Victorian Current Acts Victorian Current ActsSchedule 4A—Low impact exploration
1 In this Act—
"low impact exploration" means exploration that does not involve any of the following—
(a) the use of explosives;
(b) the taking of flora that is a member of a taxon of flora that is specified in the Threatened List under section 10(1) of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 , unless that flora is taken from private land that is not owned by a public authority;
(c) the taking of flora that is a part or a member of a community of flora that is specified in the Threatened List under section 10(1) of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 , unless that community is found on private land that is not owned by a public authority;
(d) the taking of fauna that is a member of a taxon of fauna, or that is a part or member of a community of fauna, that is specified in the Threatened List under section 10(1) of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
(e) the taking of any taxon or community of flora or fauna from any habitat or parts of habitat under section 20 of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
(f) the removal or damaging of more than 1 hectare of native vegetation if that area does not contain any native trees during either the term of the licence or a period of 5 years from the grant of the licence, whichever ends first;
(g) the removal or damaging of more than 15 native trees that have a trunk diameter of less than 40 cm at a height of 1.3 metres above ground level during either the term of the licence or a period of 5 years from the grant of the licence, whichever ends first;
(h) the removal or damaging of more than 5 native trees that have a trunk diameter of 40 cm or more at a height of 1.3 metres above ground level during either the term of the licence or a period of 5 years from the grant of the licence, whichever ends first;
(i) the creation of any road, structure or hardstand area without the consent of the owner or occupier of the land on which it is created;
(j) the use of any closed road without the consent of the owner or occupier of the land on which the road is located, or undertaking works on any road without the consent of the owner or occupier of the land on which the road is located;
(k) ground intrusive work that—
(i) is within 200 metres of a waterway; or
(ii) is on a slope steeper than 1 vertical : 3 horizontal; or
(iii) is of greater than 2 hectares in an area of cultural heritage sensitivity during either the term of the licence or a period of 5 years from the grant of the licence, whichever ends first; or
(iv) involves taking water from an aquifer, hydraulic fracturing, or excavation using heavy earth moving equipment.
2 In this Schedule—
"area of cultural heritage sensitivity "means an area specified as an area of cultural heritage sensitivity under regulations made under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 ;
"closed road" means a road lawfully closed to public access by barriers (including roads closed seasonally, temporarily or permanently, and management vehicle only roads), roads which have been rehabilitated, and roads which are not trafficable due to the regrowth of vegetation;
"community" has the same meaning as in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
"critical habitat" has the same meaning as in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
"damaging", in relation to native trees or vegetation, means all activities that impact native vegetation, but does not include—
(a) lopping or trimming no more than one third of the foliage or a tree or shrub (not including the trunk); or
(b) mowing or slashing native grasses (but not trees, shrubs or groundcovers) to a height greater than 10 cm;
"fauna" has the same meaning as in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
"flora" has the same meaning as in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
"ground intrusive work" means work that disturbs the topsoil or surface rock layer of the ground by machinery (other than hand-held machinery) in the course of drilling a hole, ground levelling or augering;
"hardstand area" means an open ground area with a prepared surface that is used for storing material and standing vehicles;
"hydraulic fracturing" means the injection of water and other materials into a bore under pressure;
"native tree" means a tree that is indigenous to Victoria;
"native vegetation" means plants indigenous to Victoria including trees, shrubs, herbs and grasses;
"public authority" has the same meaning as in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
"road" means a road within the meaning of the Road Management Act 2004 and includes Crown land permanently or temporarily formed for the passage of motor vehicles having four or more wheels, and land specified as an unused road under section 400 of the Land Act 1958 ;
"structure" means materials that have been erected for the purpose of facilitating exploration activities and includes, but is not limited to, facilities associated with exploratory team members, sound attenuation devices to minimise noise disturbance from exploration activities, and ancillary storage facilities;
"take" has the same meaning as in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
"taxon" has the same meaning as in the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 ;
"waterway" means—
(a) a river, creek, stream or watercourse the name of which is registered under the Geographic Place Names Act 1998 ; or
(b) a natural channel the name of which is registered under the Geographic Place Names Act 1998 in which water regularly flows, whether or not the flow is continuous; or
(c) a lake, lagoon, swamp or marsh, being—
(i) a natural collection of water (other than water collected and contained in a private dam or a natural depression on private land) into, through or out of which a current that forms the whole or part of the flow of a river, creek, stream or watercourse passes, whether or not the flow is continuous; or
(ii) a collection of water (other than water collected and contained in a private dam or a natural depression on private land) that the Governor in Council declares under section 4(1) of the Water Act 1989 to be a lake, lagoon, swamp or marsh; or
(d) land which is regularly or intermittently covered by water from a waterway as described in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) but does not include—
(i) any artificial channel or work which diverts water away from such a waterway; or
(ii) an area covered by the floodwaters of a waterway; or
(iii) an area, other than the waterway, designated on a planning scheme as being a floodway or liable to flooding or as being subject to inundation; or
(e) if any land described in
paragraph (d) forms part of a slope rising from the waterway to a definite
lip, the land up to that lip.
Sch. 5
inserted by No. 82/2000 s. 73.