Division 1 Proceedings for offences generally
214 Proceedings for tier 1 offences
(1) Proceedings for an offence arising under Part 5.2 may be dealt with:(a) summarily before the Land and Environment Court in its summary jurisdiction, or(b) on indictment before the Supreme Court.(2) If any such proceedings are brought in the Land and Environment Court, the maximum period of imprisonment that the Court may impose for the offence is 2 years, despite any other provision of this Act.
215 Proceedings for other offences
(1) Proceedings for an offence arising under this Act or the regulations (other than under Part 5.2) may be dealt with:(a) summarily before the Local Court, or(b) summarily before the Land and Environment Court in its summary jurisdiction.(2) If any such proceedings are brought in the Local Court, the maximum monetary penalty that the Court may impose for the offence is 200 penalty units, despite any other provision of this Act.
216 Time within which summary proceedings may be commenced
(1) Proceedings for an offence under this Act or the regulations may be commenced:(a) in the case of a prescribed offence—within but not later than 3 years after the date on which the offence is alleged to have been committed, or(b) in any other case—within but not later than 12 months after that date.(2) Proceedings for an offence under this Act or the regulations may also be commenced:(a) in the case of a prescribed offence—within but not later than 3 years after the date on which evidence of the alleged offence first came to the attention of any relevant authorised officer, or(b) in any other case—within but not later than 12 months after that date.(3) If subsection (2) is relied on for the purpose of commencing proceedings for an offence, the court attendance notice or application must contain particulars of the date on which evidence of the offence first came to the attention of any relevant authorised officer and need not contain particulars of the date on which the offence was committed. The date on which evidence first came to the attention of any relevant authorised officer is the date specified in the court attendance notice or application, unless the contrary is established.(4) This section applies only to proceedings that are to be dealt with summarily.(5) This section applies despite anything in the Criminal Procedure Act 1986 or any other Act.(6) In this section:authorised officer means any person who is an authorised officer for the purposes of this Act, whether or not the person has the functions of an authorised officer in connection with the offence concerned.
evidence of an offence means evidence of any act or omission constituting the offence.
prescribed offence means:
(a) an offence arising under Part 5.2, or(b) an offence arising under Part 3.2, or(c) an offence arising under section 143 (Unlawful transporting of waste) or 144 (Permitting land to be used unlawfully as waste facility), or(c1) an offence under section 142A (Pollution of land) or 144AA (False or misleading information about waste), or(c2) an offence arising under the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act 1985 to which this Chapter extends by virtue of section 213, or(d) an offence against this Act that is declared by the regulations to be a prescribed offence for the purposes of this section.relevant authorised officer means:
(a) in relation to proceedings for an offence instituted by or with the consent of the EPA or a member of the staff of the EPA—any authorised officer who is a member of the staff of the EPA, or(b) in relation to proceedings for an offence instituted by or with the consent of a local authority or an officer or employee of such an authority—any authorised officer who is an officer or employee of that authority, or(c) in relation to proceedings for an offence instituted by any other person—any authorised officer.