Section 391 — Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999: Minister must consider precautionary principle in making decisions

Taking account of precautionary principle (1) The Minister must take account of the precautionary principle in making a decision listed in the table in subsection (3), to the extent he or she can do so consistently with the other provisions of this Act. Precautionary principle (2) The precautionary principle is that lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing a measure to prevent degradation of the environment where there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage. Decisions in which precautionary principle must be considered (3) The decisions are: Decisions in which precautionary principle must be considered Item Section decision is made under Nature of decision 1 75 whether an action is a controlled action 2 133 whether or not to approve the taking of an action 3 201 whether or not to grant a permit 4 216 whether or not to grant a permit 5 238 whether or not to grant a permit 6 258 whether or not to grant a permit 6A 269AA whether or not to have a recovery plan for a listed threatened species or a listed threatened ecological community 7 269A about making a recovery plan or adopting a plan as a recovery plan 7A 270A whether or not to have a threat abatement plan for a key threatening process 7B 270B about making a threat abatement plan or adopting a plan as a threat abatement plan 8 280 about approving a variation of a plan adopted as a recovery plan or threat abatement plan 9 285 about making a wildlife conservation plan or adopting a plan as a wildlife conservation plan 10 295 about approving a variation of a plan adopted as a wildlife conservation plan 10A 303CG whether or not to grant a permit 10AA 303DC whether or not to amend the list of exempt native specimens 10B 303DG whether or not to grant a permit 10C 303EC about including an item in the list referred to in section 303EB 10D 303EN whether or not to grant a permit 10E 303FN about declaring an operation to be an approved wildlife trade operation 10F 303FO about declaring a plan to be an approved wildlife trade management plan 10G 303FP about declaring a plan to be an accredited wildlife trade management plan 10H 303GB whether or not to grant an exceptional circumstances permit 11 316 about making a plan for managing a property that is included in the World Heritage List and is entirely within one or more Commonwealth areas 11A 324S about making a plan for managing a National Heritage place 12 328 about making a plan for managing a wetland that is designated for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance kept under the Ramsar Convention and is entirely within one or more Commonwealth areas 13 338 about making a plan for managing a Biosphere reserve entirely within one or more Commonwealth areas 13A 341T about endorsing a plan for managing a Commonwealth Heritage place 14 370 about approving a management plan for a Commonwealth reserve