Pathways for clearance approval
The Native Vegetation Regulations 2017 outline four pathways for clearance for a range of activities as listed below.
1. Permitted clearance without conditions, where you self-assess to ensure your proposal fits within this pathway and Native Vegetation Council (NVC) approval is not required.
- Around an existing building or dwelling
- Collect firewood for personal use
- Cultural activities
- Dam: repair or maintain existing
- Electricity Act or Emergency Management Act
- Fences
- Grazing: ongoing practices
- Infrastructure: maintenance
- Landscape management problems or plant and animal control
- Regrowth management
- Safety of persons or property
- Seed or specimen collection
- Tracks for walking or vehicles.
2. Fire hazard reduction, where Country Fire Service (CFS) approval is required.
3. Vegetation management, where a Management Plan must be prepared and approved by the NVC before clearing may occur. This applies to clearing:
- Ecological restoration
- Grazing: changed practices
- Maintain existing agriculture, forestry or farming
- Roadside, rail corridor or railway crossing.
4. Risk assessment, where the level of threat to biodiversity is high or unknown, a risk assessment is required. You will also be required to provide a Significant Environmental Benefit (SEB) offset. This applies to clearing:
- Commercial vehicle access track exceeding 5 metres
- Dam: create new or expand existing dam
- Highways
- Infrastructure: construction or expansion
- New dwelling or building
- Residential subdivision
- Tracks for recreation.
To see how the pathways for clearance work, check out the Clearance and Significant Environmental Benefit Process Chart.
