Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999 (NSW)

Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999 No 97

An Act to facilitate the reafforestation of land and the establishment of timber and other forest plantations; to repeal the Timber Plantations (Harvest Guarantee) Act 1995; to amend certain other Acts; and for other purposes.

Part 1 Preliminary

1 Name of Act This Act is the Plantations and Reafforestation Act 1999.

2 Commencement This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

3 Objects of Act The objects of this Act are— (a) to facilitate the reafforestation of land, and (b) to promote and facilitate development for timber plantations on essentially cleared land, and (c) to codify best practice environmental standards, and provide a streamlined and integrated scheme, for the establishment, management and harvesting of timber and other forest plantations, and (d) to make provision relating to regional transport infrastructure expenditure in connection with timber plantations, consistently with the principles of ecologically sustainable development (as described in section 6 (2) of the Protection of the Environment Administration Act 1991).

4 Definitions (1) In this Act— authorised officer means a person appointed under section 61. authorised plantation means a plantation or proposed plantation authorised for the time being under this Act. authorised timber plantation means an authorised plantation that is authorised under this Act as a timber plantation. Code means the Plantations and Reafforestation Code made under Part 3 and in force for the time being. complying plantation—see section 13. Crown-timber lands has the same meaning as in the Forestry Act 2012. Department means the Department of Regional NSW. establishment operations means (subject to subsection (2)) activities carried out for the purpose of establishing a plantation, for example, the clearing of land, the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers and the provision of access roads in establishing a plantation, and the planting of trees or shrubs. exempt farm forestry—see section 6. harvesting operations means (subject to subsection (2)) the cutting and removal of timber from a plantation for the purpose of timber production, including the provision of access roads after establishment of a plantation to enable or assist the cutting and removal of timber or the carrying out of such other activities as are necessary for the efficient cutting and removal of timber. management operations means (subject to subsection (2)) the carrying out of activities relating to the on-going management of a plantation (for example, silvicultural thinning, weed control, grazing, the maintenance of access roads and similar maintenance operations). Management operations includes any harvesting of timber that does not exceed the maximum amount of harvesting permitted by the Code for management operations. manager of a plantation or proposed plantation means the person in charge of plantation operations on the plantation or proposed plantation. owner of a plantation or proposed plantation includes— (a) an owner or lessee of the land comprising the plantation or proposed plantation, or (b) in the case of a plantation or proposed plantation that is a State forest or other Crown-timber lands under the management of the Forestry Corporation—the Forestry Corporation, or (c) a person who has a forestry right (within the meaning of section 87A of the Conveyancing Act 1919) in relation to the plantation or proposed plantation. plantation—see section 5. plantation operations means any or all of the following— (a) establishment operations, (b) management operations, (c) harvesting operations. planted means planted in the ground, and does not include planted in a pot or other container. Secretary means the Secretary of the Department. tree includes a sapling, but does not include a shrub. unique or special wildlife values—see section 32. (2) For the purposes of this Act— (a) the Code may declare that particular operations relating to plantations are or are not establishment, management or harvesting operations, and (b) except as provided by paragraph (a)—plantation operations do not include the demolition or erection of buildings (within the meaning of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979), or the building of dams, weirs or reservoirs. (3) In this Act, a reference (however expressed) to the planting or harvesting of trees or shrubs for the purpose of timber production includes a reference to the planting or harvesting of trees or shrubs for use in energy production.