43BActions which are lawful continuations of use of land etc.

43B  Actions which are lawful continuations of use of land etc.  (1) A person may take an action described in a provision of Part 3 without an approval under Part 9 for the purposes of the provision if the action is a lawful continuation of a use of land, sea or seabed that was occurring immediately before the commencement of this Act.  (2) However, subsection (1) does not apply to an action if:  (a) before the commencement of this Act, the action was authorised by a specific environmental authorisation; and  (b) at the time the action is taken, the specific environmental authorisation continues to be in force. Note: In that case, section 43A applies instead.  (2A) Subsection (1) also does not apply to an action if:  (a) the action consists of, or involves, clearing vegetation from land; and  (b) the land is within 50 metres of any of the following in a catchment area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park:  (i) a watercourse (within the meaning of the Water Act 2007);  (ii) a wetland;  (iii) a drainage line.  (2B) Subsection (1) also does not apply to an action if:  (a) the action consists of, or involves, clearing vegetation from land; and  (b) at the time the action is taken, the land has not been cleared of vegetation for a period of at least 15 years; and  (c) the action is not a forestry operation. Definitions and interpretation  (2C) In this section: catchment area of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park means the area falling within the boundary described in the dataset that:  (a) is titled Great Barrier Reef catchment and river basins; and  (b) has a dataset scale of 1:100,000; and  (c) specifies the boundaries of all river basins draining to the Great Barrier Reef; and  (d) is dated 5 May 2018; and  (e) is held by the government of Queensland. Note 1: An indicative map of this area is set out in Schedule 2. Note 2: The dataset could in 2025 be viewed on the Queensland Spatial Catalogue’s website (https://qldspatial.information.qld.gov.au/catalogue/). forestry operations means any of the following done for commercial purposes:  (a) the planting of trees;  (b) the managing of trees before they are harvested;  (c) the harvesting of forest products; and includes any related land clearing, land preparation and regeneration (including burning) and transport operations. For the purposes of paragraph (c), forest products means live or dead trees, ferns or shrubs, or parts thereof.  (3) For the purposes of this section, neither of the following is a continuation of a use of land, sea or seabed:  (a) an enlargement, expansion or intensification of use;  (i) any change in the location of where the use of the land, sea or seabed is occurring; or  (ii) any change in the nature of the activities comprising the use;   that results in a substantial increase in the impact of the use on the land, sea or seabed. Chapter 3—Bilateral agreements Part 5—Bilateral agreements Division 1—Object of Part 44  Object of this Part   The object of this Part is to provide for agreements between the Commonwealth and a State or self‑governing Territory that:  (a) protect the environment; and  (b) promote the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources; and  (c) ensure an efficient, timely and effective process for environmental assessment and approval of actions; and  (d) minimise duplication in the environmental assessment and approval process through Commonwealth accreditation of the processes of the State or Territory (and vice versa). Division 2—Making bilateral agreements Subdivision A—Power to make bilateral agreements