EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
(Issued under the Authority of the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities)
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Instrument of Approval of Variation to Grassland Earless Dragon Recovery Plan
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Act) provides for the protection of the environment and conservation of biodiversity, including the protection and conservation of threatened species and ecological communities.
Section 269A of the Act provides for the making, or adoption, of recovery plans for listed threatened species or listed threatened ecological communities, which bind the Commonwealth and Commonwealth agencies.
Section 280 of the Act enables the Minister to approve a variation made by a State or Territory to an adopted State or Territory recovery plan. Subsection 280(1) provides that such a variation has no effect for the purposes of the Act unless it has been approved by the Minister. The purpose of this instrument is to approve a variation to National Recovery Plan for the Grassland Earless Dragon Tympanocryptis pinguicolla, made by the Australian Capital Territory and adopted under the Act on 28 July 2010.
The variation to the recovery plan has been made, on the advice of the authors of the plan, in order to correct a factual error in the plan.
Subsection 280(3) of the Act provides that the Minister must not approve a variation to an adopted recovery plan unless:
- the Minister is satisfied that an appropriate level of consultation has been undertaken in varying the plan; and
- the plan, as so varied, continues to meet the requirements of section 270 of the Act.
In addition subsection 280(2) of the Act requires the Minister to obtain and consider advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee on the content of the variation.
The recovery plan, as varied, continues to meet the requirements of section 270 of the Act and regulation 7.11 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000.
The variation has been endorsed by the States and Territory in which the species occurs.
A notice inviting comments from the public on the variation was placed on the website of the Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities from 7 September to 5 October 2012. A notice inviting comments from the public on the variation was also advertised in the Commonwealth of Australia Government Notices Gazette and The Australian newspaper. No comments were received.
In accordance with subsection 280(2) of the Act, the advice of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee was also obtained on the content of the variation. The Committee advised that it recommends the variation for approval by the Minister.
The varied recovery plan is available from the Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities website: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/recovery-list-scientific.html
or from the Community Information Unit, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, GPO Box 787, Canberra ACT 2601 or by phoning on 1800 803 772.
The instrument approving the variation to the recovery plan is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
The recovery plan, as varied, will take effect on the day next following the day the Instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.
Authority: Section 280 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth). This Legislative Instrument does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms.