The Minister for Environment has released the Biodiversity Assessment Method 5-year review report (Report). The Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) requires a review as soon as possible, 5 years after the Biodiversity Assessment Method (BAM) was first established. The…
On 1 March 2024, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (Department) published Planning Circular PS 24-001 (Circular). The Circular provides an outline on the existing flood-related planning policies and provides further advice and information on flood matters for planning…
ALERT – Bill Increasing Penalties for POEO Act Offences & Giving Additional Powers to EPA Passed by Parliament
22 Mar, 2024
On 21 March 2024, the Environment Protection Legislation Amendment (Stronger Regulation and Penalties) Bill 2024 (Bill) was passed by NSW Parliament without amendment. The Bill is now awaiting assent and will commence on a date to be proclaimed. The Minister for…
Bill to Increase Penalties for POEO Act Offences & Give Additional Powers to the EPA Introduced into NSW Parliament
15 Mar, 2024
Yesterday, the NSW Government introduced the Environment Protection Legislation Amendment (Stronger Regulation and Penalties) Bill 2024 (Bill). The Bill proposes the most significant amendment to the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) since its commencement. The Bill is intended…
In a recent NSW Land and Environment Court decision, the Court rejected an appeal against a decision of the Local Court to stay a prosecution against a former General Manager of a regional Council. In doing so, the Court took…
The Climate Change (Net Zero Future) Act 2023 (the Act) was recently passed by the New South Wales Parliament, and has commenced operation. The purpose of this landmark legislation is to give effect to the commitments under the 2015 Paris…
The State Government is restructuring certain government departments including the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE). The division of responsibilities of the DPE is to be reallocated amongst other departments as set out below. The proposed changes are set out…
The Department of Planning and Environment (Department) recently published the NSW Coastal Design Guidelines 2023 (Coastal Design Guidelines) and the Coastal Crown Land Guidelines 2023 (Coastal Crown Land Guidelines). Coastal Design Guidelines We previously discussed a draft of the Coastal…
Introduction On 10 November 2023, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Flood Planning) Regulation 2023 (EPA Reg Amendment) was published on the NSW legislation website. It amended the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (EPA Reg) and replaced references to the Floodplain…
Before taking enforcement action, it is critical for the enforcement agency to identify the correct perpetrator. A failure to do so may result in the validity of the enforcement action being successfully challenged or defeated. This issue regularly arises in…
On 24 August 2023, an Independent Review of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) was tabled in Parliament (Review) and significantly, found that the BC Act: is not meeting its primary purpose of maintaining a healthy, productive and resilient…
Two development applications were recently refused by the Land and Environment Court due to unacceptable impacts on biodiversity values and deficiencies in a proponent’s biodiversity development assessment report (BDAR). The poor appreciation of proponents’ obligations under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016…