16

16  Requirement to manage relevant weed species

1.     A project area for a savanna sequestration project must be clear of all relevant weed species on the relevant date.
2.     If, after the relevant date, the project proponent becomes aware that the project area includes an area of land that contains a relevant weed species (a weed-affected area), the weed-affected area must be treated appropriately during the period that starts no later than 18 months after the area becomes a weed-affected area and ends when the relevant weed species has been eradicated from that area.
3.     If a weed-affected area is removed from the project in accordance with the CFI Rules, that area is taken to have not included a weed-affected area before its removal for that purpose.

Note: The weed-affected area may be removed from the project in accordance with the CFI Rules. To effect the removal, the project proponent must make a section 29 application in respect of the project area in accordance with the CFI Rules. To remove part of a project area from the project, the project area must first be subdivided so that the area to be removed now constitutes the whole of a (smaller) project area.

1.   For the purposes of subsection (1), a project area is taken to be clear of all relevant weed species at the relevant date if there is evidence that demonstrates all known weed-affected areas in that project area were treated appropriately within the 12-month period preceding that date.

2.     A weed-affected area is treated appropriately if:

3.     the relevant weed species in that area is treated with a herbicide to kill the entirety of its aboveground biomass, or is subjected to mechanical removal to destroy the entirety of its aboveground biomass; and

4.     that treatment or removal is carried out in accordance with any relevant law of the Commonwealth, a State or a Territory; and

5.     that treatment occurs at least once every 12 months (unless such treatment is not possible due to circumstances beyond the project proponent’s reasonable control).

6.     A relevant weed species is taken to have been eradicated from a weed-affected area when it has not been detected in that area for at least 24 months or, if another period of time is specified in the Technical Guidance Document for the 2026 Savanna Fire Management Methods for a particular relevant weed species, for at least that period of time.

7.       In this section:

relevant date means the date of the section 22 application, section 29 application or section 128 application in relation to the project in which the project area is first identified.