Victorian Bills Explanatory Memoranda Victorian Bills Explanatory Memoranda[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
Environment Protection Amendment
(Landfill Levies) Bill 2008
Introduction Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Clause Notes
Clause 1 sets out the purpose of the Bill, which is to increase certain
prescribed industrial waste levies and to make minor
amendments to improve the operation of the Environment
Protection Act 1970 (the Principal Act).
Clause 2 provides the commencement dates for different clauses of the
Bill. All clauses, except clauses 4 and 5, commence on the day
after the day on which the Bill receives Royal Assent.
Clause 4 is deemed to have come into operation on 1 July 2007.
Clause 4 synchronises section 71(1)(aa) of the Principal Act with
amendments which came into force on 1 July 2007 through the
Environment Protection (Amendment) Act 2006 (the
Amendment Act). It was an oversight that section 71(1)(aa) was
not updated by the Amendment Act, hence the retrospective
commencement date. Section 71((1)(aa) is a regulation-making
power. The retrospective commencement will not detrimentally
affect any person because no regulations have yet been made
using this power as amended.
Clause 5 will commence on 1 July 2008.
Clause 3 makes an administrative amendment to section 50LA(2) of the
Principal Act. Section 50LA(2) deals with payments to regional
waste management groups and incorrectly references a section of
the Act that has now been repealed. The repealed section
established the Resource Recovery Fund, monies in which had
previously been used to fund regional waste management groups.
Clause 3 will amend section 50LA(2) to reflect that payments to
regional waste management groups now come from the
Environment Protection Fund.
561157 1 BILL LA INTRODUCTION 11/3/2008
Clause 4 amends section 71(1)(aa) of the Principal Act.
The Amendment Act modified the Environment Protection
Authority's licensing system to allow amalgamated corporate
licences from 1 July 2007. The legislative intent, as seen in
section 24 of the Principal Act, was that the new corporate
licences would attract the same fee as the sum of the fees for each
licensed premises so that the changes would be cost neutral.
Section 71(1)(aa) provides the power to make regulations for
licence fees. Section 71(1)(aa) should also have been modified
by the Amendment Act, to allow for regulations prescribing fees
which reflect the change in licence structure and are cost neutral
with the former licence-for-each-premises structure.
Clause 5 changes the landfill levies set out in Schedule E of the Principal
Act. The Category B prescribed industrial waste (PIW) levy will
increase from $130 to $250 per tonne, and the Category C PIW
levy will increase from $50 to $70 per tonne.
Clause 6 provides for the automatic repeal of this amending Act on 1 July
2009. The repeal of this Act does not affect in any way the
operation of the amendments made by this Act (see section 15(1)
of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).
2