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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 8 Hansard (30 August) . . Page.. 2676 ..
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION LEGISLATION AMENDMENT BILL 2000]
MR DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is it the wish of the Assembly to debate this notice concurrently with the Environment Protection Legislation Amendment Bill 2000? There being no objection, that course will be followed. I remind members that in debating private members business notice No 3 they may also address their remarks to private members business, order of the day No 3.
MS TUCKER (4.49): I move:
That this Assembly, noting the recent CSIRO study which found that atmospheric particle concentrations over Canberra in Winter were two times greater than Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide because of smoke from wood burning, calls on the Government to:
(1) review the ACT's existing air pollution monitoring system to ensure that it is adequate for detecting concentrations of particles down to 2.5 micrometres in diameter across Canberra on a continuous basis;
(2) initiate an air pollution warning system to request households with wood heating to use alternative forms of heating (where practicable) on days of high air pollution, similar to the "Don't Light Tonight" program of the NSW Environment Protection Agency;
(3) investigate measures that the ACT Government could adopt to assist low-income households which rely on wood heating to install less-polluting heating systems;
(4) report back to the Assembly by the end of October 2000 on action it has taken in response to this motion.
This motion is half of the package of measures I have put forward to address the significant environmental impacts of firewood heating in the ACT. The firewood issue has two parts. There is the input side, or where the firewood comes from, and there is the output side, or the smoke pollution that is produced when the firewood is burned.
I have already tabled a bill which addresses the input side by requiring firewood sellers to have an environmental authorisation. To recap on this bill: a condition of the authorisation would be that fuel wood sellers would have to comply with the substantive provisions of the existing code of practice. This involves promotion of mixed loads and correct burning practices, firewood being sold by weight only, only seasoned wood being sold and the source of wood being disclosed. The effects of this bill would be to ensure that ACT residents are given basic information about the firewood they buy, basic information about how best to use it, and a level of protection that they are getting the type and amount of wood that they think they are buying. The requirement for an environmental authorisation will create a level playing field across all firewood sellers and eliminate fly-by-night operators who are not prepared to act responsibly.
The motion now before us addresses the output side of the issue-the smoke pollution produced from wood fires. Anyone who travels around Canberra on a winter's night, particularly in the Tuggeranong Valley, can see and smell the smoke haze. Canberra's
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