The Federal Government introduced seven bills to progress its reform of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
A central part of the reforms is the creation of a National Environment Protection Agency. This independent regulator will focus on ensuring better compliance with and stronger enforcement of the new laws.
National Environmental Standards will also be established to provide clear, strong guidelines for protecting the environment.
Higher penalties will apply to the most serious breaches of environmental law. New environment protection orders can be issued for up to 14 days in urgent situations to prevent or respond to major breaches.
Exemptions for high-risk land clearing and regional forest agreements will be removed. To support this transition, the Government will establish a $300 million Forestry Growth Fund aimed at supporting a stronger forestry industry with more secure jobs and higher-value output. Under the new laws, any land clearing that may affect nationally protected environmental matters will require landholders or farmers to seek EPBC assessment and approval.
The new laws will also require proponents of large emitting projects to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and their emission reduction plan.