Part 1

Part 1—Preliminary

1  Name

  This instrument is the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Savanna Fire Management—Sequestration and Emissions Avoidance) Methodology Determination 2026.

2  Commencement

1.     Each provision of this instrument specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

 

• Commencement information
• Column 1 Column 2 Column 3
• Provisions Commencement Date/Details
• 1. The whole of this instrument The day after this instrument is registered.

Note:  This table relates only to the provisions of this instrument as originally made. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this instrument.

1.     Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this instrument. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this instrument.

3  Authority

  This instrument is made under subsections 106(1) and 123(1) of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011.

4  Schedules

  Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or revoked as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.

5  Duration

   This instrument remains in force for the period that:

1.     begins when this instrument commences; and
2.     ends on the day before this instrument would otherwise be repealed under subsection 50(1) of the Legislation Act 2003.

6  Definitions

Note: A number of expressions used in this instrument are defined in section 5 of the Act, including the following:

1.      25‑year permanence period project;
2.      100‑year permanence period project;
3.      Australian carbon credit unit;
4.      crediting period;
5.      eligible carbon abatement;
6.       eligible offsets project;
7.      emission;
8.      Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee;
9.        greenhouse gas;
10.        offsets project;
11.      offsets report;
12.        project;
13.    project area;
14.      project proponent;
15.      Regulator;
16.      reporting period.

  In this instrument:

Act means the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011.

baseline period—see section 8.

capacity building fire management, in relation to a savanna sequestration project, means planned and intended early dry season burning that is conducted:

1.     in the period immediately preceding the declaration of the project as an eligible offsets project; and
2.     to enable land managers to develop knowledge, skills and processes relevant to early dry season fire management; and

CFI Rules means the legislative rules made under section 308 of the Act and in force.

CO2-e means carbon dioxide equivalent.

early dry season—see section 7.

fire season—see section 7.

former determination, for a transferring project area—see subsection 27(2).

former project—see section 27.

high rainfall zone means the area of land identified as such on the Savanna Fire Management High Rainfall Zone spatial data layer.

late dry season—see section 7.

low rainfall zone means the area of land identified as such on the Savanna Fire Management Low Rainfall Zone spatial data layer.

mapping unit, in relation to a map that represents a particular area of land that is divided into 2 or more discrete parts, refers to each part that represents a different portion of that area of land.

Note:  An example of a mapping unit is a pixel on a map that is in raster format.

net abatement amount, for a savanna sequestration project, means the carbon dioxide equivalent net abatement amount for the project in relation to a reporting period for the project for the purposes of paragraph 106(1)(c) of the Act.

original project area—see section 9.

permanence obligation period, in relation to a savanna sequestration 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.

project area rainfall part, of a project area, means either that part entirely within the high rainfall zone or that part entirely within the low rainfall zone.

Note:  If a project area is entirely within a single rainfall zone, it has a single project area rainfall part. If a project area spans both rainfall zones, it has two project area rainfall parts.

project management plan—see section 19.

relevant weed species means a weed species that materially affects fire dynamics and is identified in the Technical Guidance Document for the 2026 Savanna Fire Management Methods as a relevant weed species.

restarting transferring project—see subsection 27(3).

savanna means land that is characterised by a tropical or sub-tropical vegetation formation with continuous grass cover occasionally interrupted by trees and shrubs.

savanna emissions avoidance determination means any of the following:

1.      the Carbon Farming (Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Early Dry Season Savanna Burning) Methodology Determination 2012;
2.     the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) (Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Early Dry Season Savanna Burning—1.1) Methodology Determination 2013;
3.     the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Emissions Abatement through Savanna Fire Management) Methodology Determination 2015;
4.     the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Savanna Fire Management—Emissions Avoidance) Methodology Determination 2018;
5.     the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Savanna Fire Management—Emissions Avoidance) Methodology Determination 2026.

savanna fire management determination means any of the following:

1.     the Carbon Farming (Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Early Dry Season Savanna Burning) Methodology Determination 2012;
2.     the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) (Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Early Dry Season Savanna Burning—1.1) Methodology Determination 2013;
3.     the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Emissions Abatement through Savanna Fire Management) Methodology Determination 2015;
4.     the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Savanna Fire Management—Emissions Avoidance) Methodology Determination 2018;
5.     the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Savanna Fire Management—Sequestration and Emissions Avoidance) Methodology Determination 2018;
6.      the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative—Savanna Fire Management—Emissions Avoidance) Methodology Determination 2026.

  Savanna Fire Management High Rainfall Zone spatial data layer, in relation to a project for a reporting period, means the document of that name that is published on the Department’s website, as in effect at the end of the reporting period.

Savanna Fire Management Low Rainfall Zone spatial data layer, in relation to a project for a reporting period, means the document of that name that is published on the Department’s website, as in effect at the end of the reporting period.

Technical Guidance Document for the 2026 Savanna Fire Management Methods means the document of that name, as published on the Department’s website and as in force from time to time.

savanna sequestration project—see section 12.

SavCAM means:

1.     the version of the Savanna Carbon Accounting Model, as published on the Department’s website, that applies in relation to a savanna sequestration project in accordance with the Technical Guidance Document for the 2026 Savanna Fire Management Methods; or
2.     if the Technical Guidance Document for the 2026 Savanna Fire Management Methods:
3.             does not indicate which version applies in relation to a savanna sequestration project; or
4.             indicates a version which applies in relation to a savanna sequestration project and that version is no longer accessible;

the Savanna Carbon Accounting Model, as published on the Department’s website and as in force from time to time.

section 128 application, in relation to an eligible offsets project, means an application under section 128 of the Act to apply this instrument to the project.

section 22 application, in relation to an 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 to vary a section 27 declaration made under the CFI Rules for the purposes of section 29 of the Act.

subdivided project area—see section 9.

transferring project area—see section 27.

vegetation fuel type means a type of vegetation that is characterised in terms of the structural formation (canopy height and foliage projected cover) of its dominant stratum and its grass type, and that is identified as a vegetation fuel type for a particular rainfall zone in the Technical Guidance Document for the 2026 Savanna Fire Management Methods.

vegetation fuel type map means a map of one or more project areas that:

1.     is a geospatial map that is divided into mapping units; and

2.     has assigned to each mapping unit a code that indicates, for the area of land represented by the mapping unit:

3.                   the appropriate vegetation fuel type; or

4.                the fact that the area of land is ineligible; and

5.     has been created and validated in accordance with this instrument.

weed-affected area—see section 16.

7  Meaning of fire season, early dry season and late dry season

1.     In this instrument, the fire seasons are the early dry season and the late dry season.

Note: Each year in northern Australia, there is also a wet season, which occurs approximately from November to April. For the purposes of this instrument, the definitions of the early and late dry seasons overlap with the wet season, as fire generally does not occur during the wet season.

1.     In this instrument:

early dry season, for a particular area of land and for a particular calendar year, means the period of the calendar year that is not the late dry season for that area.

late dry season, for a particular area of land and for a particular calendar year, means the period that:

1.     begins on the date of that year indicated for that area in the Savanna Fire Management LDS Start Date spatial data layer; and
2.     ends on the date for that year (which may be in that year or in the following year) indicated for that area of land in the Savanna Fire Management LDS End Date spatial data layer.

Savanna Fire Management LDS End Date spatial data layer, in relation to a calendar year, means the document of that name, as published on the Department’s website and in force on 30 June in the previous calendar year.

Savanna Fire Management LDS Start Date spatial data layer, in relation to a calendar year, means the document of that name, as published on the Department’s website and in force on 30 June in the previous calendar year.

8  Meaning of baseline period

1.     For the purposes of this instrument, the baseline period for a particular area of land that is not an area referred to in subsections (2), (3) or (4) is the period of 20 calendar years that ends immediately before:

 (a) for an area of land that is part of a project area that was identified in the section 27 declaration when the project was declared an eligible offsets project—the calendar year in which the crediting period for the project begins; and

 (b) for an area of land that is part of a project area that was identified in the section 27 declaration at a later date—the calendar year in which the relevant variation of the section 27 declaration took effect.

 (2) The baseline period for an area of land in a subdivided project area is the same as the baseline period of the area of land in the original project area.

 (3) The baseline period for an area of land in a transferring project area is the same as the baseline period for that area under the former determination for that area.

 (4) If capacity building fire management has been conducted within an area of land and that area is not a transferring project area, the baseline period for the project area that contains that area of land is the period of 20 calendar years that ends immediately before:

(a)  if the time period between the start date and end date of the capacity building fire management is 6 calendar years or fewer—the calendar year in which the capacity building fire management began, or

(b)  if the time period between the start date and end date of the capacity building fire management is more than 6 calendar years— the calendar year that is 6 years before the end date of the capacity building fire management.

9  Meaning of original project area and subdivided project area

For the purposes of this instrument, if:

1.     a project area (the original project area) is divided into 2 or more smaller project areas; and
2.     the area made up of the areas of land covered by those smaller project areas, when taken together, is identical to the area of land covered by the original project area;

each smaller project area is a subdivided project area.

Note: To effect the subdivision, the project proponent must make a section 29 application in respect of the project area in accordance with the CFI Rules.

10  Updates to external documents as in force from time to time

1.     If this instrument makes provision in relation to a matter by applying, adopting or incorporating a matter contained in another instrument or writing as in force from time to time, an updated version of that instrument or writing is only taken to be in force if, when published, it includes or is accompanied by:

2.     a document stating the reasons why the document was republished in an updated form and an outline of the process that was undertaken when updating the document; and

3.     if advice was obtained from the Emissions Reduction Assurance Committee in relation to the update—a copy of the advice.

4.     If an updated version of an instrument or writing is published but does not satisfy the requirements in subsection (1), the earlier version of that instrument or writing is taken to continue in force.

11  Factors and parameters from external sources

 (1) If a calculation in this instrument includes a factor or parameter that is defined or calculated by reference to another instrument or writing, the factor or parameter to be used for a reporting period is the factor or parameter referred to in, or calculated by reference to, the instrument or writing as in force at the end of the reporting period.

 (2) Subsection (1) does not apply if:

1.     this instrument specifies otherwise; or
2.     it is not possible to define or calculate the factor or parameter by reference to the instrument or writing as in force at the end of the reporting period.