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Environment Protection Act 1997
76Authority may require environmental audit
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76 Authority may require environmental audit
(1) The authority may by written notice require a person conducting, or
proposing to conduct, an activity to commission an environmental
audit of the activity and submit a report on the audit to the authority,
if the authority has reasonable grounds for believing that—
(a) in conducting the activity, the person—
(i) has contravened, is contravening or is likely to contravene
an environmental authorisation, an environment protection
order or a provision of this Act; or
(ii) has breached, is breaching or is likely to breach an
environmental protection agreement; and
(b) if the person were to conduct the proposed activity, the person
may contravene an environmental authorisation, an environment
protection order or a provision of this Act, or may breach an
environmental protection agreement; and
(c) as a result, serious or material environmental harm has
happened, is happening or may happen.
(2) The authority may, by written notice, require a person to commission
an environmental audit of contaminated land.
(3) An auditor must not carry out an audit for subsection (2) if the auditor
carried out an assessment or remediation of the land to which the audit
relates.
(4) A notice under subsection (1) or (2) must—
(a) specify the grounds on which the audit is required; and
(b) outline the facts and circumstances forming the basis for the
grounds; and
(c) specify any particular matters that must be addressed in the
audit; and
(d) specify a date, not earlier than 20 working days after the date of
the notice, on or before which the person must submit the
auditor’s report to the authority; and
(e) specify—
(i) the fee that must be paid when the auditor’s report is
submitted; or
(5) A person must not fail to comply with a notice under subsection (1)
or (2).
(6) A reference in subsection (1) to conducting an activity includes a
reference to a variation or proposed variation of how the activity is
conducted.