Report of the Third Review of the National Environment Protection Council Acts (Commonwealth State and Territory) December 2012 National Environment Protection Council Response to the Report of the Third Review of the National Protection Council Acts
Tabled paper 599
Tabled Papers for 12th Assembly 2012 - 2016; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT
2013-10-17
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https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C01116
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/275013
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/424650
21 National Environment Protection Council NEPC Acts Third Review 2012 of National Environment Protection Measures. The McMichael Review made 14 recommendations, with a focus on improvements to the National Environment Protection Council model. In its response to the McMichael Review, the National Environment Protection Council concluded that substantial progress had been made on issues of national environmental protection and that only minor amendments to the Act, which were highlighted in the review, were needed. These amendments were: the establishment of a simplified procedure for implementing minor variations to the National Environment Protection Measures allowing the National Environment Protection Council Service Corporation to provide support and assistance to other ministerial councils introducing five-yearly reviews of the Act. Each of the Acts has been amended to give effect to the findings of the McMichael Review. 1.2 SECOND REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION COUNCIL ACTS2006 In 2005 the National Environment Protection Council commissioned a second review of the Acts by John Ramsay Consulting (the Ramsay Review). The terms of reference for the Ramsay Review included an emphasis on whether the Acts had the scope to meet the requirements of the Environment Protection and Heritage Councils strategic plan and to consider the findings of the Commonwealths 2004 governance review of the National Environment Protection Council Service Corporation, including whether it had the powers, governance structure, funding and resources to perform its function. The Ramsay Review concluded that the National Environment Protection Council system is operating reasonably effectively, given its legislative and financial limitations. It recognised the benefits and costs of jurisdictional participation in the National Environment Protection Measure processes and concluded that the core aspects of National Environment Protection Council activity and processes were sound. It found that National Environment Protection Measures were a useful, streamlined, reasonably cost-effective mechanism to achieve nationally consistent environmental regulation. The review made a number of recommendations aimed at updating what was considered a robust national system. Ramsays key recommendations included that: National Environment Protection Measure implementation by jurisdictions should be improved National Environment Protection Measure content could be updated to include measures of environmental and cost-effectiveness and to provide the National Environment Protection Council with an improved evidence base