Source: https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/~/view/act/1995/101/part7a
Timestamp: 2017-08-23 04:18:02
Document Index: 770532296

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 3', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 3', 'art 5', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 5', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 7', 'art 5', 'art 5', 'art 5', 'art 5', 'art 5', 'art 7', 'art 3', 'art 5', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 3', 'art 5', 'art 4', 'art 5', 'art 5', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 3']

Current version for 18 August 2017 to date (accessed 23 August 2017 at 14:17)
(1) Biodiversity credits may be created by the Chief Executive in accordance with this Part.
(2) A biodiversity credit is to be created in a form approved by the Chief Executive.
A biodiversity credit, when registered in the register of biodiversity credits, remains in force unless it is cancelled or retired under this Part.
A biodiversity credit cannot be transferred after it has been cancelled or retired, or during any suspension period.
(1) The holder of a biodiversity credit that is in force may transfer the credit to any person, subject to this section and the regulations.
(2) A biodiversity credit cannot be transferred if it has been suspended by the Chief Executive and the suspension is in force.
(3) The regulations may make further provision with respect to the transfer of biodiversity credits (including by prohibiting certain transfers of biodiversity credits).
(4) The transfer of a biodiversity credit does not affect any requirement imposed on the owner of a biobank site under a biobanking agreement. In particular, it does not affect any requirement that the owner carry out, or continue to carry out, management actions in respect of the land in relation to which the credit was created.
(1) The regulations may require a specified amount to be paid into the Biobanking Trust Fund before a first transfer of a biodiversity credit is registered under this Division.
(2) The amount to be paid into the Biobanking Trust Fund, or the manner of its calculation, is to be as specified in the regulations.
(3) The regulations may specify exemptions from the requirement to pay an amount into the Biobanking Trust Fund on the first transfer of the credit. If, because of such an exemption, no amount is payable to the Biobanking Trust Fund in respect of a first transfer of a credit, the regulations may require the amount to be paid into the Biobanking Trust Fund in respect of any subsequent transfer of the credit before the transfer is registered.
(4) If a biodiversity credit is retired or proposed to be retired without having been transferred by the owner of a biobank site, the regulations may require any amount that would have been payable if the biodiversity credit had been transferred to be paid into the Biobanking Trust Fund before the credit is retired.
(1) The transfer of a biodiversity credit does not have effect until the transfer is registered by the Chief Executive under this Part.
(2) An application for registration of a transfer of a biodiversity credit may be made to the Chief Executive by the parties to the transfer.
(b) is to be accompanied by:
(i) the fee (if any) for registration of the transfer approved by the Chief Executive, and
(ii) such other information as the Chief Executive requires in relation to the transfer.
(4) The Chief Executive registers a transfer by making a recording in the register of biodiversity credits in relation to the credit to indicate that the person to whom the credit has been transferred is the holder of the biodiversity credit.
(5) If an application for the transfer of a biodiversity credit is duly made, the Chief Executive must register the transfer unless authorised or required to refuse to register the transfer by this Act or the regulations.
(6) The Chief Executive must refuse to register a transfer of a biodiversity credit in respect of which an amount is required to be paid to the Biobanking Trust Fund unless satisfied that the amount required to be paid to that Fund has been so paid.
(7) If the Chief Executive refuses to register a transfer of a biodiversity credit in respect of which an amount has been paid to the Biobanking Trust Fund, the Chief Executive may direct the Fund Manager to repay that amount to the person who paid it, and the Fund Manager is authorised to comply with that direction.
A biodiversity credit cannot be mortgaged, assigned, leased, charged or otherwise encumbered, except as authorised by the regulations.
(1) The Chief Executive cancels a biodiversity credit by making a recording in the register of biodiversity credits, in relation to the biodiversity credit concerned, that indicates that the credit is cancelled.
(2) The Chief Executive must give the holder of the credit notice in writing of the cancellation.
(4) However, if a biodiversity credit is cancelled because of activities authorised by a mining authority or petroleum title granted in respect of a biobank site, the reasonable costs incurred by the biobank site owner in carrying out, before the cancellation, the management actions in respect of which the biodiversity credits were created are taken, for purposes of the Mining Act 1992 or the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991, to be a loss caused by deprivation of the possession or of the use of the surface of the land concerned as a result of the exercise of the rights conferred by the mining authority or petroleum title.
(5) If a biodiversity credit is cancelled, the Minister may vary or terminate the relevant biobanking agreement (with or without the consent of the owner of the biobank site) to make it clear that any obligation to carry out, or to continue to carry out, a management action that arises only because of the creation of that credit ceases to have effect.
(6) If the variation or termination is made without the consent of the owner:
(a) the variation or termination is to be made by the Minister by order published in the Gazette, and
(b) a copy of the order is to be laid before each House of Parliament within 30 sitting days of that House, or such other period as may be prescribed by the regulations, after publication of the order.
(7) The Minister is not to make an order referred to in subsection (6) unless:
(8) The cancellation of a biodiversity credit does not prevent the Minister from seeking an award of damages against the owner of a biobank site for a breach of a biobanking agreement.
(1) If the Chief Executive considers that there may be reasons for cancelling a biodiversity credit, the Chief Executive may suspend the biodiversity credit for a period of up to 2 months pending an investigation into the matter.
(2) The Chief Executive suspends a biodiversity credit by making a recording in the register of biodiversity credits, in relation to the biodiversity credit concerned, that indicates that the credit is suspended.
(3) The Chief Executive must give the holder of the credit notice in writing of the suspension.
(4) No compensation is payable for the suspension of a biodiversity credit.
(1) The holder of a biodiversity credit that is in force may, by application in writing to the Chief Executive, retire the credit.
Once the creation of a biodiversity credit is registered, it remains in force unless it is cancelled or retired—see section 127Y.
(2) Any application to retire a biodiversity credit may be made by the holder of the credit:
(a) for the purpose of complying with a credit retirement condition specified in a biobanking statement, or
(b) for the purpose of complying with a direction made by the Minister or a court under this Part or under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, or
(c) for the purpose of complying with a condition of an approval or consent granted by the Minister under Part 3A, Part 4 or Part 5.1 of the Planning Act, or
(d) on a voluntary basis.
(3) If the Chief Executive accepts the application, the Chief Executive is to retire the biodiversity credit.
Biodiversity credits may also be retired under Division 7.
(1) The Chief Executive retires a biodiversity credit by making a recording in the entry relating to the credit in the register of biodiversity credits to indicate that the credit has been retired.
(2) The retirement of a biodiversity credit does not affect any requirement imposed on the owner of a biobank site under a biobanking agreement. In particular, it does not affect any requirement that the owner carry out, or continue to carry out, management actions in respect of the land in relation to which the credit was created.
(3) A biodiversity credit that has been suspended by the Chief Executive may not be retired during any period in which the suspension has effect.
(4) The regulations may make further provision for the retirement of biodiversity credits, including the procedure for retiring a credit and the circumstances in which the Chief Executive may refuse an application to retire a credit.
(2) A direction may be given to a person under this section only if:
(a) the person is the owner of a biobank site (or a former owner), and
(b) the Minister is satisfied that, because of any act or omission by the person, one or more biodiversity credits were created in respect of a management action that was not carried out or completed, or that is not being carried out, in accordance with the relevant biobanking agreement, and
(c) the biodiversity credit or credits created have been transferred to another person or retired.
(3) The number of biodiversity credits, and class (if applicable), that are required to be retired is to be equivalent to the number and class of biodiversity credits that, in the opinion of the Minister, were created in respect of management actions not carried out or completed, or not being carried out, in accordance with the biobanking agreement and which have been transferred or retired.
(4) A direction may be given to a person under this section only if before doing so the Minister:
(a) gives notice to the person that he or she intends to make the direction, and
(5) A person must not, without reasonable excuse, fail to comply with an order under this section.
Maximum penalty: 5,000 penalty units.
If the owner of a biobank site fails to comply with the order, that failure is also grounds for the cancellation or suspension of registration of a biobank site.
(6) It is not an excuse for a failure to comply with an order under this section that the person who is the subject of the order does not, at the time the order is made, hold a sufficient number of biodiversity credits to comply with the order.
If the person who is the subject of the order does not hold a sufficient number of credits to comply with the order, the person may obtain the required number by purchasing them or carrying out the necessary management actions to create them.
(8) Any action taken under this section does not prevent the Minister from seeking an award of damages against the owner or former owner of a biobank site for a breach of a biobanking agreement.
For the purposes of this Part, development for which biobanking is available means any development (whether or not development that is a project to which Part 3A of the Planning Act applies or development that is State significant infrastructure under Part 5.1 of that Act, development that requires development consent under Part 4 of that Act or development that is an activity to which Part 5 of that Act applies) other than the following:
(a) any clearing of native vegetation that must not be carried out except in accordance with a development consent granted in accordance with the Native Vegetation Act 2003 or a property vegetation plan under that Act,
(b) development declared by the regulations to be development in respect of which biobanking is not available.
A biobanking statement may be issued in respect of any development that is development for which biobanking is available. However, participation in the scheme is voluntary (that is, it is not necessary to obtain a biobanking statement in respect of the development). If a statement is obtained, the proponent of the development obtains the benefit of the statement (as set out in sections 127ZO and 127ZP). The conditions of the statement will be incorporated into the conditions of the development consent or approval for the activity given under the Planning Act.
(1) A person who proposes to carry out any development for which biobanking is available may apply to the Chief Executive for a biobanking statement in respect of the development.
(2) The application must be made in a form approved by the Chief Executive and be accompanied by such fee, if any, as may be approved by the Chief Executive.
(3) An application for a biobanking statement must be accompanied by:
(a) a description of the development to which the application relates, and
(b) a statement of any onsite measures that are proposed to be taken in connection with the development to minimise the impact of the development on biodiversity values, and
(c) an assessment of the impact or likely impact of the development on biodiversity values, prepared in accordance with the biobanking assessment methodology, and
(d) a statement of the number and class (if applicable) of biodiversity credits proposed to be retired to offset the impact or likely impact of the development on biodiversity values, prepared in accordance with the biobanking assessment methodology.
(4) The regulations may prescribe other things that are required to be submitted with the application.
(1) The Chief Executive may, on application made in accordance with this Part, issue a biobanking statement in respect of a proposed development if the development will improve or maintain biodiversity values.
(2) For the purposes of this Division, a development will improve or maintain biodiversity values only if a determination is made by the Chief Executive, on the basis of an assessment of the development in accordance with the biobanking assessment methodology (including the number and class of biodiversity credits to be retired as an offset against the negative impact of the development on biodiversity values), that the development will improve or maintain biodiversity values.
(3) The Chief Executive must refuse to issue a biobanking statement in respect of a development that does not improve or maintain biodiversity values.
(4) In addition, the Chief Executive may refuse an application for the issue of a biobanking statement:
(a) if the application does not comply with this Part or the regulations, or
(b) if, in the opinion of the Chief Executive, insufficient information is provided to enable a biobanking statement to be issued, or
(c) if, in the opinion of the Chief Executive, the application does not sufficiently address the biobanking assessment methodology, or
(d) if, in the opinion of the Chief Executive, the applicant has not demonstrated that all cost effective onsite measures to minimise any negative impact of the development on biodiversity values are being or will be carried out, or
(e) for any other reason specified in the regulations.
(5) The Chief Executive must refuse an application for the issue of a biobanking statement if:
(a) the application relates to development that is not development for which biobanking is available, or
(b) the application relates to development that requires planning concurrence under section 127ZM and the Secretary of the Department of Planning and Environment does not concur with the issue of the statement.
(6) A biobanking statement may apply generally to the proposed development or may be limited by reference to one or more of the following:
(a) the impact or potential impact of the proposed development on specified biodiversity values,
(b) a specified aspect of the proposed development,
(c) a specified part of the land on which the development is to be carried out.
(7) The regulations may prescribe a period after making an application for a biobanking statement at the end of which, if the Chief Executive fails to either issue or refuse to issue a biobanking statement, the Chief Executive is taken to have refused to issue the biobanking statement.
(8) A refusal by the Chief Executive to issue a biobanking statement in respect of development does not prevent the development being evaluated or assessed in accordance with the provisions of the Planning Act that would apply in respect of the development, but for this Part.
Participation in the biobanking scheme is voluntary. If a biobanking statement is not obtained in respect of a development (including because it is refused by the Chief Executive) the development may still be evaluated or assessed in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Planning Act. These provisions may require (among other things) the preparation of a species impact statement and the concurrence of, or consultation with, the Minister for the Environment and the Chief Executive.
(9) A consent authority or determining authority cannot refuse to consent to or approve a development or activity under Part 4 or 5 of the Planning Act on the ground that an application for a biobanking statement in respect of the development or activity was refused.
(10) A biobanking statement is not an approval for the purposes of Part 5 of the Planning Act.
(1) A biobanking statement must:
(a) describe the development to which the statement relates, and
(b) specify any conditions applicable to the statement, being conditions of the following kind:
(i) a condition or conditions relating to the onsite measures that must be taken in connection with the development to minimise any negative impact on biodiversity values,
(ii) a credit retirement condition, being a condition that specifies the number and class of biodiversity credits (if any) that are to be retired to ensure that the development improves or maintains biodiversity values, and the timing of that retirement.
(2) If the biobanking statement specifies a credit retirement condition, it must also describe any deferred retirement arrangement that applies in respect of the credit retirement condition.
(3) A biobanking statement is to be issued in a form approved by the Chief Executive.
(4) The Chief Executive may, before issuing a biobanking statement, provide a draft of the statement proposed to be issued to the applicant.
(5) The Chief Executive may provide a copy of a biobanking statement, or a draft of a statement proposed to be issued by the Chief Executive, to the Minister administering the Planning Act, a consent authority, a determining authority (within the meaning of Part 5 of that Act), or to any other person prescribed by the regulations.
(1) If development described in a biobanking statement supplied to a consent authority is development for which consent is required under Part 4 of the Planning Act, the development is taken, for the purposes of that Part, to be development that is not likely to significantly affect any threatened species, population or ecological community under this Act, or its habitat.
(2) If a consent authority grants consent, under Part 4 of the Planning Act, to the carrying out of development in respect of which a biobanking statement has been issued and supplied to the consent authority, being a statement that specifies conditions, the consent authority must impose (and is taken to be authorised under that Act to impose) a condition on the grant of that consent that requires those conditions to be complied with.
The carrying out of development in contravention of the conditions of a development consent is an offence under section 126 of the Planning Act.
(3) A person cannot appeal to the Land and Environment Court under the Planning Act in respect of a condition imposed by a consent authority under subsection (2).
(4) Subsection (2) does not affect the right of a consent authority to impose conditions under section 80A of the Planning Act not inconsistent with the conditions of a biobanking statement or to refuse consent.
(5) Despite section 79C of the Planning Act, if a biobanking statement has been issued in respect of a development, a consent authority is not required to take into consideration the likely impact of the development on biodiversity values.
(6) An applicant for development consent under Part 4 of the Planning Act may request the consent authority to review its determination to impose any conditions on the consent (not being an environmental contribution condition) that are additional to the conditions of a biobanking statement on the ground that the condition is inconsistent with the conditions of the biobanking statement. In particular, a review may be requested because the additional condition relates to impacts that were assessed by the Chief Executive, in accordance with the biobanking assessment methodology, prior to the issue of the biobanking statement.
(7) Section 82A of the Planning Act applies in respect of any such review, with any necessary modifications, whether or not the consent authority is a council, and whether or not the determination is a determination to which that section would otherwise apply.
(8) This section applies subject to any terms of the biobanking statement that limit the statement to:
(a) a particular aspect of the development, or
(b) a particular part of the land on which the development is to be carried out, or
(c) the impact of the development on particular biodiversity values.
(9) Nothing in this section affects the operation of Part 4 of the Planning Act in respect of any development that is likely to significantly affect any threatened species, population or ecological community within the meaning of Part 7A of the Fisheries Management Act 1994.
(1) If development described in a biobanking statement supplied to a determining authority is an activity to which Part 5 of the Planning Act applies, the activity is taken, for the purposes of that Part, to be an activity that is not likely to significantly affect any threatened species, population or ecological community under this Act, or its habitat.
(2) If a determining authority approves an activity under Part 5 of the Planning Act in respect of which a biobanking statement has been issued and supplied to the determining authority, being a statement that specifies conditions, the determining authority must impose (and is taken to be authorised to impose) a condition on the approval of the activity that requires those conditions to be complied with.
(3) Subsection (2) does not affect the right of a determining authority to impose conditions on the approval of the activity under section 112 of the Planning Act not inconsistent with the conditions of a biobanking statement or to refuse to approve the activity.
(4) If there is a right of appeal under any Act in respect of conditions imposed on the approval, that right does not apply in respect of a condition imposed by the determining authority under subsection (2).
(5) If a determining authority is the proponent of an activity under Part 5 of the Planning Act in respect of which a biobanking statement has been issued, being a statement that specifies conditions, the determining authority must carry out the activity in accordance with the conditions of the biobanking statement.
(6) Subsection (5) does not affect the right of a determining authority to refrain from carrying out the activity or to modify its activity in a manner not inconsistent with the conditions of the biobanking statement.
(7) Despite section 111 of the Planning Act, if a biobanking statement has been issued in respect of an activity, a determining authority is not required to consider the effect of the activity on biodiversity values.
(8) A determining authority is to make arrangements that enable a proponent of an activity to seek a review by the determining authority of any conditions imposed on an approval that are additional to the conditions of a biobanking statement, for the purpose of ensuring that the additional conditions are consistent with the conditions of the biobanking statement. In particular, the arrangements should enable a review to be obtained in relation to any additional condition that relates to impacts that were assessed by the Chief Executive, in accordance with the biobanking assessment methodology, prior to the issue of the biobanking statement.
(9) This section applies subject to any terms of the biobanking statement that limit the statement to:
(a) a particular aspect of the activity, or
(b) a particular part of the land on which the activity is to be carried out, or
(c) the effect of the activity on particular biodiversity values.
(10) For the purposes of this or any other Act, if a determining authority fails to comply with this section in relation to an activity the determining authority is taken not to have complied with Part 5 of the Planning Act.
(11) Nothing in this section affects the operation of Part 5 of the Planning Act in respect of any activity that is likely to significantly affect any threatened species, population or ecological community within the meaning of Part 7A of the Fisheries Management Act 1994.
(1) A person may apply to the Chief Executive for the modification or revocation of a biobanking statement.
(a) the person who applied for the biobanking statement, or
(b) any other person entitled to act on a development consent or approval under the Planning Act given in relation to the development described in the biobanking statement.
(3) Subject to the regulations, this Division applies to an application to modify or revoke a biobanking statement in the same way as it applies to the original application.
(4) A biobanking statement (unless revoked sooner) ceases to have any effect under this Part:
(a) at the end of the period of 2 years after it is issued by the Chief Executive, or
(b) if it is extended by the Chief Executive before the end of that 2-year period, at the end of the extended period.
(5) A biobanking statement does not cease to have effect at the end of the 2-year period referred to in subsection (4) if the statement is acted on before the end of that period.
(6) If a biobanking statement is revoked before the statement is acted on, and a new biobanking statement is not issued in respect of the development, the Planning Act applies in respect of the assessment and evaluation of the development to which the biobanking statement applied, and any consent or approval granted in respect of the development, as if the statement had not been issued.
Participation in the biobanking scheme is voluntary. Accordingly, a developer who has obtained a biobanking statement may apply for the revocation of that statement and have the development evaluated, consented to or approved in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Planning Act. These provisions may require (among other things) the preparation of a species impact statement and the concurrence of, or consultation with, the Minister for the Environment and the Chief Executive.
(7) For the purposes of this section, a biobanking statement is acted on if:
(a) in the case of a statement that relates to a project to which Part 3A of the Planning Act applies, the Minister administering that Act approves that project, or
(a1) in the case of a statement that relates to State significant infrastructure to which Part 5.1 of the Planning Act applies, the Minister administering that Act approves the infrastructure, or
(b) in the case of a statement that relates to development for which consent is required under Part 4 of the Planning Act—development consent is granted in respect of the development, or
(c) in the case of a statement that relates to an activity under Part 5 of the Planning Act—a determining authority approves the activity or commences carrying out the activity.
(2) A direction may be given to a person under this section if:
(a) the person carries out development in respect of which a biobanking statement has been issued, and
(b) the person fails to retire biodiversity credits in accordance with a credit retirement condition specified in the biobanking statement that has effect.
(3) For the purposes of this section, a credit retirement condition has effect if:
(a) in the case of a statement that relates to a project to which Part 3A of the Planning Act applies, the Minister administering that Act imposes the credit retirement condition as a condition of approval under that Part, or
(a1) in the case of a statement that relates to State significant infrastructure to which Part 5.1 of the Planning Act applies, the Minister administering that Act imposes the credit retirement condition as a condition of approval under that Part, or
(b) in the case of a statement that relates to development for which consent is required under Part 4 of the Planning Act—the development consent requires compliance with the credit retirement condition, or
(c) in the case of a statement that relates to an activity under Part 5 of the Planning Act—an approval of a determining authority requires compliance with the credit retirement condition or, if the activity is to be carried out by the determining authority, the determining authority commences carrying out that activity.
(4) A person must not, without reasonable excuse, fail to comply with a direction under this section.
(5) It is not an excuse for a failure to comply with a direction under this section that the person who is the subject of the direction does not, at the time the direction is given, hold a sufficient number of biodiversity credits to comply with the direction.
(6) A court that convicts a person of an offence under subsection (4) may, in addition to or in substitution for any pecuniary penalty for the offence, by order direct the person to retire, in accordance with this Part, biodiversity credits of a specified number and class (if applicable) within a time specified in the order and, if the person does not hold sufficient biodiversity credits to comply with the direction, to acquire the necessary biodiversity credits for the purpose of retiring them.
(1) The Chief Executive may issue a statement confirming that a number and class (if applicable) of biodiversity credits specified in the statement have been retired by a person for the purpose of complying with a credit retirement condition.
(2) The Chief Executive may issue such a statement at the request of the Minister administering the Planning Act, a consent authority, a determining authority (within the meaning of Part 5 of that Act), the person who applied for the biobanking statement concerned or in any other circumstances prescribed by the regulations.
(1) The Chief Executive is to keep a register of biobank sites.
(2) The register of biobank sites is to contain the following information:
(a) the location of each biobank site,
(b) a copy of the biobanking agreement relating to each biobank site.
(3) The register of biobank sites may also contain other information of a kind prescribed by the regulations (including in relation to a biobank site the registration of which has been suspended or cancelled).
(4) Information on the register is to be made available for public inspection at the head office of the Office and on the website of the Office.
(5) The regulations may prescribe a fee for the provision of copies of information on the register.
(6) The regulations may specify information on the register that is not to be made available to the public under this section.
(7) The register may be kept wholly or partly by electronic means.
(1) The Chief Executive is to keep a register of biodiversity credits.
(2) The register of biodiversity credits is to contain the following information in relation to each biodiversity credit created under this Part:
(a) particulars of the biobank site and management actions in respect of which the biodiversity credit was created,
(b) the class of the biodiversity credit (if applicable),
(c) the name of the current holder, and any previous holders, of the biodiversity credit,
(d) any suspension, cancellation or retirement of the biodiversity credit.
(3) The register of biodiversity credits may also contain other information of a kind prescribed by the regulations.
(4) Subject to the regulations, information on the register is to be made available for public inspection at the head office of the Office and on the website of the Office.
(1) The Chief Executive is to keep a register of biobanking statements.
(2) The register of biobanking statements is to contain the following information in relation to each biobanking statement issued under this Part:
(a) a copy of the biobanking statement,
(b) the name of the person who applied for the biobanking statement.
(3) The register of biobanking statements may also contain other information of a kind prescribed by the regulations.
(1) A register kept under this Division is evidence of any particulars registered in it.
(2) If a register is wholly or partly kept by electronic means, a document issued by the Chief Executive producing in writing particulars included in the register, or the part kept by electronic means, is admissible in legal proceedings as evidence of those particulars.
The Chief Executive may correct any error in or omission from a register kept under this Part, or update a register in accordance with the requirements (if any) specified in the regulations.
(1) A person who owns land that is a biobank site and who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Chief Executive to suspend or cancel the registration of the biobank site may appeal to the Land and Environment Court against the decision.
(2) The holder of a biodiversity credit who is dissatisfied with a decision of the Chief Executive to cancel a biodiversity credit may appeal to the Land and Environment Court against the decision.
(3) A person who applies for the registration of a transfer of a biodiversity credit and who is dissatisfied with a decision of the Chief Executive to refuse to register the transfer may appeal to the Land and Environment Court against the decision, but only in the circumstances (if any) authorised by the regulations.
(4) A person who applies for the transfer to the person of a biodiversity credit held by the Minister pursuant to a deferred retirement arrangement and who is dissatisfied with a decision of the Chief Executive in respect of the application may appeal to the Land and Environment Court against the decision.
(5) A person cannot appeal under subsection (4) against the provisions of the biobanking assessment methodology or the reasonableness of any determination of the Chief Executive made in accordance with that methodology.
(6) A person who held biodiversity credits immediately before they were transferred to the Minister pursuant to a deferred retirement arrangement and who is dissatisfied with a decision of the Chief Executive to retire those credits (other than a decision made as a result of an application referred to in subsection (4)) may appeal to the Land and Environment Court against the decision.
(7) An appeal may be made by a person under this section no later than 3 months after being notified by the Chief Executive of the decision.
(1) The fact that land is a biobank site does not prevent the land from being reserved under Part 4 or Part 4A of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.
(2) On the reservation of a biobank site as a national park, historic site, state conservation area, regional park, karst conservation reserve, nature reserve or Aboriginal area under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, the land concerned ceases to be a biobank site and the biobanking agreement applicable to the land is terminated.
(1) The regulations may make provision for or with respect to conservation brokers.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a conservation broker is a person who provides, or offers to provide, any of the following services (whether or not for fee or reward):
(a) the identification of potential biobank sites or management actions,
(b) the negotiation of a biobanking agreement on behalf of a land owner,
(c) assistance with an application for registration of a biodiversity credit or an application for a biobanking statement,
(d) assistance with buying or selling biodiversity credits,
(e) any other service in connection with the biobanking scheme that is prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.
(3) Without limiting subsection (1), the regulations may:
(a) provide for the accreditation of persons as conservation brokers, including by specifying matters that may be taken into consideration in determining whether a person (whether or not an individual) is a fit and proper person to be accredited as a conservation broker, and
(b) exempt any person or class of persons from those requirements, and
(c) prohibit any person from holding himself or herself out to be a conservation broker, or advertising a service of a kind referred to in subsection (2), unless accredited.
The Minister may participate in the biobanking scheme, including by purchasing, holding and transferring biodiversity credits.
(1) The Minister, the Chief Executive and any other persons employed in the administration of this Part are not liable in any civil proceedings for anything done or omitted to be done in good faith in the exercise or purported exercise of any function under this Part.
(2) This section does not extend to the Fund Manager.
(1) The regulations may make further provision for or with respect to the biobanking scheme.
(a) require the Chief Executive to periodically review the operation of the scheme and report on its operation to the Minister, and
(b) make provision for the arrangements that may be entered into between participants in the biobanking scheme (within the meaning of section 127ZZ), or between those participants and other persons, in connection with the scheme, and
(c) make provision for the resolution of disputes arising in connection with the operation of the scheme.
A regulation that contains only the following provisions is not repealed by the operation of Part 3 of the Subordinate Legislation Act 1989:
(a) provisions that relate to the biobanking scheme established by this Part (including any provisions required or authorised by this Part, and any ancillary, consequential, savings or transitional provisions),
(1) The Minister is to cause a review of the operation of the biobanking scheme to be carried out as soon as possible after the period of 2 years after the biobanking assessment methodology is first published in the Gazette.
(a) determine the terms of reference of the review, and
(b) appoint a person or persons to carry out the review.
(3) The Minister is to ensure that the public are given an opportunity to make submissions on the review.