Page 2501 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 6 August 2013
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The new section 77J offence contains a reasonable set of circumstances to exclude persons from this offence if they are, for example, prescribed by regulation to perform authorised maintenance of a meter or are otherwise acting with the written permission of the authority. This offence ensures that the Water Resources Act has a specific offence for meter tampering that is distinguishable from existing similar offences for failure to install a meter or failure to maintain a meter in good working order.
Finally, I will talk about the inclusion of roadworks, earthworks, construction and landscaping as activities addressed by clause 4 and schedule 1, clauses 1.2 and 1.3. The original intent of the act was for water licence exemptions to be issued for activities like roadworks, earthworks, construction and landscaping because these activities were thought to use small volumes of water for short periods of time. This was because it was considered an unnecessary burden for a person to purchase a water access entitlement, then apply for a licence and have ongoing administration of the licence.
However, in the five years following the inception of the act, it has become apparent that the volumes and duration of exempt activity have been much larger than anticipated, and non-compliance issues have arisen that would more appropriately be regulated by means of a licence. Take, for example, a large road upgrade or large infrastructure works which require large amounts of water and which may run over several years. If these activities are not regulated under a licence system, enforcement action is not available because the necessary enforcement action makes specific reference to being applicable to a person who holds a licence and not an exempt person.
The amendments draw closure to this situation by requiring a person to hold a licence to take water for roadworks, earthworks, construction and landscaping. In a compliance sense, this provides equity for existing licence holders who already undertake their water-taking activities in a compliant manner and who would otherwise be subject to enforcement provisions of the act.
Although roadworks, earthworks, construction and landscaping water-taking activity will now require a licence, the amendment ensures existing policy remains in place to preclude this water-taking activity from requiring a water access entitlement. The amendments maintain the requirement that all licensed water extraction occurs in water management areas defined by the act.
The bill delivers on the government’s commitment to the Council of Australian Governments national framework for compliance and enforcement for water resource management. The ACT will have an improved range of enforcement tools that are reasonable and appropriate to the scale of water resource activity in the ACT and which are in harmony with laws of other Australian states and territories. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Bill agreed to in principle.
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