Damage to critical habitat
220ZC Damage to critical habitat
A person must not, by an act or omission, do anything that causes damage to any critical habitat.
Maximum penalty—2,000 penalty units or imprisonment for 2 years, or both.
If a map of the critical habitat has been duly published in the Gazette, it is not necessary for the prosecution to prove that the person knew that the habitat was declared as critical habitat or that the accused knew that it was the habitat of an endangered species, population or ecological community.
It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against this section in relation to an area of critical habitat that the Minister has declined to disclose its precise location under section 220Y and that the accused did not know and could not reasonably be expected to have known that the area was critical habitat.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandum
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