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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
TASMANIA
__________
FOREST PRACTICES AMENDMENT
(THREATENED NATIVE VEGETATION
COMMUNITIES) BILL 2005
__________
CONTENTS
1. Short title
2. Commencement
3. Principal Act
4. Section 3 amended (Interpretation)
5. Section 3A inserted
3A. Meaning of "clearance and conversion"
6. Section 17 amended (Restrictions on harvesting timber, &c.)
7. Section 18 amended (Application for certification of forest
practices plan)
8. Section 19 amended (Authority to certify or refuse to certify
forest practices plan)
9. Section 47B amended (Alternative to prosecution)
10. Section 47C amended (Vicarious liability)
11. Section 47D amended (Salvage of illegally harvested timber or
native vegetation)
12. Schedule 7 amended (Objective of the Forest Practices System
of Tasmania)
[Bill 92]-III
2
FOREST PRACTICES AMENDMENT
(THREATENED NATIVE VEGETATION
COMMUNITIES) BILL 2005
(Brought in by the Minister for Infrastructure, Energy and
Resources, the Honourable Bryan Alexander Green)
A BILL FOR
An Act to amend the Forest Practices Act 1985
Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by
and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and
House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Forest Practices
Amendment (Threatened Native Vegetation
Communities) Act 2005.
2. Commencement
This Act commences on a day to be proclaimed.
3. Principal Act
In this Act, the Forest Practices Act 1985* is
referred to as the Principal Act.
*No. 48 of 1985
THIS BILL IS COGNATE WITH THE NATURE CONSERVATION AMENDMENT
(THREATENED NATIVE VEGETATION COMMUNITIES) BILL 2005
[Bill 92] 3
s. 4 No. Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened 2005
Native Vegetation Communities)
4. Section 3 amended (Interpretation)
Section 3(1) of the Principal Act is amended as
follows:
(a) by inserting the following definition after
the definition of "division":
"exceptional circumstances", that
may justify the clearance and
conversion of a threatened native
vegetation community, include
the need to do one or more of the
following:
(a) ensure the physical safety
of an owner of land or the
owner's relatives or
employees;
(b) remove or reduce a
bushfire risk;
(c) respond to a threat to the
State's biosecurity;
(d) protect a rare, vulnerable
or endangered species of
flora or fauna;
(e) discharge a statutory
obligation or comply with
an order of a court;
(b) by omitting the definition of "forest
practices" and substituting the following
definition:
"forest practices" means -
4
2005 Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened No. s. 5
Native Vegetation Communities)
(a) the processes involved in
establishing forests,
growing or harvesting
timber, clearing trees or
clearing and converting
threatened native
vegetation communities;
and
(b) works (including the
construction of roads and
the development and
operation of quarries)
connected with
establishing forests,
growing or harvesting
timber or clearing trees;
(c) by inserting the following definition after
the definition of "harvest":
"native vegetation" means vegetation
of a species that existed in
Tasmania, on land, before
European settlement;
(d) by inserting the following definition after
the definition of "the regulations":
"threatened native vegetation
community" has the same
meaning as in the Nature
Conservation Act 2002;
5. Section 3A inserted
After section 3 of the Principal Act, the
following section is inserted in Part I:
5
s. 5 No. Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened 2005
Native Vegetation Communities)
3A. Meaning of "clearance and conversion"
(1) In this Act -
"clearance and conversion", of a
threatened native vegetation
community, means the deliberate
process of removing all or most
of the threatened native
vegetation community from an
area of land and -
(a) leaving the area of land in an
unvegetated state; or
(b) replacing the threatened native
vegetation so removed, on a
permanent or extended basis,
with any, or any combination of,
the following:
(i) another community of
native vegetation;
(ii) non-native vegetation;
(iii) agricultural works;
(iv) residential, commercial or
other non-agricultural
development; or
(c) doing a combination of any of the
things referred to in
paragraphs (a) and (b).
(2) For the avoidance of doubt, a
management practice carried out on any
land is not taken to constitute the
clearance and conversion of a threatened
6
2005 Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened No. s. 5
Native Vegetation Communities)
native vegetation community on that land
if the range, and species composition, of
the threatened native vegetation
community is reasonably unlikely to be
permanently altered by the management
practice.
(3) In this section -
"agricultural works" includes, but is
not limited to, the following:
(a) farm sheds and
workshops;
(b) farm dams and irrigation
facilities;
(c) farm storage and
processing facilities;
(d) farm access roads and
easements;
(e) farm fencing;
"management practice" means any
of the following:
(a) applying fertilizer or
changing the nature or
scale of a fertilizer
regime;
(b) burning off to reduce
wildfire fuel;
(c) constructing fire-breaks;
7
s. 5 No. Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened 2005
Native Vegetation Communities)
(d) mowing, slashing or
scything grasses or
undergrowth;
(e) pruning, trimming or
lopping vegetation for
work safety purposes or to
ensure the health of
specific specimens of
vegetation or vegetation
communities;
(f) removing or controlling
noxious weeds;
(g) switching from one kind
of livestock to another or
adjusting livestock
numbers;
"remove" means remove by any direct
or indirect means or combination
of means, including but not
limited to the following:
(a) burning;
(b) clearfelling;
(c) cutting down;
(d) lopping;
(e) ploughing;
(f) poisoning;
(g) ringbarking;
(h) thinning;
8
2005 Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened No. s. 6
Native Vegetation Communities)
(i) uprooting.
6. Section 17 amended (Restrictions on harvesting
timber, &c.)
Section 17 of the Principal Act is amended as
follows:
(a) by inserting the following paragraph after
paragraph (ba) in subsection (4):
(bb) the clearance and conversion of a
threatened native vegetation
community;
(b) by inserting the following subsection
after subsection (5A):
(5B) A person must not purchase or
acquire native vegetation that has
been obtained through the
clearance and conversion of a
threatened native vegetation
community on land in respect of
which there is not in existence, at
the beginning of that clearance
and conversion process, a
certified forest practices plan.
Penalty: Fine not exceeding 1 000
penalty units.
(c) by omitting from subsection (6)
"Subsections (4), (5) and (5A)" and
substituting "Subsections (4), (5), (5A)
and (5B)".
9
s. 7 No. Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened 2005
Native Vegetation Communities)
7. Section 18 amended (Application for certification of
forest practices plan)
Section 18(2) of the Principal Act is amended as
follows:
(a) by inserting in paragraph (a) "or the
clearance and conversion of a threatened
native vegetation community" after
"trees";
(b) by inserting the following paragraph after
paragraph (ba):
(bb) contain, if the plan involves the
clearance and conversion of a
threatened native vegetation
community, the following
specifications:
(i) the identity of the
threatened native
vegetation community
and its range;
(ii) how much of the
threatened native
vegetation community
would be cleared and
converted under the plan;
(iii) the kind of vegetation,
works or development
that would replace the
threatened native
vegetation cleared and
converted under the plan;
10
2005 Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened No. s. 8
Native Vegetation Communities)
(iv) the intended method of
removal;
(c) by inserting in paragraph (d) ", if
applicable," after "specify".
8. Section 19 amended (Authority to certify or refuse
to certify forest practices plan)
Section 19 of the Principal Act is amended by
inserting after subsection (1) the following
subsection:
(1AA) However, the Authority is not to certify a
forest practices plan involving the
clearance and conversion of a threatened
native vegetation community unless the
Authority is satisfied of one or more of
the following:
(a) the clearance and conversion is
justified by exceptional
circumstances;
(b) the clearance and conversion is
likely to have an overall
environmental benefit;
(c) the clearance and conversion is
unlikely to detract substantially
from the conservation of the
threatened native vegetation
community;
(d) the clearance and conversion is
unlikely to detract substantially
from the conservation values in
11
s. 9 No. Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened 2005
Native Vegetation Communities)
the vicinity of the threatened
native vegetation community.
9. Section 47B amended (Alternative to prosecution)
Section 47B(1) of the Principal Act is amended
as follows:
(a) by omitting "section 17(4), 17(5)" and
substituting "section 17(4), (5) or (5B)";
(b) by inserting in paragraph (b) "or the
unlawful clearance and conversion of a
threatened native vegetation community"
after "of timber";
(c) by inserting in paragraph (b) "or, as the
case may be, the whole or any part of the
threatened native vegetation from that
community" after "that timber".
10. Section 47C amended (Vicarious liability)
Section 47C(1) of the Principal Act is amended
by omitting "section 17(4), 17(5)" and
substituting "section 17(4), (5) or (5B)".
11. Section 47D amended (Salvage of illegally harvested
timber or native vegetation)
Section 47D of the Principal Act is amended as
follows:
(a) by omitting subsection (1) and
substituting the following subsection:
12
2005 Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened No. s. 11
Native Vegetation Communities)
(1) If a person is found guilty or
convicted of an offence under
section 17(4), (5) or (5B),
section 18B, section 21(1) or
section 41(5) in relation to any
timber or threatened native
vegetation, the Authority,
notwithstanding that the timber or
threatened native vegetation may
have been harvested or cleared
contrary to, or not in compliance
with, the provisions of this Act or
the Forest Practices Code, may
allow another person to purchase
or acquire that timber or
threatened native vegetation.
(b) by inserting in subsection (2)(a) "or
threatened native vegetation" after
"timber";
(c) by inserting in subsection (2)(c) "or
threatened native vegetation" after "the
timber";
(d) by inserting in subsection (2)(d) "or
threatened native vegetation" after
"timber";
(e) by inserting in subsection (2)(e) "or
threatened native vegetation" after
"timber";
(f) by omitting from subsection (2)(f) "on
which the timber was harvested" and
substituting "on or from which the timber
or threatened native vegetation was
harvested or cleared";
13
s. 12 No. Forest Practices Amendment (Threatened 2005
Native Vegetation Communities)
(g) by inserting in subsection (3) "or
threatened native vegetation" after "any
timber";
(h) by inserting the following subsection
after subsection (4):
(5) In this section -
"threatened native
vegetation" means
vegetation from a
threatened native
vegetation community.
12. Schedule 7 amended (Objective of the Forest
Practices System of Tasmania)
Schedule 7 to the Principal Act is amended by
inserting after paragraph (ea) the following
paragraph:
(eb) the conservation of threatened native
vegetation communities; and
14 Government Printer, Tasmania