EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
Instrument under section 270B
(Issued under Authority of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts)
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the Act) places certain obligations on the Commonwealth to protect and conserve threatened species and ecological communities, and to ensure threat abatement plans are in force under the Act.
Section 270B of the Act enables the Minister to make a threat abatement plan for the purpose of reducing the effects of a key threatening process. “Injury and fatality to vertebrate marine life caused by ingestion of, or entanglement in, harmful marine debris,” was declared a key threatening process under section 183 of the Act.
The purpose of this instrument is to ensure the following threat abatement plan is in force in accordance with section 270B of the Act:
- Threat Abatement Plan for the Impacts of Marine Debris on Vertebrate Marine Life (2009).
The Plan provides for the research, management and other actions necessary to reduce the key threatening process concerned to an acceptable level, in order to maximise the chances of the long-term survival in nature of native species and ecological communities affected by the process.
The Plan has been assessed and complies with section 271 of the Act and regulation 7.12 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000.
Consultation was carried out in accordance with Section 275 of the EPBC Act, which included advertisements in the Weekend Australian, the Koori News, direct contact with interested parties and posting of all draft papers on the Department’s website.
- An initial workshop was held in Brisbane in 2004 to inform the drafting of the Plan. It involved participation from various interest groups, including Indigenous representation.
- As the Plan was developed, it was maintained as a formal agenda item at four consecutive meetings of the Marine and Coastal Committee (MACC).
- A workshop was carried out with MACC on 31 August 2007, dedicated to finalising the draft Plan.
- In December 2007, the draft Plan was provided to the Indigenous Advisory Committee (IAC) and the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) for approval prior to being released for public consultation.
- The plan was open for public comments from May14 to August 14 2008.
- During public consultation, a total of 23 Indigenous organisations and other organisations with strong links to Indigenous stakeholders were directly contacted and invited to comment.
- Additional contacts were also utilised to encourage participation, including Indigenous Liaison Officers.
- 36 comments were received during the public consultation process, all of which were taken into account in finalising the Plan.
The Plan is available electronically from the Australian Government Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts at
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/publications/tap/marine-debris.html
or from the Community Information Unit (ciu@environment.gov.au) or by post from the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, GPO Box 787, Canberra ACT 2601; or by phone on 1800 803 772.
The Plan is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
The Plan will come into force on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.