{"id":"environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005","name":"Environmental Protection (Environmentally Sensitive Areas) Notice 2005","slug":"environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":176588,"registerId":"wa-environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Environmental Protection (Environmentally Sensitive Areas) Notice 2005","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nEnvironmental Protection Act 1986\n\nEnvironmental Protection (Environmentally Sensitive Areas) Notice 2005\n\nWestern Australia\n\nEnvironmental Protection (Environmentally Sensitive Areas) Notice 2005\n\nContents\n\n1. Citation 1\n\n2. Commencement 1\n\n3. Terms used in this notice 1\n\n4. Declaration of environmentally sensitive areas 3\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 6\n\nDefined terms\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nEnvironmental Protection Act 1986\n\nEnvironmental Protection (Environmentally Sensitive Areas) Notice 2005\n\n##### 1. Citation\n\nThis notice is the *Environmental Protection (Environmentally Sensitive Areas) Notice 2005*.\n\n##### 2. Commencement\n\nThis notice comes into operation on the day on which it is published in the *Gazette*.\n\n##### 3. Terms used in this notice\n\nIn this notice —\n\ndefined wetland means —\n\n(a) a wetland included in the List of Wetlands of International Importance kept under the Ramsar Convention;\n\n(b) a nationally important wetland as defined in “A Directory of Important Wetlands in Australia” (2001), 3rd edition, published by the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra;\n\n(c) a wetland designated as a conservation category wetland in the geomorphic wetland maps held by, and available from, the Department;\n\n(d) a wetland mapped in Pen, L. “A Systematic Overview of Environmental Values of the Wetlands, Rivers and Estuaries of the Busselton-Walpole Region” (1997), published by the Water and Rivers Commission, Perth; and\n\n(e) a wetland mapped in V & C Semeniuk Research Group “Mapping and Classification of Wetlands from Augusta to Walpole in the South West of Western Australia” (1997), published by the Water and Rivers Commission, Perth;\n\necological community means a naturally occurring biological assemblage that occurs in a particular type of habitat;\n\nmaintenance area, of a stretch of road or railway, means any area in the reserve for that stretch of road or railway that is lawfully cleared;\n\nRamsar Convention means the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat done at Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971, as in force for Australia in accordance with the *Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999* of the Commonwealth, and set out in Australian Treaty Series 1975 No. 48;\n\nrare flora means flora that is declared to be rare flora under section 23F of the *Wildlife Conservation Act 1950*;\n\nthreatened ecological community means an ecological community that —\n\n(a) has been determined by the Minister to be a threatened ecological community; and\n\n(b) is referred to in the list of threatened ecological communities maintained by the chief executive officer of the department of the Public Service principally assisting in the administration of the *Conservation and Land Management Act 1984*.\n\n##### 4. Declaration of environmentally sensitive areas\n\n(1) Subject to this clause, the following areas are declared to be environmentally sensitive areas for the purposes of Part V Division 2 of the Act —\n\n(a) a declared World Heritage property as defined in section 13 of the *Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999* of the Commonwealth;\n\n(b) an area that is included on the Register of the National Estate, because of its natural heritage value, under the *Australian Heritage Council Act 2003* of the Commonwealth;\n\n(c) a defined wetland and the area within 50 m of the wetland;\n\n(d) the area covered by vegetation within 50 m of rare flora, to the extent to which the vegetation is continuous with the vegetation in which the rare flora is located;\n\n(e) the area covered by a threatened ecological community;\n\n(f) a Bush Forever site listed in “Bush Forever” Volumes 1 and 2 (2000), published by the Western Australia Planning Commission, except to the extent to which the site is approved to be developed by the Western Australia Planning Commission, as described in subclause (3);\n\n(g) the areas covered by the following policies —\n\n(i) the *Environmental Protection (Gnangara Mound Crown Land) Policy 1992*;\n\n(ii) the *Environmental Protection (Western Swamp Tortoise) Policy 2002*;\n\n(h) the areas covered by the lakes to which the *Environmental Protection (Swan Coastal Plain Lakes) Policy 1992* applies;\n\n(i) protected wetlands as defined in the *Environmental Protection (South West Agricultural Zone Wetlands) Policy 1998*;\n\n(j) areas of fringing native vegetation in the policy area as defined in the *Environmental Protection (Swan and Canning Rivers) Policy 1998*.\n\n(2) For the purposes of subclause (1)(d), an area of vegetation is continuous with another area of vegetation if any separation between the areas is less than 5 m at one or more points.\n\n(3) For the purposes of subclause (1)(f), an area of a Bush Forever site is approved to be developed by the Western Australia Planning Commission if —\n\n(a) the Commission has made a decision with respect to the area that, if implemented, would have the effect that development or other works can take place in the area;\n\n(b) that decision is not under assessment under Part IV of the *Environmental Protection Act 1986*; and\n\n(c) where an assessment under Part IV of the *Environmental Protection Act 1986* has been made — the decision may be implemented.\n\n(4) An area that would otherwise be an environmentally sensitive area because of this clause is not an environmentally sensitive area to the extent to which the area is within the maintenance area of a stretch of road or railway.\n\n(5) An area that would otherwise be an environmentally sensitive area because of this clause is not an environmentally sensitive area unless —\n\n(a) the determination of the flora, ecological community, site or area has been made public; or\n\n(b) in the case of an area referred to in subclause (1)(d) or (e) — the owner, occupier or person responsible for the care and maintenance of the land has been notified of the area.\n\n(6) In this clause, unless the contrary intention appears or the context otherwise requires, a reference to the determination of flora, an ecological community, a site or an area is a reference to the determination of the flora, ecological community, site or area as in force or effect immediately before the day on which this notice comes into operation.\n\n(7) In subclauses (5) and (6) —\n\ndetermination, in relation to flora, an ecological community, a site or an area, means the declaration, determination, designation, registration, listing, mapping or other description of the flora, ecological community, site or area;\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a compilation of the *Environmental Protection (Environmentally Sensitive Areas) Notice 2005.* The following table contains information about that notice.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Citation** | **Gazettal** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| *Environmental Protection (Environmentally Sensitive Areas) Notice 2005* | 8 Apr 2005 p. 1163‑6 | 8 Apr 2005 (see cl. 2) |\n\n\nDefined terms\n\n*[This is a list of terms defined and the provisions where they are defined. The list is not part of the law.]*\n\n**Defined term Provision(s)**\n\ndefined wetland 3\n\ndetermination 4(7)\n\necological community 3\n\nmaintenance area 3\n\nRamsar Convention 3\n\nrare flora 3\n\nthreatened ecological community 3\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative text was not available for review. No comparison between original intent and current form is possible from the retrieved content."},"complexity_factors":["No actual legislative text was retrievable — the page returned an error/redirect notice only","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without access to the substantive content","Score of 1 reflects the absence of analysable material, not simplicity of the underlying law"],"plain_english_summary":"This 2005 Western Australian notice, made under the Environmental Protection Act 1986, designates certain locations as environmentally sensitive. It matters to landowners, developers, businesses, local councils and regulators because it signals special environmental protections and influences planning and development approvals for wetlands, native bushland, coastal zones and other vulnerable ecosystems in WA."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The notice appears to maintain its original purpose of declaring specific environmentally sensitive areas under Part V Division 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986. The scope remains focused on identifying protected areas through reference to external lists and policies, without significant expansion beyond this core function."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple nested definitions: 'defined wetland' has 5 sub-categories referencing external documents (Ramsar Convention, academic publications, departmental maps)","Conditional exclusions in clause 4(4) and 4(5) create exceptions to the main declaration rule","Cross-references to 6 other pieces of legislation (Commonwealth and WA) and 4 external policy documents","Geographic specificity requiring reference to named publications and maps not contained in the instrument itself","Temporal limitation in clause 4(6) restricting determinations to those made before the notice commenced"],"plain_english_summary":"This Western Australian law identifies and maps out special natural areas that need extra protection from development and pollution. It creates a legal list of 'environmentally sensitive areas' including international wetlands, rare plant sites, threatened wildlife habitats, and specific protected zones around Perth and the South West.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Declares protected zones**: Identifies 10 categories of sensitive areas, including Ramsar wetlands (internationally recognised), rare flora locations, threatened ecological communities, and specific policy areas like the Gnangara Mound and Swan Coastal Plain lakes.\n- **Sets buffer zones**: Creates 50-metre protected buffers around wetlands and rare plants.\n- **Excludes certain areas**: Removes road and railway maintenance corridors from protection.\n- **Requires transparency**: Only protects areas where the landowner has been notified or the designation is publicly known.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- **Landowners and developers** in the Perth metropolitan area and South West who want to clear land or build.\n- **Farmers** in the South West Agricultural Zone.\n- **State agencies** like the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and the Planning Commission.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThese areas trigger stricter environmental assessment rules under the Environmental Protection Act. If your property falls within one of these zones, any development proposal faces higher scrutiny and may require formal environmental approval."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":6,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This notice designates particular sites and mapped features as environmentally sensitive for the purposes of Part V Division 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (cl.4). It does not itself amend the parent Act or purport to expand the Act’s statutory powers; rather it specifies which places fall within the Act’s existing Division 2 regime and sets procedural and carved‑out limits (see cl.4(1)–(5))."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive cross‑referencing to Commonwealth and state statutes, policies and an international treaty (cl.3; cl.4(1)(a),(b),(g)–(j)), which requires users to consult multiple instruments to determine coverage.","Reliance on external published lists, mapping products and determinations (defined wetland, cl.3; cl.4(6)–(7)) to fix boundaries and status, creating implementation dependence on third‑party datasets.","Conditional application rules: coverage only takes effect when determinations are public or landholders are notified (cl.4(5)), making the compliance trigger procedural.","Exclusions and carve‑outs that narrow scope in specific circumstances — maintenance areas for roads/railways (cl.4(4)) and WAPC‑approved Bush Forever development (cl.4(3)).","Administrative discretion: Ministerial determinations of threatened ecological communities and WAPC decisions affect whether areas are captured (cl.3, cl.4(3),(6)).","Technical boundary rules (vegetation continuity defined by a 5 m separation, cl.4(2)) that can create fine‑grained application questions on the ground.","Legal effect depends on interplay with Part V Division 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986; users must read both instruments together (cl.4 heading)."],"plain_english_summary":"This notice declares certain wetlands, listed natural sites and mapped ecological communities to be \"environmentally sensitive areas\" for the purposes of Part V Division 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (cl.4(1)). Once an area is publicly determined or landholders are notified (cl.4(5)), owners, occupiers and developers become subject to the Act’s regulatory controls; limited carve‑outs apply for road/rail maintenance areas (cl.4(4)) and Bush Forever areas approved for development by the WA Planning Commission (cl.4(3))."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005","history":"/api/acts/environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005/history","analysis":"/api/acts/environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/environmental-protection-environmentally-sensitive-areas-notice-2005/documents"}}