environmentally relevant activity, the person applies under this 14
Act for an environmental authority to carry out the activity. 15
`(2) A provision of this Act that creates an offence for carrying out the 16
activity without an environmental authority does not apply to the person 17
until-- 18
(a) if the application is granted--the day the environmental authority 19
issued to the person for the activity takes effect; or 20
(b) if the application is refused--the day after notice of the decision to 21
refuse it is given to the applicant; or 22
(c) if, under section 67,4 the application is taken to have been 23
refused--the end of the time within which it was required to be 24
decided. 25
`(3) Despite section 43(1),5 the administering authority must decide the 26
application within 3 months after the application date. 27
`(4) For this section, an activity does not first become an environmentally 28
4 Section 67 (Failure to decide applications taken to be refusal)
5 Section 43 (Administering authority to decide application for authority)
s 13 10 s 15
Environmental Protection Amendment
relevant activity on a day if, immediately before the day, an environmental 1
authority could be issued to a person to carry out the activity.'. 2
of s 68 (Annual licence fee and return) 3
Amendment
Clause 13. Section 68(1), `of issue of a licence'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`a licence takes effect'. 6
of s 88 (Administering authority to consider draft 7
Amendment
programs) 8
Clause 14. Section 88(2), `the administering authority requires public notice'-- 9
omit, insert-- 10
`public notice is required'. 11
of s 89 (Criteria for deciding draft program) 12
Replacement
Clause 15. Section 89-- 13
omit, insert-- 14
for deciding draft program 15
`Criteria
`89. In deciding whether to approve or refuse to approve the draft 16
program or the conditions (if any) of the approval, the administering 17
authority-- 18
(a) must comply with any applicable environmental protection policy 19
requiring it to-- 20
(i) follow stated procedure in evaluating an application for 21
approval of an environmental management program; or 22
(ii) grant or refuse to grant an application for approval of an 23
environmental management program or to impose 24
conditions on an approval of an environmental management 25
program; and 26
(b) subject to paragraph (a), must also consider the following-- 27
s 16 11 s 18
Environmental Protection Amendment
(i) the standard criteria; 1
(ii) additional information given in relation to the draft program; 2
(iii) the views expressed at a conference held in relation to the 3
draft program.'. 4
of s 92 (Extensions of time for decisions on submission of 5
Amendment
draft programs) 6
Clause 16. Section 92, after `extend the time'-- 7
insert-- 8
`in which'. 9
of s 196 (Devolution of powers) 10
Amendment
Clause 17.(1) Section 196(3)-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`(3) To remove any doubt, the local government may-- 13
(a) make a resolution or local law (not inconsistent with this Act) 14
about the fees payable to it for the devolved matter; and 15
(b) make a local law (not inconsistent with this Act) about any matter 16
for which it is necessary or convenient to make provision for 17
carrying out or giving effect to the devolved matter.'. 18
(2) Section 196(4)-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`(4) Despite subsection (3)(a), a local government may make a resolution 21
or local law prescribing a lower, but not a higher, fee for something for 22
which a fee is prescribed under a regulation.'. 23
of s 200 (Dissatisfied person) 24
Amendment
Clause 18. Section 200(1)-- 25
insert-- 26
`(f) if the decision is a decision under an environmental protection 27
s 19 12 s 19
Environmental Protection Amendment
policy or a regulation that the policy or regulation declares to be a 1
decision to which this part applies--the person declared under the 2
policy or regulation to be a dissatisfied person for the decision.'. 3
of s 202 (Procedure for review) 4
Amendment
Clause 19.(1) Section 202(2)(a)(ii), `not later than the review date'-- 5
omit. 6
(2) Section 202(2)(b), before `supported'-- 7
insert-- 8
`be'. 9
(3) Section 202(3), `The applicant must give'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`On or before making the application, the applicant must send'. 12
(4) Section 202(5), after `must'-- 13
insert-- 14
`, within 14 days after receiving the application'. 15
(5) Section 202(5)(b)-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`(b) consider any submissions properly made by a recipient of the 18
review notice; and 19
(c) make a decision (the "review decision") to-- 20
(i) confirm or revoke the original decision; or 21
(ii) vary the original decision in a way the administering 22
authority considers appropriate.'. 23
(6) Section 202(10)-- 24
omit, insert-- 25
`(10) If the administering authority does not comply with subsection (5) 26
or (8), the authority is taken to have made a decision confirming the original 27
decision.'. 28
s 20 13 s 23
Environmental Protection Amendment
of s 220 (Regulations) 1
Amendment
Clause 20.(1) Section 220, heading-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
`Regulation-making power'. 4
(2) Section 220(2)(a), from `payable,'-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`payable, the recovery of unpaid amount of fees, and the exemption from 7
payment of fees or the waiver of fees;'. 8
of ch 8 heading (Repeals, savings and transitional) 9
Amendment
Clause 21. Chapter 8, heading, `and transitional'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`, TRANSITIONAL, VALIDATIONS AND 12
RELATED PROVISIONS'. 13
of s 224 (Definitions) 14
Amendment
Clause 22. Section 224, definition `commencing day'-- 15
omit, insert-- 16
` "commencing day" means 1 March 1995.'. 17
of new ss 236 to 237 18
Insertion
Clause 23. After section 235-- 19
insert-- 20
of period for consideration of applications for 21
`Extension
environmental authorities 22
`236.(1) This section applies to an application for an environmental 23
authority-- 24
(a) made, but not decided, before the commencement of this section; 25
or 26
s 23 14 s 23
Environmental Protection Amendment
(b) made on or after the commencement but before 1 July 1996. 1
`(2) Despite section 43(1),6 the administering authority must decide the 2
application within 3 months after the application date. 3
`(3) This section has effect subject to section 249.7 4
of requirement for environmental authorities to carry 5
`Postponement
out certain existing environmentally relevant activities 6
`236A.(1) In this section-- 7
"exempt person" means a person who-- 8
(a) on 30 June 1996--is carrying out an environmentally relevant 9
activity; and 10
(b) before 1 July 1996--makes application for an environmental 11
authority to carry out the activity; and 12
(c) on 1 July 1996--continues to carry out the activity. 13
`(2) A provision of this Act that creates an offence for carrying out the 14
activity without an environmental authority (the "offence provision") does 15
not apply to an exempt person until-- 16
(a) if the application is granted--the day the environmental authority 17
issued to the person for the activity takes effect; or 18
(b) if the application is refused--the day after notice of the decision to 19
refuse it is given to the applicant; or 20
(c) if, under section 67,8 the application is taken to have been 21
refused--the end of the time within which it was required to be 22
decided. 23
`(3) Subsection (2) has effect despite the offence provision. 24
6 Section 43 (Administering authority to decide application for authority)
7 Section 249 (Reconsideration of applications refused during suspension period)
8 Section 67 (Failure to decide applications taken to be refusal)
s 24 15 s 25
Environmental Protection Amendment
of ch 2 1
`Application
`237. Sections 26 and 279 do not apply to the preparation of a draft 2
environmental protection policy about noise or waste.'. 3
of new s 240 4
Insertion
Clause 24. After section 239-- 5
insert-- 6
provision for change in anniversary days 7
`Transitional
`240.(1) This section applies if-- 8
(a) the anniversary of the day of issue of a licence is on or after the 9
commencement of this section; and 10
(b) before the commencement, a notice was given under section 6810 11
for the licence. 12
`(2) Section 68 continues to apply to the licence for the anniversary for 13
which the notice was given. 14
`(3) In this section-- 15
"section 68" means section 68 before its amendment by the Environmental 16
Protection Amendment Act 1996.'. 17
of s 238 (Special transitional provision for agricultural 18
Amendment
industry) 19
Clause 25. Section 238-- 20
insert-- 21
`(2) This section expires on 1 September 1997.'. 22
9 Sections 26 (Notice of proposal to prepare draft policy) and 27 (Preparation of
draft policy)
10 Section 68 (Annual licence fee and return)
s 26 16 s 27
Environmental Protection Amendment
of s 241 (Expiry of division) 1
Replacement
Clause 26. Section 241-- 2
omit, insert-- 3
of division 4
`Expiry
`241. This division (other than section 23811) expires on the second 5
applicable day.'. 6
of new ch 8, pt 3 7
Insertion
Clause 27. After section 241-- 8
insert-- 9
`PART 3--VALIDATIONS AND RELATED 10
PROVISIONS 11
`Division 1--Interpretation 12
for pt 3 13
`Definitions
`242. In this part-- 14
"amending regulation" means-- 15
(a) the Environmental Protection (Interim) Amendment Regulation 16
(No. 2) 1996 (1996 SL No. 38); or 17
(b) the Environmental Protection (Interim) Amendment Regulation 18
(No. 3) 1996 (1996 SL No. 43). 19
"invalid past act" means a past act that-- 20
(a) was done or omitted to be done by the administering authority; 21
and 22
(b) was invalidly done or omitted to be done, but would have been 23
validly done or omitted to be done if the Environmental 24
11 Section 238 (Special transitional provision for agricultural industry)
s 27 17 s 27
Environmental Protection Amendment
Protection (Interim) Regulation 1995, section 64A,12 had not 1
commenced. 2
"past act" means something done or omitted to be done during the 3
suspension period. 4
"suspension period" means the period 1 March 1996 to 7 March 1996. 5
"unlawful past act" means a past act that-- 6
(a) caused serious or material environmental harm or an 7
environmental nuisance; and 8
(b) would have been authorised to be done or omitted to be done 9
under an environmental authority if the Environmental Protection 10
(Interim) Regulation 1995, section 64A, had not commenced. 11
2--Validations 12
`Division
of fees 13
`Validation
`243.(1) It is declared that the power to make regulations under 14
section 22013 has always included power to make regulations about the 15
waiver of fees payable under this Act. 16
`(2) This section expires on the day it commences. 17
of amending regulations 18
`Validation
`244. To remove any doubt, it is declared that the amending regulations 19
are, and always have been, valid. 20
for invalid past acts 21
`Validations
`245.(1) An invalid past act is taken to be, and always to have been, 22
valid. 23
12 Environmental Protection (Interim) Regulation 1995, section 64A (Suspension of
operation of section 4 and schedule 1)
13 Section 220 (Regulations)
s 27 18 s 27
Environmental Protection Amendment
`(2) Subsection (1) applies to the following invalid past acts-- 1
(a) the issue or amendment of an environmental authority; 2
(b) the issue of a notice for the payment of an annual licence fee or 3
the giving of an annual return; 4
(c) the approval of a draft environmental management program; 5
(d) the issue of an environmental protection order. 6
`(3) Subsection (2) does not limit the application of subsection (1). 7
of certain notices 8
`Validation
`246. If the anniversary of the day of issue of a licence falls during the 9
suspension period, a notice given under section 6814 for the licence is taken 10
to have been validly given. 11
`Division 3--Miscellaneous 12
past acts authorised 13
`Unlawful
`247. An unlawful past act is taken to be, and always to have been, 14
authorised to be done or omitted to be done under this Act. 15
made during suspension period 16
`Applications
`248. An application made during the suspension period for, or for the 17
amendment or transfer of, an environmental authority is taken to have been 18
made on 8 March 1996. 19
of applications refused during suspension period 20
`Reconsideration
`249.(1) This section applies if-- 21
(a) during the suspension period-- 22
(i) the administering authority was taken to have decided to 23
14 Section 68 (Annual licence fee and return)
s 27 19 s 27
Environmental Protection Amendment
refuse an application for, or for the amendment or transfer 1
of, an environmental authority because of section 67;15 or 2
(ii) the administering authority would, if the Environmental 3
Protection (Interim) Regulation 1995, section 64A,16 had 4
not commenced, have been taken to have decided to refuse 5
an application for, or for the amendment or transfer of, an 6
environmental authority because of section 67; and 7
(b) under this Act, the applicant did not apply for a review of the 8
decision. 9
`(2) The administering authority must treat the application as if it were a 10
fresh application properly made to it on the commencement of this section 11
and accompanied by the appropriate application fee. 12
`(3) Despite section 35,17 the application date for the application is taken 13
to be the commencement of this section. 14
`(4) Despite sections 43(1), 49(7) and 56,18 the administering authority 15
must decide the application within 3 months after the application date. 16
day for environmental authorities taking effect during 17
`Anniversary
suspension period 18
`250.(1) This section applies to an environmental authority-- 19
(a) issued before 1 March 1996; and 20
(b) stated to take effect on a day during the suspension period (the 21
"stated day"). 22
15 Section 67 (Failure to decide applications taken to be refusal)
16 Environmental Protection (Interim) Regulation 1995, section 64A (Suspension of
operation of section 4 and schedule 1)
17 Section 35 (Application date)
18 Sections 43 (Administering authority to decide application for authority), 49
(Amendment of licence on application of licensee) and 56 (Administering
authority to decide application for transfer of licence)
s 27 20 s 27
Environmental Protection Amendment
`(2) For section 68,19 the authority is taken as having taken effect on the 1
stated day. 2
regulation-making power 3
`Special
`251.(1) A regulation may be made about any matter of a savings, 4
transitional or validating nature for which-- 5
(a) it is necessary or convenient to make provision because of an 6
amending regulation; and 7
(b) this part does not make provision or enough provision. 8
`(2) The regulation may be given retrospective operation to a date not 9
earlier than the date of commencement of the amending regulation for 10
which it is made. 11
`(3) The regulation has effect despite any other provision of this Act. 12
of part 13
`Expiry
`252. This part (other than section 24320) expires on 1 March 1997.'. 14
15
16
17
© State of Queensland 1996
19 Section 68 (Annual licence fee and return)
20 Section 243 (Validation of fees)
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