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Catchment and Land Protection (Further
Amendment) Bill
Introduction Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Clause Notes
Clause 1 sets out the purposes of the Bill.
Clause 2 provides for the Bill, except for clauses 3, 4, 5(1), 5(3), 7, 8, 13,
16(1), 21, 23 and 25, to come into operation on the day after the
day that the Bill receives Royal Assent. The remaining
provisions of the Bill come into operation on a day or days to be
proclaimed, with a forced commencement of 1 July 2007.
Clause 3 amends section 3 of the Catchment and Land Protection Act
1994 to insert definitions of--
· "directions notice";
· "priority area";
· "priority area notice".
Clause 4 amends section 22 of the Catchment and Land Protection Act
1994 to apply Division 3 of Part 4 (other than section 34), Part 5
(other than section 40), Part 5A, Division 2 of Part 8 and Part 9
of that Act in addition to Part 3 of that Act to land covered by an
agreement under section 22 as if those provisions referred to the
new land manager instead of the land owner while an agreement
under section 22 is in force.
Clause 5 amends section 37 of the Catchment and Land Protection
Act 1994.
Sub-clause (1) amends section 37(1)(a) of the Catchment and
Land Protection Act 1994 to permit the Secretary to serve a
land management notice on a land owner if the Secretary is
satisfied that the land owner has failed to comply with a priority
area notice or a directions notice.
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551468 BILL LA INTRODUCTION 18/7/2006
Sub-clause (2) inserts new section 37(1A) to provide that, if the
Secretary decides to serve a land management notice in respect of
land that is jointly owned, the Secretary must take all reasonable
steps to ensure that the notice is served on each joint owner of the
land.
Sub-clause (3) inserts new section 37(3) in the Catchment and
Land Protection Act 1994 to provide that the Secretary must not
serve a land management notice on a land owner if a directions
notice is in force in respect of the same land and the same
noxious weed or pest animal for which the land management
notice would be served.
Clause 6 repeals sections 39(1) and 39(2) of the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994 to make requirements consistent for jointly
owned land and land owned by one person. New section 37(1A)
inserted by clause 5 will ensure that all joint owners of land are
served with a land management notice in relation to that land.
Clause 7 substitutes section 46 of the Catchment and Land Protection
Act 1994 to provide an offence for a land owner served with a
land management notice who fails to give, within 7 days of the
time for compliance with the land management notice, a written
notice to the Secretary setting out the prescribed particulars of the
measures taken to comply with the notice or the reason why the
land owner has failed to comply.
Clause 8 inserts new Part 5A of the Catchment and Land Protection Act
1994 to provide for a new priority area notice.
New section 47A provides that the Secretary may by notice
declare an area of land to be a priority area for the control or
eradication of any regionally prohibited weed, regionally
controlled weed or established pest animal specified in the
declaration. The notice must be published in the Government
Gazette and in a newspaper circulating generally in the priority
area specified in the notice. The notice has effect from the later
of the date of publication in the Government Gazette or the date
of publication in the newspaper.
New section 47B provides that a notice must set out the category
of noxious weed or pest animal to which the notice applies, the
measures that may be taken by land owners to control or
eradicate the noxious weed or pest animal and the time within
which the measures must be taken. A category may be a limited
to a single species of noxious weed or pest animal.
New section 47C provides that the Minister may cause a copy of
a priority area notice to be served on each land owner of land
within the priority area.
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New section 47D provides an offence for an owner of land within
a priority area on which there is a noxious weed or pest animal
specified in a priority area notice who fails to take measures to
control or eradicate the weed or animal within the time specified
in the notice, provided the land owner has been served with a
copy of the notice.
New section 47E provides an offence for a land owner served
with a copy of a priority area notice who fails to give, within
7 days of the time for compliance with the priority area notice,
a written notice to the Secretary setting out the prescribed
particulars of the measures taken to comply with the notice or the
reason why the land owner has failed to comply.
New section 47F provides that nothing in new Part 5A is to be
taken to prevent the Secretary from serving a land management
notice on a land owner in relation to land that is subject to a
priority area notice.
Clause 9 amends section 58(4) of the Catchment and Land Protection
Act 1994 to enable the Minister to recommend a plant for
declaration as a noxious weed by the Governor in Council if
satisfied that it is or has or may have the potential to become
a serious threat to primary production, Crown land, the
environment or community health in another State or Territory
of the Commonwealth.
Clause 10 amends section 61 of the Catchment and Land Protection Act
1994 to clarify that the Minister may recommend a plant for
declaration as a regionally prohibited weed even if the weed does
not yet occur in the region.
Clause 11 repeals section 63(b) of the Catchment and Land Protection
Act 1994 to enable the Minister to recommend that a plant be
declared to be a restricted weed where the plant does not have the
potential to spread into and within Victoria but for which there is
an unacceptable risk of it spreading to other States or Territories
of the Commonwealth if it were sold or traded in Victoria.
Clause 12 inserts new section 69(6) into the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994 to remove the requirement for the Minister
to get advice from the Victorian Catchment Management Council
and the relevant Catchment Management Authority for the region
to which the declaration applies before recommending the
declaration of a plant as a noxious weed if the plant is not or has
not or does not have the potential to become a serious threat to
primary production, Crown land, the environment or community
health in Victoria.
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Clause 13 inserts new sections 70B, 70C and 70D into the Catchment and
Land Protection Act 1994 to provide for a new directions
notice.
New section 70B provides that the Secretary may serve a notice
on a land owner as to measures to be taken for the control or
eradication of any regionally prohibited weed, regionally
controlled weed or established pest animal specified in the notice.
The notice must set out the category of noxious weed or pest
animal to which the notice applies, the measures that may be
taken by land owners to control or eradicate the noxious weed or
pest animal and the time within which the measures must be
taken. A category may be a limited to a single species of noxious
weed or pest animal.
New section 70C provides an offence for a land owner on whom
a directions notice has been served who fails to take measures to
control or eradicate the noxious weed or pest animal within the
time specified in the notice.
New section 70D provides an offence for a land owner on whom
a directions notice has been served who fails to give, within
7 days of the time for compliance with the directions notice, a
written notice to the Secretary setting out the prescribed
particulars of the measures taken to comply with the notice or
the reason why the land owner has failed to comply.
Clause 14 amends section 71(1)(b) of the Catchment and Land Protection
Act 1994 to provide an offence for a person who, without a
permit from the Secretary, displays, plants or propagates a
noxious weed, the seeds of a noxious weed or any part of a
noxious weed capable of growing.
Clause 15 substitutes section 80(2)(c) of the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994 to enable an authorised officer who enters
land with the consent of the occupier of the land to take samples
of plants or parts of plants and samples of an animal or part of an
animal as well as samples of soil, sand, gravel, stone, fodder or
grain in order to determine whether that Act or the regulations
under that Act have been or are being complied with in respect of
the land.
Clause 16 substitutes section 81(1)(c) of the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994 to permit an authorised officer to enter land
after giving notice to the occupier of the land in order to ascertain
whether a priority area notice, a directions notice or a direction
under section 70 or 72 of that Act in respect of the land has been
complied with.
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This clause also substitutes section 81(3)(c) of the Catchment
and Land Protection Act 1994 to enable an authorised officer
who enters land with notice under section 81 to take samples of
plants or parts of plants and samples of an animal or part of an
animal as well as samples of soil, sand, gravel, stone, fodder or
grain.
Clause 17 substitutes section 82(4)(c) of the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994 to enable an authorised officer who enters
land without notice under section 82 to take samples of plants or
parts of plants and samples of an animal or part of an animal as
well as samples of soil, sand, gravel, stone, fodder or grain.
Clause 18 amends section 83 of the Catchment and Land Protection Act
1994 to allow a Magistrate to issue a warrant permitting an
authorised officer to enter land on more than one day.
Clause 19 substitutes section 83A of the Catchment and Land Protection
Act 1994 which enables an authorised officer to seize or take a
sample of a thing described in a warrant, or a thing that is not
described in the warrant in certain circumstances.
Clause 20 inserts new section 83O into the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994 to provide an authorised officer with access
to the ratepayer records of a municipality for the purpose of
exercising a power under that Act.
Clause 21 amends section 84(1)(e) of the Catchment and Land Protection
Act 1994 so that the offence for knowingly making a false or
misleading statement applies to the notices required under new
section 46(1) and new sections 47E and 70D.
Clause 22 inserts new section 84A into the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994 to set out the requirements for establishing
the state of mind of a body corporate and a person other than a
body corporate for the purposes of any proceedings under that
Act. New section 84A also sets out when conduct engaged in by
an officer of a body corporate or any other person at the direction
or with the consent of an officer of a body corporate is deemed to
have also been engaged in by the body corporate.
Clause 23 inserts new section 85A into the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994 to require a person who is served with a
land management notice, a priority area notice or a directions
notice in relation to land when that person is not at the time of
service the land owner or occupier of the land, to notify the
Secretary in writing that the person is not the land owner or
occupier of the land.
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Clause 24 amends section 95 of the Catchment and Land Protection Act
1994 to enable regulations to be made to prescribe measures for
the purposes of the new priority area and directions notices and
the particulars or information required for notices under that Act.
Clause 25 provides that section 46 of the Catchment and Land Protection
Act 1994 remains in force for the purposes of a prosecution
under that section that has not been determined immediately
before the commencement of clause 7 of the Bill. Clause 7 of the
Bill substitutes section 46 of the Catchment and Land
Protection Act 1994.
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