Marine and Coastal (Prescribed Consents) Regulations 2025

A person specified in subregulation (2) has a prescribed consent to conduct testing on marine and coastal Crown land if the testing—

does not remove or damage native vegetation; and

does not harm an Aboriginal place or an Aboriginal object; and

is conducted—

manually using hand tools; or

by drilling narrow diameter holes using an auger, open hole percussion drilling, reverse circulation, air core drilling, rotary air blast drilling or diamond drilling; and

does not involve significant ground disturbance within the meaning of the Aboriginal Heritage Regulations 2018^[2] of the marine and coastal Crown land; and

minimises any damage to the marine and coastal environment; and

does not unreasonably block a pathway or road.

The following persons are specified—

a Crown land manager responsible for the marine and coastal Crown land on which the testing is to be conducted;

the Department;

a public utility provider responsible for a public utility on the marine and coastal Crown land on which the testing is to be conducted.

A consent referred to in subregulation (1) is subject to the following prescribed conditions—

the person who has a prescribed consent under subregulation (1) must ensure that the work area is left in a clean and tidy condition after the testing is completed;

at the completion of testing, the person who has a prescribed consent under subregulation (1) must ensure that any holes made in the marine and coastal Crown land due to testing are backfilled to the natural ground level—

with any remaining material not required for testing; or

if the remaining material is not sufficient to backfill the holes, with nearby comparable materials;

if the person who has a prescribed consent under subregulation (1) is a person specified in subregulation (2)(a) or (c) and the testing requires the work area to be closed to the public, the person must give written notice to the Department of the proposed testing at least 5 business days before the works commence.