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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1451 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

of authorisation that provide for increased performance over time. If developed in cooperation with industry generally rather than with individual businesses, an environmental strategy might take the form of an industry code of practice recognised under the Act and tabled in the Assembly.

This is not a Bill that applies just to business. Under Part III of the Bill, each and every member of the community is obliged to do everything reasonable to prevent or minimise environmental harm in going about their daily business. A breach of this duty can be enforced by an environment protection order. This could be as simple as a direction to turn a stereo down at 3.00 am. The Bill therefore contributes to protecting the neighbourhood environment as well as the environment at large.

I have already touched on the inclusion in the Bill of economic measures for achieving environmental objectives. This is the cutting edge of environmental protection and covers mechanisms such as tradable permits and so-called load-based licences, under which fees increase or decrease with the level of emissions. The use of such fees, which will be introduced by determination under the Act, provides the most effective of incentives to regulated businesses to maximise their environmental performance. I should add that the development of load-based fees is a complex process that will be the subject of its own consultative process.

The Government is committed to environment protection, but it is also committed to encouraging business, wherever possible, to meet environmental standards in their own way. This is why the Bill provides for codes of practice, for non-binding environment protection agreements and for accreditation or protection to be given to voluntary environment improvement plans and voluntary environmental audits. For businesses that are committed to achieving recognised standards and best environment practice, the tools are there to do it under their own steam and in their own way, and there is the added incentive of the lower fees payable where an authorisation holder achieves accredited status.

Another key objective of this Bill is to deliver business certainty in dealing with environmental requirements. Accordingly, the Bill makes it possible for environmental authorisations to be issued on an indefinite basis for ongoing activities. Annual review will still be required - review is triennial for accredited or best practice authorisations - but business will not have to go through the rigmarole of applying each year. In addition, the scope of environmental authorisations could be tailored to suit the needs of specific businesses. For example, activities at different sites which would normally require several authorisations could be eligible for a single, multisite authorisation. Similarly, a single authorisation could cover a number of activities on the one site. To ensure transparency, policies and procedures will be publicly available in the form of environment protection policies. Public consultation is required on environment protection policies, while key records of the authority, such as details of authorisations, will be publicly available at all times. To ensure accountability, appeal rights will be extensive.

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