Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

The Governor‑General may make regulations prescribing all matters:

required or permitted by this Act to be prescribed; or

necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to this Act.

The regulations may prescribe penalties for offences against the regulations. A penalty must not be more than 50 penalty units.

Regulations may be made for and in relation to giving effect to any of the following agreements:

the Apia Convention;

the Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific (the SPREP Convention) signed at Noumea on 24 November 1986;

the Bonn Convention;

CAMBA;

JAMBA;

an agreement between the Commonwealth and one or more other countries relating to whales;

the World Heritage Convention;

the Ramsar Convention;

the Biodiversity Convention;

CITES;

the Framework Convention on Climate Change done at New York on 9 May 1992.

Regulations made in relation to an agreement that has not entered into force for Australia are not to come into operation on a day earlier than the day on which the agreement enters into force for Australia.

The regulations may prescribe fees that are payable for services the Minister, Secretary or CEO provides in performing functions, or exercising powers, under this Act or the regulations.

A fee prescribed by the regulations is payable to the Commonwealth.

Regulations prescribing fees may also:

prescribe fees in respect of:

a particular class of decision; or

a particular class of action; or

a particular class of person; and

prescribe 2 or more fees for the same matter; and

prescribe a method for working out a fee; and

prescribe a method for working out the refund of part of a fee; and

deal with other matters, including the following:

specifying the way in which, and times at which, a fee is to be paid;

specifying the fees that must be paid, and by whom, in the event of a transfer under section 145B or a change of person proposing to take an action under section 156F;

the consequences of failure to pay a specified fee;

the circumstances in which the Minister may waive a fee;

the circumstances in which a person is exempt from paying a specified fee;

the circumstances in which a fee may be refunded, in whole or in part.

Subsections (3), (4A) and (4C) do not limit subsection (1).

The regulations may prohibit or regulate the export from an external Territory to Australia or another external Territory of:

CITES specimens; and

regulated native specimens.

The regulations may prohibit or regulate the import into an external Territory from Australia or another external Territory of:

CITES specimens; and

regulated live specimens.

The regulations may prohibit or regulate the possession in an external Territory of:

specimens that have been imported into that Territory in contravention of regulations made for the purposes of subsection (7); or

the progeny of such specimens.