Environment Protection Authority v Rixa Quarries (No.2) Pty Ltd [2017] NSWLEC 48

Land and Environment Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: Environment Protection Authority v Rixa Quarries (No.2) Pty Ltd [2017] NSWLEC 48 Hearing dates: 1 May 2017 Date of orders: 01 May 2017 Decision date: 01 May 2017 Jurisdiction: Class 5 Before: Pain J Decision: See par 34 Catchwords: PROSECUTION – offence of carrying out a scheduled activity without an environment protection licence – processing of sand for sale in excess of 30,000 tonnes per year – ex parte hearing on assumption of plea of not guilty by absent defendant – all elements of offence proven by prosecutor Legislation Cited: Criminal Procedure Act 1986 s 250 Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 ss 48, 258, Sch 1, Dictionary Category: Principal judgment Parties: Environment Protection Authority (Prosecutor) Rixa Quarries (No.2) Pty Ltd (Defendant) Representation: COUNSEL: J Smith (Prosecutor) No appearance (Defendant)

SOLICITORS: Office of Environment and Heritage (Applicant) No appearance (Defendant) File Number(s): 16/297634

EX TEMPORE Judgment 1. Rixa Quarries (No. 2) Pty Ltd (Defendant) is charged with having committed an offence against s 48(2) of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act). It is alleged that from about 25 March 2013 until 10 October 2013, the Defendant was the occupier of premises at which a scheduled activity was carried out when it did not hold an environment protection licence (EPL) that authorised that activity to be carried on at the premises. 2. The Defendant has not appeared or been represented in court at any stage of these proceedings. The hearing was therefore conducted on the basis that the Defendant pleaded not guilty and the Prosecutor bore the onus of proving each element of the offence beyond reasonable doubt. I made an order under s 250(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 at the outset of the hearing that the matter ought proceed in the absence of the Defendant, being satisfied of adequate service of the initiating process and evidence and that more than adequate attempts to draw the Defendant's directors' attention to the hearing date today had been made. 3. The premises in question are located at Doonbah Quarry, being Lot 2 DP 1040274, 499 Woodburn Evans Head Road, Doonbah, New South Wales (the Premises). The scheduled activity alleged to have been carried on is land-based extractive activity involving the processing of more than 30,000 tonnes per annum of extractive materials (sand), either for sale or re-use, by means of screening and drying.