Stoney Creek RFB - Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code FAQ

Stoney Creek

Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade

Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code FAQ

The following FAQ was developed by the RFS:

1. Will the Code affect you? Do you need a Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificate?

The Code only applies to bushfire prone land as defined in Bush Fire Prone Area maps prepared by your local Council. Ask your council or local RFS fire control centre if your property is on bushfire prone land. The RFS can tell you if your property requires an environmental assessment as well as offer advice on doing hazard reductions, and getting fire permits. In some cases a certificate cannot be issued:

If the land is excluded from the Code. Significant environmental areas such as wetlands and rainforests are not covered by the Code. Because of their sensitivity a full environmental assessment is required. In most cases this will not affect private property.
If the Code does not apply to the land. If the land is not declared bushfire prone or there are no identified existing assets to be protected an alternative approval process is required. Contact council for advice.
The work is not covered by the Code. If the works are not specifically for hazard reduction, already have existing approvals (e.g. lawn mowing) or do not require environmental approval (agricultural activities) a certificate will not be issued.

2. What is the Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code?

The RFS has cut through the red tape involved in doing bushfire hazard reduction by producing the Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code. A range of environmental legislation already regulates how to conduct hazard reduction clearing and burning without damaging the environment. The Code simply streamlines these regulations for land in bushfire prone areas. This makes it easier to plan hazard reduction work to protect homes and assets in bushfire prone areas. Across most of NSW, the RFS now provides free environmental assessment services for bushfire prone private properties requiring hazard reduction. Private landholders simply apply for a Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificate at their local RFS fire control centre. (In some areas, councils provide this service, but not in our local area.)

3. What does the Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code do?

The Code helps protect life, property and the environment by making it easier to do the environmental assessment needed for hazard reduction work, and therefore easier to decrease bushfire fuels. Hazard reduction clearing and burning help decrease bushfire fuels, but they can also cause soil erosion, water pollution, and damage to habitats and threatened species. The Code streamlines the various regulations that prevent this damage occurring. The Code is a step-by-step assessment process used by the RFS, council and land management agency staff. RFS and council staff use the Code to do environmental assessment for private or council land. Land management agencies, such as National Parks, State Forests and local government, can use the Code to assess their own hazard reduction activities.

4. Why did NSW need the Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code?

Inquiries into bushfires found that some hazard reduction work was stifled by the red tape involved in gaining environmental approvals. The process could involve up to 22 pieces of legislation and approval from many different agencies, along with site inspections, assessments and consents. Private landholders had to do all this work on their own. It was costly, time-consuming and private landholders sometimes gave up. Sometimes this prevented hazard reduction work being done in bushfire prone areas. Often the work was done illegally, increasing the chance of environmental damage and making landholders liable to prosecution. Because all these regulations are now part of a Code used by trained staff, the process is simplified, making it easier to organise hazard reduction work.

5. How does the Code help hazard reduction on bushfire prone private land?

The RFS does the environmental assessment work for private property, for free. Private land owners or occupiers simply apply for a Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificate through either the RFS fire control centre. In most cases, the certificate should be issued in seven days, unless further information or negotiation is needed. Without the Code, this process sometimes took months to complete

6. How do private landowners apply for a Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificate?

The RFS provides free assessment and certification services. Simply fill in an application for a Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificate and submit it to the local RFS fire control centre or council. The form and guidelines are available on the RFS website through local RFS fire control centres or councils.

The form asks for basic information on how, when and where the hazard reduction will take place. A staff member goes through the application, determines if an environmental assessment is needed and does the assessment using the steps in the Code. If required, a Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificate is issued to the landholder. The certificate gives approval to undertake hazard reduction. It is valid for 12 months and may contain conditions to protect the environment.

7. Examples of Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificate conditions.

Certificates may contain conditions that ensure protection for a particular area. Some examples are: giving neighbours 24 hours notice before burning, tree canopy separation distances, protecting vegetation near waterways, removing hazardous vegetation near cultural sites and using machinery to prevent erosion

8. Are farmers affected?

Agricultural activities are not covered by the Code. Farmers can continue to plough land or burn stubble and diseased crops for farming purposes. They do not need to apply for a Bushfire Hazard Reduction Certificate to do this work. Farmers may apply for a certificate only if they want to do hazard reduction work. Local RFS fire control centre or council staff can provide advice

9. What resources does the RFS have to assist private property owners?

RFS fire control centres already provide a large range of bushfire management services - including inspection of hazards on private property and issue of fire permits. Staff are now trained in using the Code for environmental assessments and issuing Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificates. Extra staff have been employed across NSW to deal with these responsibilities. The RFS provides this service for free. Staff will process applications for Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificates within seven days unless further information or negotiation are required. Guidelines on conducting hazard reduction are available through fire control centres or the RFS website.

10. Are separate fire permits still needed to light a fire?

Yes. A permit to light a fire may still be required if burning is the chosen method of hazard reduction. Permits are only needed during the Bush Fire Danger Period which normally runs from October to March (unless the Bush Fire Danger Period is varied locally) or if the burning is likely to endanger a building. The RFS or NSW Fire Brigades issues fire permits

11. Is the environment more important than protecting lives?

Everyone recognises that protection of life is the top priority. Consideration must be given to the environmental affects of the hazard reduction activities that help protect lives. Hazard reduction work can progress without damaging the environment and the Code assists this. The environment is a form of property. It is an essential part of economic health of NSW. It is an asset vital to industries such as tourism and agriculture. We also have an obligation to protect the environment for future generations.

12. How does the Code affect large land managers such as National Parks & Wildlife Service and Councils. Will they do more hazard reduction work now?

The Code makes the environmental assessment process quicker, cheaper and easier. In some cases hazard reductions may have been delayed by environmental assessments. Land management agencies can now use the Code to fast track this process for some of their land.

13. In some cases a certificate cannot be issued.

Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificates will only be issued for hazard reduction work consistent with local Bush Fire Risk Management Plans and on land mapped as a hazard.

14. Appealing conditions on the certificate or refusal to issue a certificate.

A refusal to issue a certificate is not a refusal of hazard reduction work. It is merely a refusal of the streamlined process offered by the Code. The applicant can still use the existing legislation to gain approval. Contact council for advice on how to proceed.

15. Should you contact the RFS or council?

The RFS does environmental assessment and certificate issuing for hazard reduction work across most of the State. Local governments have given this responsibility to the RFS. The RFS is the contact agency for all local government areas apart from: Bankstown, Blue Mountains, Hunters Hill, Hurstville, Ku-ring-gai, Lane Cove, Manly, Mosman, Newcastle, Ryde, Sutherland and Willoughby. Contact the local council in these areas for assistance with environmental assessments and Bush Fire Hazard Reduction Certificates on bushfire prone land.

Source: http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/index.cfm. Downloaded August 2004.