1The De Simoni principle applies to a breach of licence offence under s 64(1) POEOA where the EPA invites the court to find negligence as an aggravating factor, because s 116 POEOA creates a more serious offence of negligently causing a substance to escape in a manner that harms the environment — departing from the reasoning (though not the result) in Environment Protection Authority v Orica Australia Pty Ltd (the Nitric Acid Air Lift Incident) [2014] NSWLEC 103.
2The test for criminal negligence in environmental crime requires such a great falling short of the standard of care which a reasonable person would have exercised and which involved such a high risk that harm would follow that the act or omission merits criminal punishment; mere indifference to an obvious risk, without more, may be apt to mislead as to the stringency of this standard.
3The degraded pre-existing condition of receiving waters does not mitigate the offender's conduct but is relevant to assessing the extent of environmental harm caused by the offence.
Case Details
Citation[2019] NSWLEC 100
CourtNSWLEC
JurisdictionNew South Wales
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