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Workshop to explain national environment legislation

March 14, 2006

PaulM.thumb.jpgThe Australian Centre for Agriculture and Law (AgLaw Centre) at The University of New England is hosting a public workshop to explain the practical implications of the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

Professor Paul Martin (pictured here), the Director of the AgLaw Centre, said the free workshop on Thursday 23 March would be of vital interest to anyone involved in land use or environmental issues.

The 1999 Act is a key piece of environmental legislation. It establishes a Commonwealth environmental assessment and approval process that is additional to State or local law. It regulates activities that have potential impact on features of the environment such as World or National Heritage sites, threatened (or migratory) species, ecological communities, Ramsar wetlands, and Australia’s marine environment.

Professor Martin said the Act was unusual in focusing on desired outcomes rather than providing clear and detailed prohibitions. “This approach probably represents the future of environmental legislation,” he continued, “but it does introduce many potential uncertainties.” Some of those uncertainties, he explained, could relate to remnant vegetation (particularly small pockets of important or threatened species), and land use adjacent to wetlands.

The event is part of the EPBC Project – a community information service run jointly by WWF-Australia, the Australian Council of National Trusts, and the Tasmanian Conservation Trust. Professor Martin said the AgLaw Centre’s involvement in the project arose through its collaboration with WWF-Australia and various farmers’ organisations in a number of research projects.

The workshop on March 23 will be in the Lewis Seminar Room (UNE Faculty of Economics, Business and Law), starting at 1 pm and ending at 4 pm. It will begin with an explanation of the Act itself: its referral, assessment and approval processes. Participants will then put these principles into practice by working through a case study. This will be followed by a discussion about Australia’s new National Heritage regime, and then an open question-and-answer session. Those interested in attending should contact Julie Martin on (02) 6773 2405 (or e-mail: julie.martin@une.edu.au).

Posted by Jim Scanlan at March 14, 2006 11:32 AM