{"id":"F2017L01034","name":"Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 - Section 269A - Instrument Adopting a Recovery Plan (Western Ringtail Possum) (04/08/2017)","slug":"environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-act-1999-section-269a-instrument-adopting-a-rec","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":96935,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2017L01034-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-02","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"Environment Protection and Biodiversity ","sectionType":"part","heading":"Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999","content":"# Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999\n\nSection 269A\n\nInstrument Adopting a Recovery Plan\n\nI, JOSH FRYDENBERG, Minister for the Environment and Energy, under subsection 269A(7) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, hereby adopt as a recovery plan for the listed threatened species specified below, the plan made by Western Australia:\n\n| Listed Threatened Species  | Recovery Plan                                                                                                                                                                                                |\n| -------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |\n| Pseudocheirus occidentalis | Department of Parks and Wildlife (2017). Western Ringtail Possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) Recovery Plan. Wildlife Management Program No. 58. Department of Parks and Wildlife, Perth, Western Australia. |\n\nThis recovery plan will come into force on the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation.\n\nDated this 4 day of August 2017\n\nJosh Frydenberg\n\nMinister for the Environment and Energy","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument performs exactly the function intended by section 269A of the EPBC Act: adopting a state or territory recovery plan for a listed threatened species. There is no scope creep; it is a straightforward, single-purpose administrative instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Single substantive action: adoption of one pre-existing document","No defined terms within the instrument itself","No conditional logic or nested exceptions","Minimal cross-referencing (only one reference to the empowering provision, section 269A(7))","Extremely short length (approximately 150 words of operative text)","Tabular format presents information clearly without legal gymnastics"],"plain_english_summary":"The federal Environment Minister has formally adopted Western Australia’s recovery plan for the Western Ringtail Possum, giving the state plan legal force under national environmental law. That makes the plan a binding framework for conserving the threatened possum and guiding actions to halt its decline.\n\nIt affects Western Australian agencies responsible for implementation and anyone whose activities might harm the species or its habitat, and requires federal project decisions to consider and be consistent with the plan."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument adopts the Western Australian recovery plan without amendment and does not change the species covered or the measures in that plan. It brings the state plan into the EPBC Act framework (adoption under s269A(7)) and sets its commencement (day after registration) but does not add funding, new obligations, or additional measures in the text of the instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Narrow subject-matter: single listed species (Western Ringtail Possum) — limits substantive scope.","Adoption mechanism: instrument simply adopts an external state recovery plan rather than creating new measures.","Ministerial authority cited: adoption exercised under subsection 269A(7) — centralised executive decision point.","Commencement rule: effectiveness tied to registration on the Federal Register of Legislation (simple timing mechanism).","No implementation or funding detail in the instrument — leaves operational complexity to other documents/actors.","Inter-jurisdictional dependence: federal effect depends on content and adequacy of a WA document, introducing potential alignment/interpretation issues."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument records the Commonwealth Minister adopting Western Australia’s 2017 recovery plan for the Western Ringtail Possum (Pseudocheirus occidentalis) as the federal recovery plan under subsection 269A(7) of the EPBC Act. It becomes effective the day after it is registered on the Federal Register of Legislation. The instrument imports the state plan into the Commonwealth framework but does not itself set out funding, implementation obligations or detailed enforcement measures."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-act-1999-section-269a-instrument-adopting-a-rec","history":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-act-1999-section-269a-instrument-adopting-a-rec/history","analysis":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-act-1999-section-269a-instrument-adopting-a-rec/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-act-1999-section-269a-instrument-adopting-a-rec/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-act-1999-section-269a-instrument-adopting-a-rec/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-act-1999-section-269a-instrument-adopting-a-rec/documents"}}