Permit and licence conditions - Marine Parks

Permit and Licence Conditions - Marine Parks

Conditions are used to ensure that authorised activities occur in ways that are consistent with the values of the park and the management plan (if applicable).

Failing to comply with a permit condition is considered a breach of the trust placed in the permittee to operate in the park, and a serious offence against Regulation 17.08 of the EPBC Regulations.  In addition to the substantial pecuniary penalty that may be imposed by a Court, the Director may suspend or cancel the permit under Regulation 17.12.  Failure to comply with these conditions may also affect future permit applications.

Please note that certain activities may require additional permits/approvals from other agencies.

Australian Marine Park permit conditions

General Permit Conditions (all activities)

General conditions

1. The Permittee must not conduct the Permitted Activity before the commencement date or after the expiry date shown on the permit.
2. An electronic or hard copy of this permit and attached application (Schedule 1) must be kept on board each Nominated Vessel and must be produced for inspection on request by a Warden.
3. The Permittee must inform the Director of proposed changes to the Nominated Vessels at least 14 days before the proposed trip.
4. If a Permittee is a company or other incorporated body the Permittee must not, without the approval of the Director, have as a director or officer holder a person who has been convicted of an offence against the EPBC Act or the EPBC Regulations within the previous 10 years.
5. The Permittee must not, without the approval of the Director, use directly in the conduct of the Permitted Activity the services of any person who has been convicted of an offence against the EPBC Act or the EPBC Regulations within the previous 10 years.

Compliance and auditing

6. The Permittee must comply with the EPBC Act, the EPBC Regulations, the Management Plan, all permit conditions and any other notices or directions issued by the Director relating to the Permitted Activity or Marine Parks specified on this permit.
7. Unless specifically authorised by this or another permit, the Permittee must comply with all prohibitions and determinations made by the Director under the EPBC Regulations.
8. The Permittee must comply with all Commonwealth and State or Territory law relating to the Permitted Activity and hold all permits, licences and other relevant authorisations required by law for the conduct of the Permitted Activity.
9. The Permittee must ensure that all Participants are fully informed of and understand these permit conditions before they take part in the Permitted Activity.
10. The Permittee must take all reasonable steps to ensure all Participants comply with all permit conditions.
11. The Permittee must allow a Warden access to Nominated Vessels at any time for the purpose of performing the functions and powers of Wardens under the EPBC Act.
12. The Permittee must, and must take reasonable steps to ensure all Participants in the Permitted Activity, comply with all lawful directions issued by a Warden.
13. The Permittee must, at no cost to the Director but subject to availability and the provision of reasonable notice, allow a member of the Director’s staff to accompany a trip conducting the Permitted Activity for the purpose of evaluating compliance with these Permit conditions.

Training and qualifications

14. The Permittee must maintain relevant training, qualifications and experience to competently conduct the Permitted Activity.
15. The Permittee must ensure that all Participants are appropriately trained and/or accredited to competently conduct the Permitted Activity.

Safety

16. The Permittee must ensure that appropriate risk management systems, strategies and procedures are in place to minimise foreseeable risks to the Participants in the Permitted Activity and members of the public and must produce evidence of such systems, strategies and procedures on request of the Director.
17. The Permittee must ensure that they fully inform themselves of, and equip themselves for, all potential hazards and conditions they may encounter while conducting the Permitted Activity.
18. The Permittee acknowledges that the Director has no ability to monitor or warn the Permittee of changing environmental hazards or developing hazards within a Marine Park.
19. The Permittee must inform the Director of any potential safety hazard or risk encountered or discovered while in a Marine Park as soon as practicable.
20. If anyone taking part in the Permitted Activity is seriously injured, becomes seriously ill or goes missing while in a Marine Park, the Permittee must ensure: 
    
    1. notification to the relevant emergency response authority as soon as possible;
    2. compliance with any requests or directions from those authorities in relation to the safety of that person or any other person; and
    3. notification to the Director’s Marine Compliance Duty Officer as soon as practicable.

Note: The Director is not an emergency response agency and all relevant emergency response agencies should be contacted prior to informing the Director of any incident or safety hazard/risk.

Vessel operations

21. The Permittee must ensure, or satisfy themselves, that all Nominated Vessels are registered, are suitable for the conduct of the Permitted Activity, have appropriate safety equipment on board at all times, and are operated and maintained in accordance with all relevant and applicable Commonwealth, State and Territory laws.  The Permittee must, if requested by the Director, provide copies of all relevant certificates and other documents demonstrating compliance with this condition.
22. The Permittee must ensure that a person qualified to operate each Nominated Vessel remains on board at all times to monitor and assure secure anchorage.
23. The Permittee must:
    
    1. Use appropriate moorings if available; or
    2. (if moorings are not available) ensure that minimal damage is caused to the marine environment as a result of anchoring. Anchoring cannot occur on coral.
24. When using an existing Parks Australia mooring, the Permittee must:
    
    1. not exceed the weight capacity of the mooring.
    2. not tie to a vessel already using a mooring.
25. The Permittee must ensure that Nominated Vessels do not discharge any fuels or chemical wastes into a Marine Park.
26. The Permittee must not, and must take reasonable steps to ensure all Participants in the Permitted Activity do not, litter in a Marine Park. All refuse must be placed in containers on board Nominated Vessels which are designed to fully contain refuse material.
27. The Permittee must ensure that Nominated Vessels have been antifouled within the last two years and are generally free from fouling. Vessels cannot be cleaned of fouling inside a Marine Park.

Environment and heritage protection

28. Unless specifically authorised by this permit, the Permittee must not, and must take reasonable steps to ensure that all Participants in the Permitted Activity do not:
    
    1. behave contrary to any warning or regulatory signs displayed at boat ramps used by the Permittee to access a Marine Park or displayed on marker buoys within a Marine Park;
    2. collect, pick, interfere with, feed, handle or disturb any native flora or fauna, or handle or disturb the dwelling place of any native fauna;
    3. remove shells, coral, plants or animals from a Marine Park.
    4. touch, interfere with, or capture images or sound of, Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property without the consent of the owner; or
    5. impede public access to any part of a Marine Park.
29. The Permittee must take all reasonable steps to prevent the introduction of pests into a Marine Park or the transfer of pests between locations within a Marine Park. Reasonable steps can include, but are not limited to, scheduled inspection and cleaning of the vessel and any in-water equipment, and/or passenger briefings.
30. The Permittee must ensure that all gear, equipment, and other articles lost in a Marine Park that are likely to cause environmental harm, are reported to the Director’s Marine Compliance Duty Officer as soon as practicable, and within 10 days in any event, after the loss occurs. The report must include a description of what was lost, the location of loss/suspected loss and the date and time of loss.

Interpretation

In the permit and permit conditions:

Agreement means the agreement executed by the Permittee when applying for this permit.

Director means the Director of National Parks and the Director’s delegates, and includes any statutory successor to the Director.

EPBC Act means the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth).

EPBC Regulations means the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000 (Cth).

Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property means all aspects of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people’s cultural products, expressions knowledge and heritage, whether (a) intangible, such as songs, dances, stories, and ecological and cultural knowledge; or (b) tangible, such as human remains, artworks and artefacts.

Marine Park means the Australian Marine Parks under the EPBC Act for which this permit is issued.

Management Plan means the management plan or management plans made under the EPBC Act in operation from time to time for the Marine Parks specified by this permit.

Participants means the Permittee’s employees, contractors, other agents and other individuals who take part in the Permitted Activity.

Permittee means each person (individual, company or other legal entity) to whom this permit is issued.

Permitted Activity means the specified activity or activities for which this permit is issued.

Warden means a person appointed as a warden under s.392 of the EPBC Act.