ARTICLE · 04 JUNE 2024

Tougher penalties for environmental crime now in force in NSW

Stacks Law Firm

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Sweeping reforms are designed to improve the protection of human health, the environment and the community.

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The recent discovery of asbestos-contaminated mulch across Sydney has highlighted the fact that NSW's existing environmental laws do little to protect our surroundings from environmental crime and fail to deter would-be offenders and polluters.

New legislation increases penalties for environmental crime

Put simply, the existing penalties for committing an environmental crime in NSW were shamefully inadequate.

The latest tool to strengthen NSW's environmental protection laws is the introduction of the NSW Environment Protection Legislation Amendment (Stronger Regulation and Penalties) Act 2024 (EPLA Act), which increases existing penalties for those found guilty of environmental crime and pollution offences in the state and introduces a wide raft of other changes that now ensure NSW has the toughest anti-pollution laws anywhere in Australia.

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