Queensland Consolidated Acts

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ACT 1994 - SECT 77

77 Environmental protection policy must set objectives for reduced contaminant loads

(1) This section applies in relation to the entry of the following contaminants to the water of the Great Barrier Reef because of human activity carried out on land in the Great Barrier Reef catchment—

(a) dissolved inorganic nitrogen in the water;

(b) sediment suspended in the water.

(2) The Minister must ensure an environmental protection policy sets an objective to reduce the load of each of the contaminants entering the waters from each river basin in the catchment.

(3) The objective must be to reduce each of the loads to a stated limit, over a stated period, that is consistent with achieving the improvement in the quality of the water entering the Great Barrier Reef stated in the purpose of this chapter.

(4) This section does not limit the matters relating to the quality of the water entering the Great Barrier Reef that may be dealt with in an environmental protection policy.

(5) In this section—

"load" , of a contaminant that enters water, means the total mass of the contaminant that enters the water in a year.