Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Forests (S.E.A.S. Sapfor Ltd Agreement) Act 1993 - SECOND SCHEDULE

SOFTWOOD SAWLOG LICENCE Allocation
1. (a) In its operations the licensee shall follow each plan of utilisation or
modified plan, and shall ensure forest operations are confined to the area of
supply and are conducted in accordance with specifications operational
procedures and prescriptions as directed by the Secretary.

   (b)  From time to time during this licence, the Secretary or a forest
        officer shall specify whether timber to be taken by the licensee shall
        be taken from trees to be felled by the licensee or shall be taken
        from timber produced or to be produced by the Secretary or others. Any
        timber produced by the licensee from trees felled by or on behalf of
        the licensee may be directed by the Secretary for supply to others.

   (c)  The Secretary or a forest officer may also specify any or all of-

   (i)  what trees shall be felled by the licensee;

   (ii) the kinds of timber which may be taken by the licensee;

   (iii) from what places the licensee shall take timber produced or to be
        produced by the Secretary or others. Operational
2. (a) The licensee shall comply with any lawful directions given by a forest
officer for the purposes of this licence.

   (b)  The licensee shall carry out, at the cost of the licensee such post
        logging rehabilitation works during and on completion of a forest
        operation as directed by a forest officer. Where two or more licensees
        undertake joint logging operations the Secretary may require those
        licensees to lodge joint security to provide for reasonable costs of
        post logging rehabilitation should the contractor(s) engaged by those
        licensees fail to undertake post logging rehabilitation works as
        directed by a forest officer. Work performed as directed by a forest
        officer in additional to that specified in any applicable code of
        practice or licence conditions shall be reimbursed to the licensee by
        the Secretary.

   (c)  The Secretary will establish and maintain a network of major
        extraction roads within State forest to facilitate logging during
        typical seasonal conditions. The licensee may be required to construct
        and maintain such major extraction roads as may be agreed upon between
        the licensee and the Secretary. Reasonable costs of such work shall be
        reimbursed to the licensee by the Secretary.
3. (a) All persons employed by the licensee to obtain forest produce under the
authority of this licence shall be licensed by the Secretary to operate in
State forests.

   (b)  The licensee shall ensure that each person employed by the licensee in
        cutting trees and taking timber under this licence is-

   (i)  licensed for the particular operation or operations for which the
        person is employed or engaged under an approved training scheme;

   (ii) properly equipped with all requisite safety equipment; and

   (iii) properly supervised to ensure compliance with proper operational
        procedures. Royalty, Roading Charge, and Production Charge
4. Royalty, roading charge, and production charge shall be determined by the
Secretary from time to time and paid by the licensee to Secretary pursuant to
the licence. The Secretary shall advise the licensee in writing of such
royalty, roading charge, production charge no less than 14 days prior to the
application of such rates and charges in accounts issued under the provisions
of Condition 8 hereof.
5. Royalty, roading charge, and production charge payments shall be calculated
on the kind and quantity of timber taken. Measurement of the quantity of
timber shall be made in such a manner as is determined by the Secretary and at
such locations as are indicated by the Secretary. If the licensee considers
that the defect allowances, measurements or log grades recorded in respect of
any particular log are incorrect, the log concerned may be set aside for
inspection by a forest officer, whose decision shall be final. No additional
allowance shall be given if sawing operations have been commenced on that log.
6. Royalty, roading charge, and production charge shall be charged on all
timber taken under this licence. Where in the opinion of a forest officer,
timber which the licensee is authorised to take under this licence remains in
any tree felled by or on behalf of the licensee, royalty, roading charge, and
production charge may be charged on such timber at rates applicable to the
kind or kinds of the timber not removed and the quantity of timber equivalent
to that remaining in the trees shall be included in the quantity taken
pursuant to this licence.

7. Royalty, roading charge, and production charge shall be subject to
variation at any time:

   (a)  Variation in individual rates may be made on account of a change in
        any of the factors used in the determination of that rate;

   (b)  A general review shall take place annually, and shall reflect-

   (i)  changes in the costs of production as reflected in commercial
        accounting systems developed by the Secretary;

   (ii) utilisation standard for various species and grades of timber;

   (iii) market prices for timber products; and

   (iv) the findings of timber pricing studies.
8. (a) Account for royalty, roading charge, and production charge shall be
issued monthly.

   (b)  An account issued for royalty, roading charge, and production charge
        is due for payment immediately it is rendered and becomes overdue if
        not paid by thirty (30) days from the date the account is rendered.

   (c)  If royalty, roading charge, and production charge is not paid after
        becoming overdue the licensee shall pay interest on the sum due but
        unpaid, from the date that sum became overdue at the rate for the time
        being applicable under Section 30 of the
        Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987.

   (d)  If an account remains overdue for more than 14 days then the Secretary
        may direct by notice in writing to the licensee that no further timber
        shall be taken on credit by the licensee under this licence until the
        outstanding amount has been paid in full. Fire
9. For the purpose of ensuring, so far as possible, the availability of timber
which is permitted to be taken by the licensee, the licensee shall-

   (a)  take all reasonably practicable action to avoid the occurrence of any
        fire which may occur within the area of supply or adjacent to the area
        of supply and for the purpose of suppressing any fire which may occur;

   (b)  if called upon by the Secretary or any forest officer the licensee
        shall make available all assistance in the form of personnel, plant
        and equipment, to the Secretary for the purpose of suppressing any
        fire which may occur in the area of supply or adjacent to the area of
        supply;

   (c)  the licensee shall free any contractor and any or all of the
        personnel, plant or equipment of such contractor engaged by the
        licensee from all contractual obligations towards the licensee for use
        by the Secretary for the purpose of fire suppression;

   (d)  except as hereinafter provided, the Secretary shall reimburse the
        licensee for reasonable costs in making any personnel, plant or
        equipment available to the Secretary for the purposes of fire
        suppression. The rate of reimbursement to be paid by the Secretary
        shall be based upon a schedule of rates which shall be revised
        annually by the Secretary;

   (e)  the Secretary shall indemnify the licensee for loss incurred with
        respect to any personnel, plant or equipment while engaged in fire
        suppression including associated travelling. Without affecting the
        generality of the foregoing, such loss shall include-

   (i)  any claim for compensation or damage to equipment by employees or
        contractors made available by the licensee due to accident resulting
        from such fire suppression activities;

   (ii) any insurance premium increase which results from claims made due to
        loss or damage suffered during such fire suppression activities,
        provided such increase is clearly related to a particular such
        activity and that alone;

   (f)  the Secretary shall not be liable to pay compensation to the licensee
        for any loss of production or profit occasioned by the licensee making
        available its employees, plant or equipment for fire suppression;

   (g)  no compensation or reimbursement shall be made by the Secretary to the
        licensee with respect to a fire when in the opinion of the Secretary
        there was sufficient evidence to establish beyond reasonable doubt
        that the fire was knowingly or negligently lit, caused or maintained
        by the licensee or any of its employees or contractors in the course
        of their employment or contractual obligations;

   (h)  no compensation or reimbursement shall be made by the Secretary to the
        licensee for any loss or damage caused by any fire which breaks out
        within 800 metres of its logging operations or sawmill within the Fire
        Protected Area unless the Secretary is satisfied that the licensee or
        any of its employees on being informed or on becoming aware of the
        fire took prompt and effective steps to engage in fighting the fire;

   (i)  reimbursement made to the licensee by the Secretary under sub-section
        (d) hereof shall be made within 30 days of the last day of the month
        of supply of the service. Other Contracts
10. The licensee shall include in every contract made by it with a contractor
for cutting trees and/or taking away of timber for the purposes of this
licence, Clauses which incorporate similar obligations to those referred to in
Clauses 1 (a), 2 (a), 2 (b), 3 (a), 3 (b), and 9 as if the contractor were the
licensee. Securities for Monies Outstanding
11. The Company shall lodge with the Secretary each year a security as
prescribed by the Secretary but such prescription shall be no more onerous on
the Company than those the Secretary has applied to others throughout the
State of Victoria in corresponding circumstances. _______________ THIRD
SCHEDULE CODE OF PRACTICE MEASURING AND ALLOWING FOR DEFECT SOFTWOOD SAWLOG
PORTLAND SOFTWOOD MANAGEMENT AREA This code is intended to cover-

   (a)  tree lengths, trimmed and headed off but not crosscut to long lengths;

   (b)  logs cut to length for cartage. In reference to (b) above, it is
        assumed that some of the defects present in tree lengths will be
        docked out by judicious crosscutting into log lengths for cartage.
1. Measurement and preparation of softwood sawlog shall be made at such
locations as determined by the Secretary and shall be made in such a manner as
determined by the Secretary.
2. All measurements shall be taken under bark unless specified otherwise or
inconsistent with the Agreement hereto.
3. An allowance of 10 cm for all recorded lengths shall be given for cross
cutting.
4. Diameters shall be recorded to the backward whole centimetre.
5. In determining the inclusion of defect, or supervising the docking out of
defect, it should be assumed that a wide range of log lengths is acceptable to
the sawmiller irrespective of the log lengths actually cut. "Wide range" in
this context means 3×0 metre and up but may also include lengths shorter than
3×0 metre in every case where it is the normal practice of the particular
Licensee to cut short lengths for any purpose.
6. Allowance shall not be given for falling or snigging damage except where in
any particular case the forest officer is satisfied that such damage was
completely unavoidable.
7. Allowance for blue stain, fire damage, hail damage, sirex treatment etc.,
shall only be made on specified approval from the Director General.

8. Where a fork occurs the section of the tree affected by twin heart and
bends in the limbs at their junctions with the trunk shall be allowed for. The
limbs (if merchantable) of the tree above and the bole below the defective
section shall be measured as it they were separate trees.
9. Knots exceeding 75mm in diameter, measured across the shorter axis, shall
be subject to allowance. The allowance to be given shall be determined by
multiplying the length of log affected (angular projection of the knot into
the log) by the proportion of the cross-section of the log affected and
expressing the result as a length allowance to the nearer 0×1 metre.
10. An allowance of the full length affected shall be given where two or more
whorls of cone holes occur within any 0×9m length of log. For the purpose of
this Clause whorl of cone holes means three or more cone holes within 0×1m
length of log.
11. Miscellaneous defects subject to allowance are:

   (i)  Twisted stem and break resulting them stem. The allowance shall be the
        length of log visibly affected.

   (ii) Rot, dry side, fire scar and previous mechanical damage. The
        allowances shall be determined by multiplying the length of log
        affected by the average cross sectional area of the log affected and
        expressing the result as a length allowance to the nearer 0×1 metre.
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