Forest Practices Regulations 2017

For the purpose of section 17(6) of the Act, the following circumstances are prescribed:

the harvesting of timber or the clearing of trees, with the consent of the owner of the land, if the land is not vulnerable land and – the volume of timber harvested or trees cleared is less than 100 tonnes for each area of applicable land per year; or the total area of land on which the harvesting or clearing occurs is less than one hectare for each area of applicable land per year – whichever is the lesser;

the clearing of trees or native vegetation, with the consent of the owner of the land, to provide a reasonable buffer for existing infrastructure if the clearing is necessary to maintain the infrastructure or for public safety;

the clearing of trees or native vegetation regrowth, with the consent of the owner of the land, from an area of previously cleared and converted land;

the harvesting of timber or the clearing of trees on any land, or the clearance and conversion of a threatened native vegetation community on any land, for one or more of the following purposes:dam works authorised by a Division 3 permit issued under the Water Management Act 1999; the construction and maintenance of gas pipelines; the construction and maintenance of public roads;

the establishment of trees, with the consent of the owner of the land, on land that has not contained trees or a threatened native vegetation community in the immediately preceding 5-year period where – establishing the trees does not involve the construction of a road or the operation of a quarry; and the relevant area of land is less than 10 hectares for each area of applicable land per year;

the harvesting of tree ferns – with the consent of the owner of the applicable land; and if no more than 6 tree ferns are harvested on each area of applicable land during one year;

the harvesting of timber or the clearing of trees, or the clearance and conversion of a threatened native vegetation community, with the consent of the owner of the land, carried out in accordance with – a conservation covenant of a kind that the Authority has approved in writing for the purposes of this paragraph; or a vegetation management agreement of a kind that the Authority has approved in writing for the purposes of this paragraph;

the clearing of trees, or the clearance and conversion of a threatened native vegetation community, with the consent of the owner of the land, in the course of fire management work carried out under a fire management program of a kind that the Authority has approved in writing for the purposes of this paragraph;

the harvesting of timber or the clearing of trees on any land, or the clearance and conversion of a threatened native vegetation community on any land, in the course of mineral exploration activities, or mining activities, that are authorised under – a permit granted under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993; or an exploration licence within the meaning of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995; or a retention licence within the meaning of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995; or a mining lease within the meaning of the Mineral Resources Development Act 1995;

the harvesting of timber or the clearing of trees on any land, or the clearance and conversion of a threatened native vegetation community on any land, for the purpose of enabling – the construction of a building within the meaning of the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 or of a group of such buildings; or the carrying out of any associated development – if the construction of the buildings or carrying out of the associated development is authorised by a permit issued under that Act;

the harvesting of timber or the clearing of trees on any land, or the clearance and conversion of a threatened native vegetation community on any land, for the purpose of enabling – the construction and maintenance of a railway within the meaning of section 3 of the Rail Infrastructure Act 2007; and the establishment of a buffer of land of the area necessary to provide safe vehicular access to the railway or necessary to protect such a railway from being damaged by falling timber;

the harvesting of timber or the clearing of trees on any land, or the clearance and conversion of a threatened native vegetation community on any land, to enable the construction and maintenance of electricity infrastructure, if – there is an easement on the land that enables the electricity infrastructure to be constructed or used, or, if there is no such easement, if the owner of the land consents to the construction or maintenance of the electricity infrastructure on the land; and the clearance and conversion is undertaken in accordance with an environmental management system endorsed by the Forest Practices Authority.