Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Measurement of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Systems) Methodology Determination 2018
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Turn the raw legal text into a practical explanation grounded in Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Measurement of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Systems) Methodology Determination 2018.
Act means the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011.
bare fallow, in relation to land, means land that is not seeded and has less than 40% ground cover for 3 months or longer.
baseline period means the 10 years immediately before the section 22 application or section 29 application relating to the project area.
biochar means organic material (other than tyres, rubber products or human effluent) that has undergone a pyrolysis process.
CEA—see section 17.
CFI Rule means the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Rule 2015.
clearing means the conversion of forest land to non-forest land through the destruction of trees or saplings by intentional burning, mechanical or chemical means.
CO2-e means carbon dioxide equivalent.
designated waste-stream means an organic waste-stream from one of the following:
(a) intensive animal production;
(b) food processing;
(c) manufacturing;
(d) sawmill residue;
(e) municipal or commercial waste collection processes (other than processes involving human effluent).
de-stocking: an area of land under pasture is considered destocked if land which is permanent pasture, or pasture for the period of at least 2 years, is never grazed, nor intended to be grazed, by production livestock.
eligible land—see subsection 9(1).
eligible management activity—see subsection 7(2).
emissions accounting area—see section 17.
exclusion area—see section 17.
fertiliser means any synthetic or non-synthetic substance that supplies key chemical elements to plants and soils to enhance plant growth and the fertility of soils.
forest land means land with a tree height of at least 2 metres, and crown canopy cover of 20% or more and covering at least 0.2 of a hectare.
gypsum means a product which is mainly composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate (CaSO4·2H2O) and is used to manage soil sodicity or magnesic properties, or improve the structure of sodic clay soils.
hypersulfidic material has the meaning given by the Australian Soil Classification (Second Edition) published by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in 2016.
ineligible non-synthetic fertiliser: a non-synthetic fertiliser is ineligible if it includes organic matter that does not satisfy one of the following:
(a) the organic matter previously formed part of a designated waste stream;
(b) the organic matter is sourced from within a CEA that is part of the project.
irrigation efficiency savings means improvements to the efficiency of irrigated water that:
(a) results from improving the efficiency of one or both of the following:
(i) on-farm irrigation infrastructure;
(ii) management practices; and
(b) are not achieved by new or upgraded on-farm irrigation infrastructure funded by a Commonwealth, State or Territory program.
land management strategy—see subsection 13(1).
lime means a product which is mainly comprised of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) or calcium magnesium carbonate (CaMg(CO3)2), or both, and which is used to manage acidity in agricultural soils.
Note: Calcium magnesium carbonate is commonly known as dolomite.
maintain: maintaining a land management activity at a point in time includes the circumstance where a completed activity has a continuing impact on the storage of additional soil organic carbon in the land at that point in time.
material deficiency means a concentration or availability of one or more nutrients in the soil, where the concentration or availability limits plant growth to materially less than could otherwise have been achieved in that location.
National Inventory Report means the report of that name produced by Australia in fulfilment of its obligations under the Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, as in force from time to time.
net abatement amount, for an eligible offsets project in relation to a reporting period, means the carbon dioxide equivalent net abatement amount for the project in relation to the reporting period for the purposes of paragraph 106(1)(c) of the Act (see also section 25).
new irrigation means applying new or additional irrigation to land which involves obtaining water from irrigation efficiency savings made after the declaration of the project, which may occur inside or outside of the CEA on which the new or additional irrigation is carried out.
NGER Act means the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007.
NGER Measurement Determination means the applicable determination made under subsection 10(3) of the NGER Act.
NGER Regulations means the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Regulations 2008.
non-synthetic fertiliser means any biologically-derived solid or liquid substance that:
(a) where relevant—must be applied to the surface of, or incorporated into, agricultural soils in accordance with the laws and regulations of the relevant State, Territory or local government; and
(b) is used to do one or both of the following:
(i) supply nutrients to plants and soils;
(ii) enhance plant growth and soil fertility; and
(c) does not include:
(i) non‑biodegradable substances, such as plastics, rubber or coatings; or
(ii) ineligible non-synthetic fertiliser; or
(iii) biochar.
nutrient includes trace minerals, macro-nutrients (such as Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium and Sulphur) and micro-nutrients.
pasture means land that is continuously under any combination of perennial grasses, annual grasses, or legumes, and on which production livestock is raised.
permanence obligation period, in relation to a soil carbon project, means the period from the declaration of the project until the last day the Regulator could issue a notice to relinquish Australian carbon credit units under Division 3 of Part 7 of the Act.
production livestock means livestock managed for production purposes and from which commercial products or services are derived.
responsible environmental protection agency, for a State or Territory, means:
(a) if a government agency responsible for environmental protection in the State or Territory notifies the Regulator, in writing, that it is the only responsible soil agency for the State or Territory for the purposes of this definition—that agency; or
(b) if paragraph (a) does not apply—a government agency responsible for environmental protection in the State or Territory.
section 22 application in relation to an eligible offsets project means the application under section 22 of the Act for the declaration of the project as an eligible offsets project.
section 27 declaration in relation to an eligible offsets project means the declaration under section 27 of the Act that the project is an eligible offsets project.
section 29 application means an application made under regulations or legislative rules made for the purposes of section 29 of the Act to vary a section 27 declaration.
section 128 application in relation to an eligible offsets project means a request under subsection 128(1) of the Act to approve the application of this methodology determination to the project with effect from the start of a reporting period.
soil amendment means a substance to improve the health or quality of soil, such as fertiliser, recycled organic materials, lime or gypsum.
soil organic carbon means the carbon contained within soil organic matter, other than mineralised carbon.
stubble means the residue remaining after crops have been harvested.
Supplement means the document entitled ‘The Supplement—for Measurement of Soil Carbon Sequestration in Agricultural Systems’, published by the Department and as in force from time to time.
synthetic fertiliser means any synthetic substance that:
(a) is used to supply nutrients to plants and soils to enhance plant growth and the fertility of soils; and
(b) where relevant—must be applied to the surface of, or incorporated into, agricultural soils in accordance with the laws of the relevant State, Territory or local government; and
(c) does not include biochar.
thinning, in relation to land within a CEA, means the selective removal of trees or saplings from productive agricultural land, where the removal does not reduce the total amount of woody vegetation in that CEA to less than the lowest amount present in that CEA during the baseline period.
tillage means any form of mechanical preparation of the soil.
wetland includes lakes, rivers, natural wetlands, and human-made dams.
Note: Other words and expressions used in this determination have the meaning given by the Act. These terms include: