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Environment Law
Thirty questions and answers on the Environment Act 2000 - the general environmental duty, when you need a permit, environmental impact assessment, rights over water, and what happens when the Director takes enforcement action.
The Environment Act 2000 is unusual among Papua New Guinean statutes in saying openly what it is for. It was passed to give effect to the Fourth National Goal of the Constitution — that the country's natural resources and environment be conserved and used for the collective benefit of us all, and replenished for the benefit of future generations. It imposes a duty on everyone, licenses the activities that matter, allocates rights in water, and gives the Director real powers of enforcement.
Jump to a subject
30 questions and answers, grouped by subject.
- What the Environment Act does — 6 questions
- Environment permits and impact assessment — 8 questions
- Water — 5 questions
- Enforcement, orders and offences — 6 questions
- Policies, management and other laws — 5 questions
What the Environment Act does
The objects, the matters of national importance, the general environmental duty, who administers the Act, and the three levels of environmental harm.
What Does the Environment Act 2000 Cover?
An overview of the Environment Act 2000 in Papua New Guinea: what it regulates, its eleven Parts, the Acts it repealed, and how it fits with mining, petroleum and forestry law.
Read the answer → No. 2What Is the General Environmental Duty?
Section 7 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: the general environmental duty, the five factors, why breach is not an offence, and the defences in section 7(4).
Read the answer → No. 3What Counts as “Environmental Harm”?
Environmental harm under the PNG Environment Act 2000: the definition, material and serious environmental harm, the monetary thresholds, and the offences in sections 11 and 12.
Read the answer → No. 4Who Administers the Environment Act?
Part III of the PNG Environment Act 2000: the Minister's powers, the Director of Environment, the Environment Council, the Environment Consultative Group and Provincial Environment Committees.
Read the answer → No. 5What Are the “Matters of National Importance”?
Sections 4, 5 and 6 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: the objects, the matters of national importance, the precautionary approach, and how the objects are to be achieved.
Read the answer → No. 6Must I Report Environmental Harm I Have Caused?
Sections 8, 9 and 10 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: the duty to notify unlawful environmental harm, the protection against self-incrimination, who is responsible for harm, and when harm is unlawful.
Read the answer →Environment permits and impact assessment
When a permit is needed, the levels of prescribed activity, environmental impact assessment, applications, conditions, and appeals.
When Do I Need an Environment Permit?
Sections 41 to 46 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: what counts as carrying out an activity, when a permit is required, existing and level 1 activities, notices to apply, and the restraint on other authorities.
Read the answer → No. 8What Are Level 1, 2 and 3 Activities?
The levels of prescribed activity under the PNG Environment Act 2000: how they are set, what each requires, existing activities, and how an activity moves up a level.
Read the answer → No. 9What Is Environmental Impact Assessment?
Division 3 of Part V of the PNG Environment Act 2000: registering preparatory work, the notice to undertake assessment, the seven stages, the inception report and the 60-day deemed approval.
Read the answer → No. 10What Happens to an Environmental Impact Statement?
Sections 54 to 59 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: assessment of an impact statement, public review and submissions, acceptance, referral to the Council, the fifteen criteria, and approval in principle.
Read the answer → No. 11How Do I Apply for an Environment Permit?
Sections 60 to 67 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: who applies, acceptance of applications, the procedural Regulations and Operational Procedures, the criteria for grant, and the fourteen matters the Director must weigh.
Read the answer → No. 12Can I Challenge an Environment Permit Decision?
Sections 68 and 69 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: who may apply for review, the 21-day limit, how the Council conducts the review, appeal to the National Court, and a stay of the decision.
Read the answer → No. 13How Are Environment Permits Renewed, Transferred and Amended?
Sections 70 and 71 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: renewal, transfer and surrender of permits, annual fees and returns, and the major or minor amendment decision.
Read the answer → No. 14When Can an Environment Permit Be Suspended or Cancelled?
Sections 72 and 73 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: the grounds for suspension or cancellation of an environment permit, the show-cause procedure, and the offences of operating without one or breaching conditions.
Read the answer →Water
Who owns the water, rights to take and use it, customary rights, compensation, investigations, and the protection of water resources.
Who Owns the Water in Papua New Guinea?
Sections 78 and 79 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: vesting of water rights in the State, the customary rights saving, the domestic use exclusion, and what a water permit authorises.
Read the answer → No. 16What Rights Do I Have to Take and Use Water?
Sections 80 and 81 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: the public right to take water, the rights of a riparian owner or occupier, permanent installations, the Director's quantity notice, and the offences.
Read the answer → No. 17What Compensation Is Payable Under the Environment Act?
Section 87 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: who is entitled to compensation, what it covers, agreement and determination by the Director, the 90-day timetable, security, and appeal to the National Court.
Read the answer → No. 18What Is a Water Investigation Permit?
Division 4 of Part VII of the PNG Environment Act 2000: official investigations, water investigation permits, the rights they confer, assignment, surrender, cancellation, and reports.
Read the answer → No. 19What Happens to Water Rights in a Drought?
Section 95 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: declaring drought conditions, notices to permit holders, the four-level order of priority, and the offence of contravening a drought notice.
Read the answer →Enforcement, orders and offences
Environment protection orders, clean-up orders, emergency directions, the offences, penalties, and the powers of authorised officers.
What Is an Environment Protection Order?
Sections 101 and 102 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: when an Environment Protection Order may be issued, what it must contain, the requirements it may impose, variation, and the penalty for non-compliance.
Read the answer → No. 21What Is a Clean-up Order?
Sections 103 to 105 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: when a Clean-up Order may be issued, what it must contain, powers of entry and seizure, the penalty, and recovery of clean-up costs.
Read the answer → No. 22What Is an Emergency Direction?
Sections 106 to 109 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: Emergency Directions, the 72-hour rule, notices requiring information, and the right of review of orders and notices.
Read the answer → No. 23What Are the Penalties for Polluting?
The offences and penalties under the PNG Environment Act 2000: the harm offences, permit offences, order offences, false information, the general penalty, continuing offences, and strict liability.
Read the answer → No. 24What Powers Do Environment Officers Have?
Sections 118 to 123 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: appointment of authorised officers and analysts, identity cards, powers of entry, sampling and seizure, and the offences of obstruction.
Read the answer → No. 25How Are Environment Prosecutions Brought?
Sections 124 to 130 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: which court hears what, service, liability of corporate officers, evidentiary certificates, forfeiture, damages and orders to restore the environment.
Read the answer →Policies, management and other laws
Environment policies, codes of practice, environmental management programmes, fees and bonds, and how the Act meets mining, petroleum and forestry law.
What Are Environment Policies and Codes of Practice?
Part IV of the PNG Environment Act 2000: how Environment Policies are made and what they contain, their effect on other authorities, amendment and variation, Codes of Practice, and Provincial Environment Policies.
Read the answer → No. 27What Are Environmental Audits and Improvement Plans?
Part VI of the PNG Environment Act 2000: environmental audits and investigations, environmental improvement plans, the 60-day deemed rejection, emergency authorisations, and data collection.
Read the answer → No. 28What Fees, Levies and Bonds Apply?
Part VIII of the PNG Environment Act 2000: charges for use of the environment, fees, the Environmental Protection Trust Fund, the Environmental Levy, and environmental bonds.
Read the answer → No. 29What Is on the Environment Register, and Can I See It?
Section 131 of the PNG Environment Act 2000: what the Register contains, the public right of inspection and copying, evidentiary value, the public interest withholding power, and the offence of misusing information.
Read the answer → No. 30How Does the Environment Act Fit With Mining, Petroleum and Forestry Law?
How the PNG Environment Act 2000 interacts with other resource legislation: section 3, the restraint in section 46, the binding effect of Environment Policies, the repealed Acts, and saved approvals.
Read the answer →Acts are amended, and figures and time limits change. Every article names the sections it relies on so you can read them. If a decision matters to you, get advice — start with the Office of the Public Solicitor, or find a firm in the law firms directory.