South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts (1) The objects of
this Act are—
(a) to
promote the following principles ("principles of ecologically sustainable
development ):
(i)
that the use, development and protection of the
environment should be managed in a way, and at a rate, that will enable people
and communities to provide for their economic, social and physical well-being
and for their health and safety while—
(A) sustaining the potential of natural and
physical resources to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future
generations; and
(B) safeguarding the life-supporting
capacity of air, water, land and ecosystems; and
(C) avoiding, remedying or mitigating any
adverse effects of activities on the environment;
(ii)
that proper weight should be given to both long and short
term economic, environmental, social and equity considerations in deciding all
matters relating to environmental protection, restoration and enhancement; and
(b) to
ensure that all reasonable and practicable measures are taken to protect,
restore and enhance the quality of the environment having regard to the
principles of ecologically sustainable development, and—
(i)
to prevent, reduce, minimise and, where practicable,
eliminate harm to the environment—
(A) by programmes to encourage and assist
action by industry, public authorities and the community aimed at pollution
prevention, clean production and technologies, reduction, re-use and recycling
of material and natural resources, and waste minimisation; and
(B) by regulating, in an integrated,
systematic and cost-effective manner—
• activities,
products, substances and services that, through pollution or production of
waste, cause environmental harm; and
• the
generation, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste; and
(ia) to
establish processes for carrying out assessments of known or suspected
site contamination and, if appropriate, remediation of the sites; and
(ii)
to co-ordinate activities, policies and programmes
necessary to prevent, reduce, minimise or eliminate environmental harm and
ensure effective environmental protection, restoration and enhancement; and
(iii)
to facilitate the adoption and implementation of
environment protection measures agreed on by the State under intergovernmental
arrangements for greater uniformity and effectiveness in environment
protection; and
(iv)
to apply a precautionary approach to the assessment of
risk of environmental harm and ensure that all aspects of environmental
quality affected by pollution and waste (including ecosystem sustainability
and valued environmental attributes) are considered in decisions relating to
the environment; and
(v)
to require persons engaged in polluting activities to
progressively make environmental improvements (including reduction of
pollution and waste at source) as such improvements become practicable through
technological and economic developments; and
(vi)
to allocate the costs of environment protection and
restoration equitably and in a manner that encourages responsible use of, and
reduced harm to, the environment with polluters bearing an appropriate share
of the costs that arise from their activities, products, substances and
services; and
(vii)
to provide for monitoring and reporting on environmental
quality on a regular basis to ensure compliance with statutory requirements
and the maintenance of a record of trends in environmental quality; and
(viii)
to provide for reporting on the state of the environment
on a periodic basis; and
(ix)
to promote—
(A) industry and community education and
involvement in decisions about the protection, restoration and enhancement of
the environment; and
(B) disclosure of, and public access to,
information about significant environmental incidents and hazards.
(2) The Minister,
the Authority and all other administering agencies and persons involved in the
administration of this Act must have regard to, and seek to further, the
objects of this Act.