Page 4705 - Week 15 - Wednesday, 7 December 1994
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Other administrative arrangements need to reflect the important principles of certainty of outcomes, reasonably simple and straightforward processes, clearly separated and defined roles, and appropriate levels of assessment and intervention, having regard to the requirements of the community.
Finally, the principle of economic efficiency needs to be considered. The proposed legislation should provide for flexibility for activity managers to propose the most effective and economic way of achieving desired environmental outcomes. An integral part of this principle is the proposed incentive structure for good performers and the polluter pays principle for careless operators. The legislative outline described in the discussion document suggests a structure based on environmental protection mechanisms backed by strong compliance mechanisms. Together they form an integrated and balanced approach to environment management and protection. The key environmental protection mechanisms proposed would apply in that way.
I mentioned earlier that the duty of care binds all people and organisations to minimise their impacts. I also described how environment protection policies would be management statements describing how different facets of the environment or particular areas should be managed. These also apply to all people and organisations. For the vast majority of activities in the ACT which have a low risk of causing environmental harm, these would be the only regulatory mechanisms required. However, for activities with higher risks of causing environmental harm, an environmental authorisation is proposed. The authorisation would apply to both existing and new activities. As far as possible, the authorisation for new developments will be integrated in the current development application process under the Land Act, to avoid duplication and uncertainty.
The authorisation proposed in the paper consists of two levels - an accredited authorisation for well-managed, lower risk activities, and a full licence for higher risk activities. It is proposed that accredited licences would need to be earned by meeting certain requirements, such as a demonstrated commitment to high environmental standards, backed by performance over time. Those earning accredited authorisations could be rewarded with more opportunity for self-management. Authorisations could also be issued to deal with exemptions from specified standards where this is considered necessary for environmental, social or economic reasons.
It is also proposed to encourage good environmental performance through voluntary management mechanisms. The proposal includes provision for activities to undertake voluntary environmental audits and to develop environment management programs to improve their performance. These voluntary schemes would be encouraged through incentives, which could include reduced fees for environmental authorisations, less intrusive inspection programs or gaining an accredited authorisation rather than a full licence.
Where those who are responsible for activities do not observe the required level of performance, a strong compliance structure is required to ensure environmental protection. The discussion paper suggests a multilevel approach to compliance. In most cases, a breach of the legislation would initially result in the issue of an environment protection notice by an inspector. The notice would be educative in nature and indicate an appropriate response and timeframe. For situations where a rapid
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