South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts28—Normal procedure for making policies
(1) This section sets
out the normal procedure to be followed in making environment protection
policies.
(2) The Authority may
prepare draft environment protection policies.
(3) Before commencing
to prepare a draft environment protection policy, the Authority—
(a) must
consult with the Minister in relation to the general purpose and intended
effect of the proposed policy; and
(b)
after consulting with the Minister—
(i)
must publish in the Gazette a notice of its intention to
prepare the draft policy that includes a description of the general purpose of
the proposed policy; and
(ii)
must also publish a copy of the notice—
(A) on a website determined by
the Authority; or
(B) in a newspaper circulating generally in
the State,
(or both).
(3a) Where a committee
or subcommittee of the Board is established under this Act to advise
the Authority in relation to the preparation or contents of a
draft environment protection policy, the Authority must obtain and consider
the advice of the committee or subcommittee in relation to the policy.
(4) The Authority
must, when it has prepared a draft environment protection policy, prepare a
report containing—
(a) an
explanation of the purpose and effect of the draft policy; and
(b) a
summary of any background and issues relevant to the draft policy and of the
analysis and reasoning applied in formulating the policy.
(5) The Authority
must, after preparation of the draft policy and related report, refer that
policy and report—
(a) to
any body prescribed for the purposes of this section; and
(b) to
any public authority whose area of responsibility is, in the opinion of
the Authority, particularly affected by the policy.
(6) The Authority must
also, after preparation of the draft policy and related report, cause an
advertisement to be published in the Gazette and in a newspaper circulating
generally in the State—
(a)
giving notice of places at which the draft policy and the report, or copies of
the draft policy and the report, are to be available for inspection and, if
copies are to be available for purchase, of places at which copies may be
purchased; and
(b)
inviting interested persons to make written submissions in relation to the
draft policy within a period specified in the advertisement (being not less
than two months from the date of publication of the advertisement); and
(c)
stating that the submissions will be available for inspection by interested
persons as provided by subsection (8); and
(d)
stating that the Authority's response to any submissions will be available for
inspection by interested persons as provided by subsection (9); and
(e)
appointing a place and time at which a public information session will be held
by the Authority in relation to the draft policy.
(8) Where written
submissions are made in response to an advertisement published under
subsection (6), a copy of those submissions must be made available for
inspection by interested persons during ordinary business hours at the
principal office of the Authority from the end of the period specified for the
making of submissions until the Authority reports to the Minister on the draft
policy under subsection (11).
(9) Where written
submissions are made in response to a draft policy, the Authority must, as
soon as is reasonably practicable after the end of the period specified for
the making of submissions, prepare a response to the submissions and make the
response available for inspection by interested persons during ordinary
business hours at the principal office of the Authority until the Authority
reports to the Minister on the draft policy under subsection (11).
(11) The Authority
must then report to the Minister and the Minister may, after taking into
account the report and any recommendations of the Authority on the
matter—
(a)
approve the draft policy; or
(b)
alter the draft policy and approve the draft policy as altered; or
(c)
decline to approve the draft policy.
(12) A draft policy
approved by the Minister under subsection (11) may be referred to the
Governor and the Governor may, by notice in the Gazette—
(a)
declare the draft to be an authorised environment protection policy under this
Act; and
(b) fix
a day on which it will come into operation.