Environmental Law FAQ

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) is the federal environmental law. It requires approval for actions that will, or are likely to, have a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance — including listed species, Ramsar wetlands, and World Heritage areas.

MNES are the nine triggers under Part 3 of the EPBC Act — including listed threatened species, migratory species, Ramsar wetlands, World Heritage properties, National Heritage places, Commonwealth marine areas, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, nuclear actions, and water resources (for coal and CSG).

A self-assessment is required against the significant impact guidelines published by DCCEEW. If impacts on an MNES are possible, referral to the Environment Minister under s 68 is prudent. Referral is a formal process with a 20-business-day decision on controlled action status.

From referral to final approval is typically 12–24 months for a controlled action, depending on the assessment method. Statutory timeframes apply to individual steps, but pauses for further information (stop-the-clock) routinely extend the overall period.

A bilateral agreement is an agreement between the Commonwealth and a state under s 45 of the EPBC Act that allows accredited state assessment processes to satisfy federal assessment requirements. Assessment bilaterals are common; approval bilaterals remain politically contested.

The Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) is the primary NSW pollution law. It licenses scheduled activities, creates pollution offences, empowers the NSW EPA to issue notices (clean-up, prevention), and grades offences into tiers with corresponding penalties.

A Tier 1 offence is a wilful or negligent pollution offence that causes or is likely to cause substantial harm to the environment. Penalties run to millions of dollars for corporations and imprisonment for individuals. It is the most serious tier.

Contaminated land is regulated at state level — in NSW by the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997 (for significant contamination) and POEO Act (for pollution). The NSW EPA can declare sites "significantly contaminated" and impose management orders. Similar regimes operate in other states.

Under most state regimes, liability follows a hierarchy: the polluter first, then the current landowner if the polluter cannot be found or cannot pay. "Polluter pays" is the starting principle, but landowners can be caught by management orders even without fault.

A prevention notice is a regulatory notice requiring specified action to prevent pollution or environmental harm. NSW EPA issues them under the POEO Act. Failure to comply is an offence and can attract penalties. They are commonly the first step in escalating enforcement.

An EPL authorises scheduled activities (industrial, waste, mining) subject to conditions. In NSW it is issued under Chapter 3 of the POEO Act. Breach of a licence condition is an offence. Licences are regularly reviewed and can be varied by the EPA.

Development consent is issued under state planning law (EP&A Act in NSW) and approves the land use. An environmental approval (e.g. EPL, EPBC approval) regulates operational environmental performance. Major projects often need both.

Yes — the EPBC Act and most state planning Acts confer open standing (or extended standing) on persons aggrieved. In NSW the Land and Environment Court has specialist jurisdiction. Judicial review focuses on legal error, not merits, unless merits review is specifically conferred.

Greenwashing is misleading environmental or sustainability marketing. Regulated primarily by the ACCC (Australian Consumer Law) and ASIC (Corporations Act for financial products and disclosure). ASIC released Information Sheet 271 and has commenced several enforcement proceedings since 2022.

From 1 January 2025, large Australian entities are phased into mandatory climate-related financial disclosure under the Treasury Laws Amendment (Financial Market Infrastructure and Other Measures) Act 2024, using AASB S2 standards aligned with IFRS S2.

Licences and approvals, monitoring data, incident reports, internal correspondence, environmental management plans, EPA correspondence and notices, expert reports, and any insurance documentation. Quillio can map a notice-to-response timeline and flag disclosure gaps.

Civil penalties under state pollution laws and the EPBC Act reach into the millions per contravention for corporations. Executive liability provisions can expose directors personally. Penalty units are regularly indexed — always check the current unit value.

Merits appeals in the NSW Land and Environment Court typically cost $50,000–$250,000 per side. Federal Court EPBC judicial review is more. Prosecution defences are similar to criminal — $100,000–$1m+ for a contested Tier 1 case.

Before lodging a development application, before accepting licence conditions, on receipt of any EPA notice, after a pollution incident, and when drafting sustainability claims or ESG reporting. Early advice is usually cheaper than a s 96 prevention notice in full flight.

The precautionary principle is a principle of ecologically sustainable development requiring decision-makers, where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, not to use lack of full scientific certainty as a reason to postpone measures. It is embedded in most Australian environmental legislation.