{"id":"BILL-r7392","name":"Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025","slug":"environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-restoration-charge-imposition-bill-2025","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":446023,"registerId":"commonwealth-BILL-r7392-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-05-05","status":"royal_assent","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This Act is narrowly enabling: it authorises the Commonwealth to impose certain charges linked to EPBC Act approvals, registrations and exemptions and delegates detailed design to regulations. That scope aligns with the legislation’s stated purpose (to provide an in‑lieu charging mechanism for residual impacts). It does not broaden the policy beyond that original purpose; however, it leaves substantial scope to future regulations and companion legislation to determine practical effect, which is where most substantive scope and costs will be realised."},"complexity_factors":["Short standalone Act (18 sections) but heavy cross-references to the EPBC Act (s133, s146B, s177BN, Part 13 definitions)","Four distinct charge types with separate payer rules (ss8–13)","Amounts and detailed calculation methods delegated to regulations rather than set in the Act (ss14–16,18)","Regulations may create differential treatment by action class, residual impact class or bioregional plan (ss14(2),15(2))","Regulatory exemptions for classes of persons are permitted (ss12(2),13(3)-(4))","Independent review regime for regulations with timing and publication requirements (s17)","Commencement by proclamation with 12-month backstop creates phased operational timing (s2)","Act imports technical definitions from EPBC Act rather than defining them anew (s7), increasing cross-legislative complexity","Operational implementation depends on companion legislation and administrative arrangements (e.g. Restoration Contributions Holder, Special Account referenced in explanatory materials)"],"plain_english_summary":"**What this Act does, in plain language (mechanics first)**\n\n- The Act creates a legal power for the Commonwealth to impose four types of charges connected to decisions under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act):\n  - a **restoration contribution charge** when an approval for an action contains a condition requiring payment (Part 2, s8);\n  - a **bioregional plan registration charge** when a priority action is registered in a bioregional plan (s9);\n  - a **national interest exemption charge** when a national interest exemption is granted (s10(1)); and\n  - a **Part 13 exemption charge** when a Part 13 exemption is granted (s10(2)).\n\n- The Act specifies who pays each charge: generally the approval or exemption holder or the person specified in the approval or registration (ss11–13). Regulations can exempt particular persons or classes from paying the bioregional, national interest or Part 13 charges (ss12(2),13(3)-(4)).\n\n- The Act does not set dollar amounts itself. Instead it requires the amounts or the method for calculating them to be prescribed by regulation (ss14–16). Each amount must be greater than zero. Regulations may provide different methods or amounts for different actions, classes of actions, different kinds of residual impacts, and different bioregional plans (ss14(2),15(2)).\n\n- The Minister must commission independent reviews of how the regulations operate. The first review starts as soon as practicable after 24 months from commencement; subsequent reviews recur following publication of the previous review report (s17). The Minister must publish review reports and the government’s response (s17(6)).\n\n- Broad interpretation and application points: the Act binds State and Territory Crowns but not the Commonwealth Crown, extends to external territories and extra‑territorial acts, and preserves the constitutional protection of State property from taxation (ss3–6). It imports multiple definitions from the EPBC Act (s7).\n\n**Who this affects**\n\n- Project proponents, approval holders and other persons who hold EPBC Act approvals or exemptions: they may face a charge as a condition of an approval or when a priority action is registered (ss8–10,11–13).\n- Persons specified in approvals as responsible for payment (s11(2)).\n- The Commonwealth Government (Minister and officials) because regulation-making power and review obligations sit with the executive (ss17–18).\n- Entities that will receive and use the funds are not named in this Act; the use and investment of the funds are handled through regulations and related legislation (see explanatory materials and the companion reform legislation).\n\n**Why it matters (official claim and practical implications)**\n\n- Official claim: the measure is designed to let proponents discharge offset-like obligations by paying a charge into a Commonwealth-managed restoration mechanism instead of delivering site-specific offsets. The government says this should allow centralised delivery of restoration actions (Explanatory Memorandum; see Reform Bill links).\n\n- Practical implications and trade-offs to watch for:\n  - Who pays and how much is left to regulations: the Act delegates key choices (calculation method, exemptions, classes of liable persons) to the regulation-making power (ss14–16,18). That means the scale of economic effect and distributional outcomes will depend on later rules.\n  - Behavioural substitution: proponents authorised to pay may choose the monetary route instead of implementing on-site or near-site restoration. That centralises restoration responsibility with the Commonwealth (by design) but changes incentives for private landholders and developers (see ss8–11).\n  - Compliance and administrative burden: the Act creates new charging points tied to approvals and registrations. The compliance cost for proponents will depend on the complexity of the charging method in regulation and how payment obligations are monitored and enforced.\n  - Pricing risk and outcome risk: if the regulatory method under- or over-prices the ecological cost of residual impacts, payments may not deliver equivalent environmental outcomes; the Act does not itself set quality standards for how the money must be spent (ss14–16). Effective delivery depends on separate arrangements (for example, a restoration contributions holder and special account created elsewhere in the reform package).\n  - Concentration of decision power and discretion: Ministers and regulators will determine amounts, exempt classes and the regulatory method (ss17–18). That generates concentrated incentives for affected industries to influence rule-making, and creates implementation risk if regulations or associated delivery mechanisms are delayed.\n  - Transparency and review: the Act requires independent reviews of regulations (first review after ~24 months) and public publication of reports and responses (s17). That introduces periodic oversight but the timing and scope of reviews are themselves to be shaped by regulation (s17(4)).\n\n**Who pays, who decides, and what behaviour changes**\n\n- Who pays: the approval or exemption holder or the person specified in the approval/registration (ss11–13). Regulations may exempt categories of payers (ss12(2),13(3)-(4)).\n- Who decides: the Parliament sets the Act; the Governor-General in Council (regulations) sets amounts and methods; the Minister commissions reviews and publishes results (ss17–18). Approval decisions that include a charge remain decisions under the EPBC Act, so ministers/decision-makers under that Act will continue to include such conditions.\n- Behaviour changes likely: proponents may opt to pay rather than provide offsets, approvals may carry new monetary conditions, and centralised restoration funding may become a routine compliance pathway depending on regulation design.\n\n**Key cross-dependencies and implementation risk**\n\n- The Act is enabling and tightly coupled to the wider EPBC reform package: it references EPBC approvals, registrations and exemptions (s7 imports EPBC definitions). Delivery of restoration outcomes relies on companion measures (e.g., establishment of a restoration contributions holder, a special account and operational rules) contained in the Reform Bill and regulations rather than in this Act itself.\n\n(References: sections cited in parentheses are to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Act 2025.)"},"summary":{"status_summary":"The bill received royal assent on 1 December 2025 and is now the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Act 2025.","complexity_score":5,"likely_questions":["What amounts will the regulations prescribe for each charge?","Which approvals or exemptions will include a requirement to pay a restoration contribution charge?"],"complexity_factors":["integration with multiple provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999","reliance on regulations to set charge amounts, methods and exemptions"],"plain_english_summary":"The Act creates four charges—restoration contribution, bioregional plan registration, national interest exemption and Part 13 exemption—that can be imposed as conditions on EPBC approvals or exemptions, letting proponents pay the Commonwealth instead of arranging offsets or other measures. Charges are set by regulation, must be positive, and restoration receipts go to a dedicated Restoration Contributions Special Account.\n\nIt affects proponents needing EPBC approvals or exemptions, those registering priority actions in bioregional plans, and the Commonwealth agencies that administer and review the regulations."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-restoration-charge-imposition-bill-2025","history":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-restoration-charge-imposition-bill-2025/history","analysis":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-restoration-charge-imposition-bill-2025/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-restoration-charge-imposition-bill-2025/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-restoration-charge-imposition-bill-2025/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/environment-protection-and-biodiversity-conservation-restoration-charge-imposition-bill-2025/documents"}}