In recent years concerns have been raised by residents and environmentalists about ‘zombie’ housing estates in bushland areas along the NSW South Coast, including in the coastal towns of Manyana, Broulee and Tuross Head. The issue was back in the…
A recent decision by the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) confirms that the Land and Environment Court (LEC) has the power to summarily dismiss a summary prosecution prior to final hearing when an essential condition of criminality cannot be…
We recently blogged on the primacy of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) in the development assessment process, and how recent Court decisions have interpreted the BC Act as creating significant hurdles for a wide range of developments that…
The Full Federal Court of Australia has upheld an appeal by the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment, overturning a landmark lower court decision that held that the Minister owed a duty of care to protect Australian children from climate change-related…
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (‘EPA‘) has released a draft Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Regulation 2022 (‘Draft Regulation‘) for public consultation. The Draft Regulation proposes to remake the Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Regulation 2021 (‘2021 Regulation‘), which…
The Environmental Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (Amendment Act) has come into force, making significant amendments to environmental protection legislation in NSW. This is our second blog on the Amendment Act. We previously discussed the imposition of new liabilities on current…
The Environmental Legislation Amendment Act 2022 (Amendment Act) has come into force, making significant amendments to environmental protection legislation in NSW. The Amendment Act primarily seeks to overcome practices that certain industry sectors, businesses and individuals have established to avoid…
LEC Upholds IPC Approval of Narrabri Gas Project as Climate Change Litigation Takes Aim at Gas
20 Dec, 2021
Debate about the transition away from fossil fuels has recently focused in on plans for increased gas production, with Santos’ Narrabri Gas Project (Project) being a key feature of the NSW Government’s plans for the future of gas production in…
After little more than a week since its introduction, the National Parks and Wildlife Amendment Bill 2021 (‘Bill‘) has passed through the NSW Parliament. The Bill will change the way national parks and other terrestrial protected areas are managed in NSW,…
ALERT: BASIX Higher Standards on Public Exhibition
18 Nov, 2021
Proposed increases to Building Sustainability Index (‘BASIX‘) requirements have just been released by the DPIE for public consultation (‘Higher Standards‘). The consultation period closes on 17 January 2022. BASIX is a scheme created by the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation…
‘Avoid, minimise, offset’ and SAII under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: more teeth than appreciated?
10 Nov, 2021
Recent cases demonstrate that there is currently a poor appreciation of proponents’ obligations to prioritise biodiversity avoidance and minimisation measures before resorting to offsets under the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS). Also, in a potentially very significant development, the Court…
KEPCO Bylong Australia Pty Ltd (KEPCO) will seek special leave to appeal to the High Court following the third refusal of the Bylong Coal Project by the NSW Court of Appeal last month. In this blog, we look at the…