Environmental Offences and Penalties Act
The Environmental Offences and Penalties Act provides a scale of penalties to be awarded where offences have been committed relating to the protection of the environment, and for related purposes. The scale is constructed around 4 levels that relate to the severity of the offence in terms of the level of environmental degradation and the cost of restoring the environment. The offence levels are assigned under s.83 of the Act
Depending on the level awarded by the court, this can range from up to $5,000 for an individual committing an environmental offence level 5 up to between $25,000 to $250,000 or imprisonment for up to 5 years for a environmental offence level 1. Body corporate face much higher fines of up to $1.25 Million.
Where there is a desire to avoid prosecution and an Environmental Infringement Notice has been issued for an offence level 4, an individual or body corporate can elect to pay the fine summarily. For an individual this currently amounts to $100 and for a Body Corporate $500.
