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PUN363 Environmental Health Law

Instructions:

Please answer the following questions which relate to modules 3 and 4.

To answer most questions, you will need to research relevant legislation. Your answer must include an interpretation of the legislation (i.e. do NOT copy sections from the legislation, but summarise the information in your own words) and reference the relevant sections/schedules of the legislation. If the answer to a question is found in a Regulation made under an Act, you are expected to reference and explain relevant sections of the Act and the Regulation (i.e. explain how the Act creates the power for the regulation to be made for the relevant issue). The permitted answer length varies depending on the question asked and is shown for each answer. You must not exceed the permitted answer length. Any information provided in excess of the permitted answer length will not be considered when marking the quiz. Students are not permitted to change the formatting of this document, submit their answers in another document or include attachments. References must be provided for each answer in the reference field provided. References are not included in the answer length (i.e. the references are in addition the permitted answer length). In the reference field you must use a referencing style (preferably QUT APA referencing) shown on QUT Cite Write. Reference legislation in text as shown in module 1. Only answers submitted in the approved quiz format will be graded.

Any other information will be disregarded and will not be considered when grading the assessment. Abbreviations (e.g. EPAct) can be used to minimise characters used once you have cited the legislation in full in the document.

• In your own words briefly describe the object/purpose of the Environmental Protection Act 1994, (EPAct); and the Planning Act 2016. Explain how the purpose of each Act differs and why.
• Explain the purpose and the main requirements of the Nature Conservation Act 1992.
• Discuss two (2) planning instruments under the Planning Act 2016.
• Explain what an environmental offsets policy is and what it contains.
• Identify the main steps in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process. What is the difference between EIA and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)? Describe two (2) triggers for an EIS.
• What is an ‘environmental value’? Identify four (4) environmental values specified in the environmental protection legislation.
• What is the ‘standard criteria’? What is the purpose of the ‘standard criteria’? Provide two (2) examples of when the standard criteria must be considered.
• An authorised person has inspected a site and found that the operator of an Environmentally Relevant Activity (ERA) is not complying with all the conditions of their environmental authority.
• Discuss another enforcement option available to an authorised person (other than those in Question 8) under the Environmental Protection Act and associated Regulation. You must state;
  • the purpose of the compliance tool?
  • What are the advantages of using the compliance tool?
  • What are the disadvantages/limitations of using each compliance tool?
  • Provide an example of a situation/scenario where you consider it appropriate to the use the compliance tool.
• Identify if the following activities are Environmentally Relevant Activities (ERAs). If they are an ERA, provide the ERA name (e.g. aquaculture), the category of ERA (e.g. mining activity, prescribed ERA) and the agency responsible for regulating them (e.g. Department of Environment and Science, Local Government).

• List a prescribed water contaminant. What penalty applies if a prescribed water contaminant is released into a stormwater drain? Can a penalty infringement notice be issued for this offence?
• Are the air quality objectives in the Environmental Protection (Air) Policy 2019 the same as the National Environmental Protection Measure (NEPM)? Explain your answer.
• Where do local governments get the power to set a fee for a licence issued under a local law? How must the fee be set?
• Sunshine Coast Council (SCC) has been advised a new car wrecker’s yard has opened. A competitor has e-mailed you a photo of the premises which contains a sign with ‘Jimmy’s Wreckers – second hand car parts and panels for sale’ on it. You check Council’s records and find that there is a historical development approval permitting a car wrecking yard on that site under the planning legislation. However, no application has been made to Council under the Environmental Protection Act 1994. A recent aerial photo of the area shows approximately 40 car bodies on the property. There is no fragmentiser (which crushes cars and shreds them into metal pieces) on site.

  Note: You are to assume the business does not involve any form of mobile service and the only activity occurring on site is the wrecking yard. ‘Jimmy’ owns multiple scrap metal facilities and is listed on the register of suitable operators.

  Describe in detail:

  1. Which offence/s appear to have been breached in this situation? Please describe your reasoning for the selection of this section.
  2. Identify the elements of an offence you have selected in 1.
  3. Describe the powers an authorised person could use to investigate this issue.
  4. What action you could take to remedy this situation?