Overview

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) was enacted to address the protection of the environment, particularly matters of national environmental significance, and to conserve biodiversity, including the protection and conservation of threatened species. This Act provides for a list of threatened species, categorising them based on their conservation status. The legislative instrument under section 184(1)(b) of this Act facilitates the amendment of the List by removing species from it. The stated purpose of this particular instrument is to amend the vulnerable category of the List by removing ten species, as they no longer meet the criteria for national threat listing due to factors such as protection in reserves, stable population sizes, and lack of significant threats. This decision followed advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, public consultation, and expert consultation, resulting in no objections to the proposed amendments. The instrument is deemed compatible with human rights as outlined in the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth).

Scope and Application

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) serves to safeguard the environment, particularly matters of national environmental significance and the conservation of biodiversity, including the protection and conservation of listed threatened species. This Act applies to all persons, entities, and industries within the Commonwealth of Australia and encompasses various types of conduct and transactions that may impact the environment and biodiversity. The geographic reach of the Act is national, covering the entire Australian territory. The Act allows the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities to amend the list of threatened species, as outlined in Section 184(1)(b). This particular legislative instrument amends the List by removing certain species from the vulnerable category, as they do not meet the criteria for national threat listing due to various factors such as adequate protection, sufficient population size, and stable geographic distribution. The amendments were made after seeking advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, which consulted with relevant parties and obtained public comments, though none were received in this instance. The changes came into effect on the day after the instrument was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of this legislation are sections 178 and 184(1)(b) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth). Section 178 establishes a list of threatened species, which includes categories such as extinct, extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, and conservation dependent. Section 184(1)(b) provides the Minister with the authority to amend this list by legislative instrument, specifically by deleting items from the list. This particular legislative instrument, issued under section 184(1)(b), amends the list by removing several species from the vulnerable category. The Act imposes several obligations and requirements on the parties and entities it governs. Firstly, section 189(1) mandates that the Minister, when deciding to amend the List under section 184(1)(b), must obtain and consider advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee. This Committee's role is to assess whether the nominated species meet the criteria for inclusion in the list. Furthermore, the Committee was required to seek public comment on the proposed amendments, with a minimum period of 30 business days allowed for each species between October 2009 and December 2011. The Committee also consulted with parties possessing relevant expertise and with Queensland, the state in which the species are located, to gather their views. Written assessments were then prepared and submitted to the Minister. There are no specific offences, penalties, or consequences outlined in the explanatory statement for breaching the requirements of this legislative instrument. The Act itself, however, provides for a range of offences and penalties related to the protection of threatened species and matters of national environmental significance. For instance, unauthorised actions that may harm listed threatened species can result in civil and/or criminal penalties, with the maximum penalties varying depending on the severity of the offence. The Act also provides for the enforcement of compliance and the imposition of fines and other sanctions for non-compliance with its provisions.