On 13 February 2024, the Environmental Protection (Powers and Penalties) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 (Powers and Penalties Bill) was introduced to further enhance the powers and penalties provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (Qld) following on from the Jones review.

In previous articles, we have discussed the Jones Review and its impact on the Environmental Protection Act 1994 (EP Act), as well as the Queensland Government’s support for offences relating to the breach of general environmental duty.

Power and Penalties Bill

The Power and Penalties Bill aims to facilitate a more proactive approach to environmental risk management and ensure timely and effective regulatory responses to environmental harm.

Notable proposed amendments to the EP Act in the Power and Penalties Bill include:

  • more prominent inclusion and application of the polluter pays principle, proportionality principle, principle of primacy of prevention and the precautionary principle in the general administration of the EP Act;
  • introducing new offences for contravening the general environmental duty (GED) and the duty to restore the environment; and
  • introducing a new ‘Environmental Enforcement Order’ (EEO) as a single tool to replace environmental protection orders, direction notices and clean-up notices.  The EEO has been expanded so that the order can be issued to secure compliance with a transitional environmental program or temporary emissions licence, and also to secure compliance with the new ‘duty to restore’.

New offence for breach of general environmental duty

In line with the recommendations from the Jones Review, the proposed amendments to section 319 of the EP Act establish an offence for contravening the GED where the contravention causes, or is likely to cause, serious or material environmental harm.

The new offence provision is intended to demonstrate a more proactive approach to environmental protection by:

  • prominent inclusion of the principle of primacy of prevention;
  • strengthening deterrence;
  • encouraging stronger environmental management for the prevention and mitigation of environmental harm; and
  • providing for penalties proportionate to the seriousness of conduct from which the environmental harm resulted.

Wilful contravention of the GED will carry a maximum penalty of 4,500 penalty units or two years imprisonment, and a contravention will otherwise carry a maximum penalty of 1,655 penalty units.

Next steps

These new offences, coupled with the Regulator’s active role in compliance, reinforce the importance of operators proactively managing environmental performance and risk of environmental harm. 

The changes will also simplify the compliance function for the Regulator, and hopefully ease the administrative burden of Queensland’s powerful and complex environmental protection laws.

For related articles on the recent changes under the Powers and Penalties Act, see below:

Our previous articles on environmental regulation include: