Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:C2013A00003:clause:1_86ad:p1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:C2013A00003
Segment Type: clause
Provision Reference: sch 1 cl 86AD (pt 1/2)
Character Range: 8517–11341

86AD  Purposes of the Water for the Environment Special Account
 (1) This section sets out the purposes of the Water for the Environment Special Account.
 (2) Amounts standing to the credit of the Water for the Environment Special Account may be debited for any of the following purposes:
 (a) making payments in relation to projects whose aim is to further the object of this Part by doing one or more of the following:
 (i) improving the water efficiency of the infrastructure that uses Basin water resources for irrigation;
 (ii) improving the water efficiency of any other infrastructure that delivers, stores or drains Basin water resources for the primary purpose of providing water for irrigation;
 (iii) improving or modifying any infrastructure (including bridges and roads) that constrains the delivery of environmental water to the environmental assets of the Murray‑Darling Basin in order to ease or remove those constraints;
 (iv) better utilising existing dams and storages to deliver environmental water to the environmental assets of the Murray‑Darling Basin;
 (v) entering agreements to acquire an interest in, or in relation to, land (including easements) to facilitate environmental watering of the environmental assets of the Murray‑Darling Basin;
 (vi) improving the rules, policies, practices and procedures in relation to the use and management of the Basin water resources;
 (b) purchasing water access rights in relation to Basin water resources for the purpose of furthering the object of this Part;
 (c) making any other payments:
 (i) in relation to projects whose aim is to further the object of this Part; or
 (ii) to address any detrimental social or economic impact on the wellbeing of any community in the Murray‑Darling Basin that is associated with a project or purchase referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) or subparagraph (c)(i) so as to offset any such impact;
 (d) meeting the expenses of administering the Account.
Note 1: As a result of subsection (4) of this section, water access rights may be purchased only if the purchase is related to an adjustment of a long‑term average sustainable diversion limit under section 23A. That section requires the Basin Plan to prescribe criteria in relation to such adjustments. The effect of the criteria prescribed by the Basin Plan is that water access rights may be purchased only in conjunction with improving irrigation water use efficiency on farms or an alternative arrangement proposed by a Basin State.
Note 2: Under this Part, the Commonwealth will not conduct open tender rounds that are available to all water access entitlement holders in a water resource plan area to purchase water access rights.
 (3) For the purposes of this section, the expenses of administering the Water for the Environment Special Account do not include the