(1)

A person must not take an action that:

(a)

has or will have a significant impact on the ecological character of a declared Ramsar wetland; or

(b)

is likely to have a significant impact on the ecological character of a declared Ramsar wetland.

Civil penalty:

(a)

for an individual—5,000 penalty units;

(b)

for a body corporate—50,000 penalty units.

(2)

Subsection (1) does not apply to an action if:

(a)

an approval of the taking of the action by the person is in operation under Part 9 for the purposes of this section; or

(b)

Part 4 lets the person take the action without an approval under Part 9 for the purposes of this section; or

(c)

there is in force a decision of the Minister under Division 2 of Part 7 that this section is not a controlling provision for the action and, if the decision was made because the Minister believed the action would be taken in a manner specified in the notice of the decision under section 77, the action is taken in that manner; or

(d)

the action is an action described in subsection 160(2) (which describes actions whose authorisation is subject to a special environmental assessment process).

(3)

In this Act: