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1
Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
Environmental Protection Amendment Bill
2007
Explanatory Notes
General Outline
Short Title
The short title of the Bill is the Environmental Protection Amendment Act
2007.
Reasons for the Bill
Litter enforcement is undertaken by authorised persons in the
Environmental Protection Agency, with powers delegated to an authorised
person of a local government. Local government officers have raised
concerns about the difficulty in enforcing the litter provisions, which are
currently found under Part 2 of the Environmental Protection (Waste
Management) Regulation 2000. The main difficulty is in enforcing littering
offences involving a vehicle, including littering from a vehicle and illegal
dumping (depositing 20 litres or more of litter).
Enforcement action for littering involving a vehicle is difficult and
dangerous for the authorised person, as they are required to stop the vehicle
and approach it to gather the details of the offender in order to issue the
infringement notice to that offender.
This Bill provides amendments to the Environmental Protection Act 1994
to provide safer and easier enforcement of littering offences involving a
vehicle and to address several other issues that have been raised by local
governments.
Policy Objectives of the Legislation
The policy objectives of the Bill are to amend the Environmental Protection
Act 1994 to:
(1) help reduce the unlawful deposit of litter; and
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
(2) introduce offences in relation to a littering from a vehicle and
dangerous littering; and
(3) allow, in particular circumstances, the offence of littering from a
vehicle to be dealt with as an offence involving a vehicle under
the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999; and
(4) allow an authorised person to direct a person to remove litter
from a place if the person unlawfully deposited more than 20
litres of litter at the place.
The provision of strengthened and safer enforcement abilities for littering
offences involving a vehicle has the potential to assist in reducing incidents
of littering from vehicles. The ability for an authorised person to issue a
clean up direction where 20 litres or more of litter has been dumped will
also assist in reducing littering overall. Areas that have been littered, and
where that litter remains, tend to attract more litter. Where this litter can be
removed as quickly as possible will assist in maintaining a clean
environment.
Achieving the Objectives
The Bill implements the Government's decision to undertake litter
prevention measures and enhance litter enforcement in Queensland by
providing the ability for safer and easier litter enforcement by an authorised
person.
Alternatives to the Bill
There are no alternatives to the Bill. During the process of policy
development, it became apparent that the scope of the proposed reforms
was beyond what could be dealt with through subordinate legislation. The
provisions are more appropriately placed in the Environmental Protection
Act 1994 not simply on the basis that Fundamental Legislative Principles
may be overridden.
The additional offences are of some significance and will expand beyond
the scope of power of the Environmental Protection Agency to local
governments and other state government departments. By placing the
provisions in the Act rather than in regulation this avoids any potential
challenge on the basis of a lack of head of power under the present
provisions of the Act.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
Consequently, the Government in November 2006 authorised the
development of a Bill to enable enhancements to litter enforcement and
other matters relating to litter in Queensland.
Administrative cost and savings to Government
There are likely to be some administrative and operational costs for the
Queensland Government associated with implementation of the Bill. The
degree of cost depends on the number of infringement notices that will be
issued by an authorised person. For Government, as a guide, approximately
1.5 Fulltime Equivalent (FTEs) administration staff are needed for every
1000 Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs) issued by the Environmental
Protection Agency. The time of the authorised officer, District Manager
and Agency Litigation Unit is also required where PINs are contested.
Approximately 4 percent are contested and 1 percent proceeds to Court.
Corporate Services Queensland will require additional support in order to
process payment receipts for the additional litter PINs.
There are also likely to be some increased administrative and operational
costs for local governments associated with implementing the Bill, in terms
of search costs, administration and processing of the infringement notices.
However, as local governments are able to retain the revenue raised from
fine payments this should help defray some of these additional costs.
The new provisions provide for easier and safer enforcement of littering
from vehicles. The littering provisions as they existed in the Environmental
Protection (Waste Management) Regulation 2000 required that an
authorised person stop a vehicle from which a littering offence was
observed in order to obtain the details of the litterer. The new provisions
remove this element of risk to the officer by allowing an authorised person
to issue the infringement notice to the registered owner of that vehicle.
Easier and safer enforcement of littering from vehicles will assist in
reducing the amount of litter found along Queensland highways and
roadsides. Over 40 percent of Queensland litter is found along highways
and this imposes a considerable cleanup cost burden on state and local
governments. Reduction in litter in these areas may allow the potential
savings in cleanup costs to be redirected into other areas such as litter
prevention awareness programs and appropriate litter bin infrastructure.
Consistency with Fundamental Legislative Principles
Section 4 of the Legislative Standards Act 1992 requires that legislation
have sufficient regard to the rights and liberties of individuals.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
Whether legislation has sufficient regard to the rights and liberties of
individuals depends on whether, for example, the legislation:
� is consistent with principles of natural justice;
� does not reverse the onus of proof in criminal proceedings
without adequate justification; or
� allows the delegation of administrative power only in appropriate
cases and to appropriate persons.
Potential breaches of Fundamental Legislative Principles (FLPs) for the
Bill are noted below.
Amendment to powers of an authorised person in relation to
littering from a vehicle
Division 3 of the Bill amends the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to
include littering offences involving a vehicle and provides the ability for an
authorised person to issue the infringement notice to the registered operator
of the vehicle. This creates a reverse onus of proof on the registered
operator to prove that they were not the offender, rather than the authorised
person having to prove that they were the offender.
Natural justice involves procedural fairness and a right to be heard, which
has been addressed in the legislation by providing the ability for the
registered operator of the vehicle to provide a declaration to the
administering authority under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 in
relation to the offence if they are not the actual offender. A person also has
the right to elect to have the matter heard in Court.
In the case of littering from a vehicle (for instance, the tossing of a lit
cigarette from a vehicle into dry grass or a glass bottle being thrown from a
vehicle at a person) the possible greater environmental damage, as well as
potential for property damage and personal injury, indicate there is a
broader public interest in placing the responsibility on the owner of the
vehicle in the first instance.
The difficulty and danger in approaching and attempting to stop a vehicle
and the reluctance of authorised persons to enforce the current provisions
provides another basis for justification in breaching FLPs.
The significant costs incurred by local governments and Queensland
Government departments such as the Department of Main Roads for
cleaning up litter along roadsides are also the basis for justifying any
potential breach of natural justice where the registered owner is deemed to
be the offender in the first instance.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
A three-month amnesty period is proposed for littering offences involving a
vehicle in order to ensure that as much awareness as possible of the
changes can be delivered prior to infringement notices for this offence
being issued. During this time, the registered operator of a vehicle will
receive a warning and information regarding the new laws, as well as
information about the impacts of litter.
Authorised person for the purposes of litter enforcement
Section 445 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 requires that an
authorised person be:
� an appropriately qualified public servant;
� an employee of the department; or
� a person included in a class of persons declared by regulation to
be an approved class of persons for this section.
This addresses the FLP issue of allowing the delegation of administrative
power only in appropriate cases and to appropriate persons. Training will
also ensure that an authorised person has suitable information in order to
enforce the provisions appropriately.
Direction to remove litter
Part 2A of the Bill inserts a new section 463A into the Environmental
Protection Act 1994. The section declares that an authorised person may
direct a person, through written notice, to remove the waste that has been
unlawfully deposited if they find a person committing an offence or they
have reasonable grounds to believe that person has committed the offence
of depositing more than 20 litres of waste.
This section is necessary in order to ensure that the person responsible for
the offence also removes the material, without creating a cost burden to the
administering authority. Any potential breach of natural justice by this
section can be mitigated by attaching the clean up direction notice to the
original infringement notice offence.
If the person makes a declaration stating that they were not the offender
and nominates the actual offender, the clean up direction is reissued with
the new infringement notice to the nominated person. This means that the
registered operator of a vehicle does not have liability for an offence they
did not commit.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
Consultation
For around 10 years there has been considerable discussion regarding the
enforcement of littering offences by an authorised person. The Litter Act
1971 and associated regulation were repealed in 2000 with the introduction
of the Environmental Protection (Waste Management) Regulation 2000.
Extensive stakeholder consultation was undertaken at this time.
Local governments have since requested enhanced litter enforcement
provisions as the provisions in the Regulation are difficult to enforce and
do not provide the same degree of enforcement power that an authorised
person previously had under the Litter Act 1971.
Provisions in the Litter Act 1971 deemed the driver or person in charge of
the vehicle at the time of the offence to be the person who committed the
offence if the authorised officer was unable to establish who committed the
offence.
Local governments were consulted on the amendments as enforcement
responsibilities are delegated to local government authorised persons.
Local governments and associations consulted were:
� Local Government Association of Queensland
� Brisbane City Council
� Gold Coast City Council
� Ipswich City Council
� Toowoomba City Council
� Rockhampton City Council
� Mackay City Council
� Townsville City Council
� Cairns City Council
� Central Queensland Local Government Association
� North Queensland Local Government Association
A communication kit has been prepared to assist local governments in
communicating the changes to the broader community. The kit also
contains a litter enforcement manual that provides information for
authorised persons regarding appropriate enforcement of littering offences.
State government departments were consulted on the amendments through
an Interdepartmental Advisory Committee (IDAC) and as part of the
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
Cabinet process in developing the Bill. The departments involved in the
IDAC process were:
� Department of the Premier and Cabinet
� Treasury Department
� Department of Justice and Attorney-General
� State Penalties Enforcement Registry
� Department of Transport
� Maritime Safety Queensland
� Department of Local Government, Planning, Sport and
Recreation
� Department of Main Roads
� Queensland Police Service
� Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries
� Department of Emergency Services
� Department of Health
� Department of State Development
� Department of Tourism, Fair Trading and Wine Industry
Development
Feedback provided through the IDAC process was considered and the
provisions of the Bill were amended to ensure that the issues of the various
Departments were addressed.
No widespread public consultation was undertaken for the amendments
however, the changes to the legislation were communicated to impacted
stakeholders including rental car and taxi companies. Rental car and taxi
companies, as the registered owner of a vehicle, will receive the
infringement notice in the first instance.
Organisations such as Keep Australia Beautiful and the RACQ will be
involved in communicating the changes to the way littering from vehicles
is enforced. Communication materials have been prepared for the use of
local governments and other organisations to raise awareness of the
community and their members and clients regarding the changes. The
communication material and an overview of the changes will be provided
during the three-month amnesty period.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
Training
The Bill makes significant changes to the way that littering from a vehicle
can be enforced. Authorised person training will be conducted during the
amnesty period. Information will be provided to the authorised person in
relation to the changes to the legislation, evidence gathering and reporting,
reasonableness of issuing an infringement notice for particular littering
offences and case studies and examples of appropriate use of infringement
notices for certain offences.
Notes on Provisions
Part 1 Preliminary
Short title
Clause 1 states that the short title of the Act is the Environmental
Protection Amendment Act 2007.
Commencement
Clause 2 provides for the Act to commence on a day to be fixed by
proclamation.
Act amended
Clause 3 states that the Act amended is the Environmental Protection Act
1994.
Part 2 Amendment Of Environmental
Protection Act 1994
Insertion of new ch 8, pt 3A
Clause 4 provides for the insertion of a new part under Chapter 8 -
General environmental offences of the Environmental Protection Act
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
1994. After s440, part 3A will provide for offences relating to depositing
litter.
Part 3A Offences relating to depositing
litter
Division 1 Preliminary
440A Definition for pt 3A
This section provides a definition for deposit, litter and place in relation to
part 3A - Offences relating to depositing litter.
All definitions must only be interpreted in the context of this part. Terms
not defined here have either the meaning given to them by the Acts
Interpretation Act or by a Standard English Dictionary.
In this part, to deposit litter means -
(a) throw, drop or otherwise put litter on the place; or
(b) leave litter at the place; or
(c) deal with the litter in a way that causes or allows it to fall, blow,
wash or otherwise escape onto the place.
Examples in relation to paragraph (c), a person disposes of litter on a road
if the person -
(a) transports the litter in a trailer in a way that causes the litter to be
blown out of the trailer and onto a road; or
(b) leaves the litter on private land where it is then washed by rain
into the road.
Section 440A(b) allows for the enforcement of litter items such as dog
faeces, for instance on a footpath or beach, if the person responsible for the
dog leaves the litter (the dog faeces) at the place and does not remove the
material. This is also applicable to items that may fall off the back of a
trailer. In both these circumstances, the offence is created if the person
leaves the material at the place. If the person picks up the material and
places it back on the trailer or in a bin, no littering offence has occurred.
Litter is defined in section 440B.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
Place includes premises and a place, including a public place, on land.
Under schedule 3 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994, land is
defined to include waters. Land also includes the airspace above land; and
land that is, or is at any time, covered by waters.
This means that the unlawful deposit of litter is not restricted to terrestrial
places and an authorised person may issue an infringement notice for a
littering offence occurring on water or where the litter is thrown from the
bank of a river into the water.
Under schedule 3 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994, premises is
defined to include a building or structure or part of a building or structure,
as well as the land on which a building or structure is situated.
This means that the offence of littering need not be restricted to an open
outdoor space. A person may commit a littering offence if they throw litter
on the ground at a football stadium and fail to deposit it in a bin when they
leave. The offence of depositing litter links to the exceptions under section
440C for when the deposit of litter at a place is unlawful.
440B Meaning of litter
This section provides a definition of litter.
Subsection 1 states that litter includes -
(a) any waste of a commercial or domestic nature; and
(b) anything that may reasonably be considered to be refuse, debris
or rubbish; and
(c) an abandoned vehicle or an abandoned part of a vehicle.
Examples for paragraph (b) include -
� discarded glass, metal, wood, plastic, paper, fabric or food.
� discarded soil, sand, concrete or rocks.
� garden remnants and clippings.
These examples do not limit the application of the litter definition from
applying to other items that an authorised person may reasonably believe to
be litter, including cigarette butts, old mattresses and furniture, takeaway
food containers, household rubbish and discarded whitegoods.
Subsection 2 states that the definition of litter does not include any gas,
dust or smoke that is emitted or produced -
(a) during, or as a result of, the normal operations of any industry; or
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
(b) from machinery used for domestic purposes.
For example, dust generated during the mowing of a footpath or from a
construction site during normal building operations does not constitute a
littering offence. Some of these actions may, however, constitute an offence
under other legislation or breach licence or approval conditions for that
particular activity.
Division 2 General offences
440C When deposit of litter is unlawful
This section provides circumstances, for part 3A, where the deposit of litter
is not considered to be unlawful. A definition of occupier is also provided.
Subsection 1 provides, for the purposes of this part, exemptions from the
unlawful deposit of litter.
For this part, the deposit of litter by a person at a place is unlawful unless -
(a) the person is an occupier of the place; or
(b the person deposits the litter with the consent of an occupier of
the place; or
(c) the person deposits the litter in a litter bin or other container
provided by an occupier of the place for the purpose of
depositing litter.
Section 440C only applies in relation to the enforcement of littering
offences under part 3A of the Environmental Protection Act 1994. For local
governments, this will not affect the operation of a local law in relation to
unsightly accumulation, as the scope of the defence in s440D is confined to
application under this part, not in relation to other regulatory instruments.
For example, if an authorised person were to issue an infringement notice
for littering to the occupier of a place and the occupier had deposited the
material, that infringement notice would not be valid. However, this section
does not preclude the authorised person from using the local law provisions
in relation to an unsightly accumulation.
Subsection 2 provides the definition of occupier for subsection 1.
In this section, occupier of a place includes a person who exercises or may
exercise lawful authority or control in relation to the place.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
For example, in relation to local government hard waste collection days,
where householders place items on the footpath for collection under the
direction of the local government, the local government would be the
occupier as they are the person who exercises control in relation to the
place (the footpath). This allows a person to legitimately place items on the
footpath during a local government hard waste collection without those
items being considered as litter while the collection service is being
conducted.
It also allows a local government authorised person to take action if a
person deposits materials for collection that the local government has
advised cannot be removed through the provision of that service or if the
person fails to remove that material from the footpath after the collections
are completed, as the person has now deposited litter without the consent of
the occupier.
440D Depositing litter
This section provides the littering offences.
Subsection 1 states that a person must not unlawfully deposit litter at a
place unless that person has a reasonable excuse. A range of offences and
maximum penalties are provided in subsection 1 for:
(a) if the offence involves depositing 200L or more of litter - 165
penalty units; or
(b) if the offence involves dangerous littering or involves depositing
more than 20L but less than 200L of litter - 40 penalty units;
(c) if the offence involves depositing litter from a vehicle - 30
penalty units; or
(d) otherwise - maximum penalty 20 penalty units.
Subsection 2 defines dangerous littering for this section -
dangerous littering means depositing litter that causes or is likely to cause
harm to a person, animal or property.
Examples provided of dangerous littering include -
� throwing a lit cigarette onto dry grass during extreme fire danger
conditions; or
� smashing a bottle and leaving the broken glass on the footpath.
These examples do not restrict the application of a dangerous littering
offence to other actions, including leaving a hypodermic needle in a garden
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
bed or near a children's playground, or throwing an item from a car at
another road user or pedestrian.
The offence of depositing litter from a vehicle may involve:
� a person throwing a soft drink can, takeaway food packaging or
plastic bag from a car window; or
� items falling off the back of a ute or a trailer as a result of an
uncovered load; or
� waste falling out of a skip bin or from a waste collection truck; or
� a person throwing a cigarette butt on the ground, then getting into
a vehicle and driving away.
An offence involving other littering may include the littering of small
items such as straws, ATM receipts and bus tickets, takeaway food and
drink containers, cigarette packets, cigarette butts and chewing gum.
In some circumstances, a littering offence may initially appear to be both
littering from a vehicle and dangerous littering, for example, in the case
where an authorised person observes a glass bottle being thrown from a car
window and shattering on the road.
In these cases, only one infringement notice may be issued for the offence
and this should be for the offence that is most easily proven. While broken
glass itself poses a danger, for a number of reasons it may be difficult to
prove that it is dangerous littering. However, it is more easily proven that
the bottle was littered from a vehicle, as the authorised person observed the
action of the bottle being thrown from the vehicle.
Division 3 Vehicle littering offences
440E Definition for div 3
This section provides definitions for passenger declaration, prescribed
person and vehicle littering offence for division 3.
A passenger declaration for a vehicle littering offence means a statutory
declaration made by a prescribed person for the offence, stating that -
(a) the person was not the person who deposited the litter; and
(b) the name and address of the person who deposited the litter.
In this division, a prescribed person for a vehicle littering offence means -
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
(a) the person in whose name the vehicle associated with the
commission of the offence is registered under a registration Act;
or
(b) a person named in a known user declaration or a sold user
declaration under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 in
relation to the offence.
For a vehicle littering offence see section 440F.
This means that a vehicle littering offence may involve a person littering an
item directly from a vehicle or depositing litter on the footpath and getting
into a vehicle.
440F Application of div 3
The section provides the application of division 3 in relation to a vehicle
littering offence.
Subsection 1 states that this division applies to an offence against 440D that
is a vehicle littering offence.
Subsection 2 states that an offence against 440D is a vehicle littering
offence if -
(a) the offence is committed by a person who is, or becomes an
occupant of a vehicle that is associated with the commission of
the offence; and
(b) under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999 an offence
against section 440D is prescribed to be an offence to which the
Act applies.
Subsection 3 states that the vehicle is associated with the commission of the
offence if, for example, the person who committed the offence -
(a) was in the vehicle when the offence was committed; or
(b) used the vehicle to transport litter to a place where the offence
was committed; or
(c) committed the offence near the vehicle and before entering the
vehicle.
Subsection 3 allows an authorised person to use the registration details of
the vehicle for enforcement of the littering offence where the authorised
person has observed a person deposit litter then get into a vehicle and drive
away (either as a driver or passenger) and there is a link between the
vehicle as the identifier for issuing the infringement notice and the person
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
dropping the litter. It is important in this instance that the authorised person
has observed the littering offence in relation to a person leaving or arriving
in the vehicle.
For example, if an authorised person saw rubbish in an area and saw a
vehicle leaving that area, an infringement notice must not be issued based
on the assumption that the occupants of that vehicle left the litter at the
place.
Subsection 4 states that despite subsection (1), this division does not apply
to a vehicle littering offence if -
(a) the vehicle associated with the commission of the offence was a
public passenger vehicle being used to transport members of the
public; and
(b) the offence was committed by a person other than the driver of
the vehicle.
This means that if a passenger on a bus throws litter out of the bus window,
there has been no offence involving a vehicle. However, if the driver throws
litter from the bus window, an offence for the purposes of this division has
been committed.
440G Applicaton of State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999
This section provides for the application of the State Penalties Enforcement
Act 1999.
Subsection 1 states that for the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, a
vehicle littering offence is an offence involving a vehicle as defined under
that Act.
Subsection 2 states that for applying the State Penalties Enforcement Act
1999 to a vehicle littering offence, the references in sections 17(3),
22(1)(c), 33(1)(d) and 157(2)(j) to an illegal user declaration, a known or
unknown user declaration or a sold vehicle declaration are taken to include
a reference to a passenger declaration.
Subsection 3 states that subsection (2) does not affect a person's right under
the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 17(3) to give a SPEA
declaration for a vehicle for the offence.
Subsection 4 states that if the person gives a passenger declaration for the
offence, another person may not give a SPEA declaration or a passenger
declaration for the same offence.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
Subsection 5 states that in this section a SPEA declaration means an illegal
user declaration, a known or unknown user declaration or a sold vehicle
declaration under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999.
440H Effect of passenger declaration
The section provides the effect of a passenger declaration in relation to a
vehicle littering offence and provides definitions for this section for
administering authority and relevant time and date.
Subsection 1 states that this section applies if -
(a) a vehicle littering offence happens; and
(b) an infringement notice for the offence is served on a prescribed
person for the offence; and
(c) the prescribed person makes and gives to the administering
authority for the infringement notice a passenger declaration for
the offence.
Subsection 2 states that the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section
17 (Liability for infringement notice offences involving vehicles) applies as
if the person named in the declaration as the person who deposited the litter
(the passenger) were the owner of the vehicle at the relevant time and date.
Subsection 3 states that a proceeding for the offence may be started against
the passenger only if a copy of the declaration has been served on the
passenger.
Subsection 4 states that in a proceeding for the offence against the
passenger, the declaration is evidence that the passenger deposited the litter
at the relevant time and date.
This means that the declaration may be used in Court should the person
elect to have the matter heard in Court. The declaration provides the
authorised person with the reasonable belief that the person named in the
passenger declaration committed the offence.
Subsection 5 states that in a proceeding for the offence against the
prescribed person, a court must not find the prescribed person guilty of the
offence if it is satisfied, whether on the statements contained in the
declaration or otherwise, the prescribed person did not deposit the litter at
the relevant time and date.
Subsection 6 states that, in this section -
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
administering authority for the infringement notice means the
administering authority under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999.
In this section relevant time and date for a vehicle littering offence means
the time and date specified in the infringement notice as the time and date
of the offence.
Under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 7, the
administering authority for an infringement notice offence that is an
offence against a provision of the Environmental Protection Act 1994, or an
infringement notice about the offence, is -
(a) for an infringement notice served by an employee of a local
government, the local government; or
(b) otherwise, the agency within which the provision is
administered.
440I Service of infringement notice for vehicle littering offences
This section provides information in relation to the service of an
infringement notice for a vehicle littering offence.
Subsection 1 states that an infringement notice for a vehicle littering
offence may be served on the person named in the passenger declaration as
the person who deposited the litter.
Subsection 2 states that if the infringement notice is to be served by post,
the notice may be addressed to the person at the person's address stated in
the declaration.
440J Chief executive (transport) must disclose information
The section provides a duty of disclosure for the Chief executive (transport)
in relation to a vehicle littering offence.
Subsection 1 states that this section applies if -
(a) an authorised person is reasonably satisfied that vehicle registry
information may be used -
(i) in a proceeding against a person for a vehicle littering
offence; or
(ii) for the service of an infringement notice on a person for a
vehicle littering offence; and
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
(b) the authorised person asks the chief executive (transport) for the
information.
Subsection 2 states that the chief executive (transport) must disclose the
information to the authorised person if -
(a) the chief executive (transport) reasonably considers that the
information may be used -
(i) in a proceeding against a person for a vehicle littering
offence; or
(ii) for the service of an infringement notice on a person for a
vehicle littering offence; and
(b) the disclosure is authorised by the person to whom the
information relates.
Subsection 3 provides definitions for this section.
In this section, chief executive (transport) means the chief executive of the
department in which the Transport Operations (Road Use Management)
Act 1995 is administered.
In this section, vehicle registry information means information kept in the
register of registered vehicles under the Transport Operations (Road Use
Management - Vehicle registration) Regulation 1999, section 15.
Insertion of new Ch 9, pt 2A
Clause 5 provides for the insertion of a new part under Chapter 9 -
Investigation and enforcement. After s463, the new part 2A will provide for
authorised persons to give directions about the removal of more than 20
litres of litter (illegal dumping).
Part 2A Power of authorised persons to
give directions about litter
removal
463A Direction to remove litter
This section provides an authorised person with the power to direct a
person to remove litter, where the litter that has been unlawfully deposited
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
is 20 litres or more. This section also contains definitions for relevant
offence and remove.
Subsection 1 states that an authorised person may give a person a direction
under subsection (2) if -
(a the authorised person finds the person committing a relevant
offence; or
(b the authorised person -
(i) finds a person in circumstances that lead; or
(ii) has information that leads;
the authorised person to reasonably suspect the person has just
committed a relevant offence.
Subsection 2 states the authorised person may direct the person to remove
the litter that is subject to the offence within a reasonable time after the
person is given the direction.
Subsection 3 states that the direction may be given either orally or by
written notice.
Subsection 4 states that, if the direction is given orally, the authorised
person must confirm the oral direction by a written notice given to the
person as soon as possible.
Subsection 5 provides for the authorised person to impose reasonable
conditions on the direction.
Subsection 6 states that in this section -
relevant offence means an offence against section 440D involving the
deposit of more than 20 litres of litter.
remove includes collect, transport, store, treat or dispose.
Insertion of new s474A
Clause 6 amends s474 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994 to provide
a section after s474 in regard to the failure of a person to comply with an
authorised person's direction to remove the litter that has been deposited.
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Environmental Protection Amendment Bill 2007
474A Failure to comply with authorised person's direction to
clean up litter
Subsection 1 states that a person to whom a direction is given under section
463A (Direction to remove litter) must comply with the direction,
including a condition of the direction, unless the person has a reasonable
excuse for not complying with it. The maximum penalty for not complying
with the direction is 100 penalty units.
Subsection 2 states that the person does not commit an offence against
subsection (1) if the person is not proved to have committed the relevant
offence under section 463A.
Amendment of sch 3 (Dictionary)
Clause 7 amends the Dictionary to provide definitions for terms used in
Part 3A - Offences relating to depositing litter.
deposit, for chapter 8, part 3A see section 440A.
infringement notice, see State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, schedule 2.
infringement notice offence, see State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999,
schedule 2.
litter, for chapter 8, part 3A, see section 440C.
passenger declaration, for chapter 8, part 3A, division 3, see section 440E.
place, for chapter 8, part 3A, division 3, see section 440A.
prescribed person, for chapter 8, part 3A, see section 440E.
public passenger vehicle, see Transport Operations (Passenger Transport)
Act 1994, schedule 3.
registration Act, see the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, Schedule
2.
vehicle littering offence, for chapter 8, part 3A, division 3, see section
440F.
� State of Queensland 2007