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NATIONAL INQUIRY
Recent prosecutions include: – – Environment Protection Authority v Dib Hanna Abdallah Hanna [2018] NSWLEC 80: Mr Dib Hanna was sentenced to three years in prison for unlawfully transporting and dumping asbestos contaminated building waste. He was also ordered to clean up the dumped waste, publish details of the offence, and pay the NSW EPA’s legal costs. Mr Hanna is the first person to be imprisoned under section 144AB(2) of the POEO Act which establishes that a person may be imprisoned if s/he commits a further waste offence within five years of a previous conviction. Over the past decade, Mr Hanna had previously been issued multiple penalty notices and convicted for multiple waste offences. – – Environment Protection Authority v Edward Gilder [2018] NSWLEC 119: The former site manager of Newcastle Waste Recycling Pty Ltd pleaded guilty to illegally stored waste without an environment protection licence. Mr Gilder was prosecuted under executive liability provisions which extend liability to managers for offences committed by the corporation under the POEO Act. Mr Gilder was fined AUD 37,500 and ordered to pay the prosecutor’s costs.
The 2018 Parliamentary Inquiry into the waste and recycling industry in Australia ( the Inquiry ) recommended that the Australian Government assist State and Territory governments to ensure landfill levies in proximate jurisdictions are such that there is no incentive to transport waste for levy avoidance purposes. The Inquiry also recommended the urgent implementation of the National Waste Policy. Government has introduced a waste levy that will apply to a defined ‘waste levy zone’ under the Waste Reduction and Recycling (Waste Levy) Amendment Act 2019 (QLD). The Waste Levy Act was assented on 21 February 2019. However, a uniform implementation across Australia of a National Waste Policy remains outstanding. Despite this, the NSW EPA remains an active regulator in ensuring waste operators are appropriately licensed and tackling illegal dumping. QUEENSLAND
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