Exemption Extended for Bushfire Rebuilding

The NSW Government has extended the limited exemption from the Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS) to help people impacted by bushfires to rebuild as quickly and easily as possible.

The 2019–20 bushfire season was the most widespread and extreme our State has ever seen. The damage to property was significant, with 2476 homes destroyed in 33 local government areas and many more damaged.

In November 2020, the NSW Government provided a limited exemption from the BOS to help people rebuild as quickly and easily as possible. The initial exemption provided a 24-month exemption from biodiversity assessment offset requirements to eligible applicants, ending on 27 November 2022.

The NSW Government has extended the exemption for a further 12 months until 27 November 2023. For more information, see the NSW Gazette notice.

What is the scope of the exemption? 

The exemption applies to landholders who are reconstructing buildings or structures that:

• require development consent
• were damaged or destroyed by bushfire between 5 August 2019 and 2 March 2020
• are the same, or substantially the same, as the building or structure that was damaged or destroyed; and
• have a development application made prior to 27 November 2023.

The extension does not apply to the test of significance under section 7.2 of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act). It only applies to entry into the BOS under clause 7.1A of the Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017.

This means all bushfire-affected development that would have entered into the BOS by exceeding the area clearing thresholds or by being undertaken on land mapped on the Biodiversity Values Map will continue to be exempt from the BOS until 27 November 2023. However, bushfire-affected development will require a test of significance after 27 November 2022 to determine if the BOS applies to the development.

Further information, including a factsheet can be found on the NSW Environment and Heritage.

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