48850 Environmental Planning and Law
Warning: The information on this page is indicative. The subject outline for a
particular session, location and mode of offering is the authoritative source
of all information about the subject for that offering. Required texts, recommended texts and references in particular are likely to change. Students will be provided with a subject outline once they enrol in the subject.
Subject handbook information prior to 2025 is available in the Archives.
Credit points: 6 cp
Subject level:
Undergraduate
Result type: Grade and marksRequisite(s): 87 credit points of completed study in Bachelor's Degree owned by FEIT OR 87 credit points of completed study in Bachelor's Honours Embedded owned by FEIT OR 87 credit points of completed study in Bachelor's Combined Degree owned by FEIT OR 87 credit points of completed study in Bachelor's Combined Honours owned by FEIT OR 87 credit points of completed study in Bachelor's Combined Degree co-owned by FEIT OR 87 credit points of completed study in Bachelor's Combined Honours co-owned by FEIT OR 87 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10384 Bachelor of Science Analytics OR 87 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10411 Bachelor of Business Bachelor of Sustainability and Environment OR 87 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10412 Bachelor of Management Bachelor of Sustainability and Environment OR 87 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C10228 Bachelor of Marine Biology and Climate Change OR 87 credit points of completed study in 87.0000000000 Credit Points spk(s): C10399 Bachelor of Science Bachelor of Sustainability and Environment OR 87 credit points of completed study in 87.0000000000 Credit Points spk(s): C10410 Bachelor of Public Health Bachelor of Sustainability and Environment OR 87 credit points of completed study in 87.0000000000 Credit Points spk(s): C10445 Bachelor of Economics Bachelor of Sustainability and Environment
Description
The objectives of this subject are:
- to introduce key environmental law relating to water, waste, energy, land use, biodiversity conservation, and global warming;
- to give a sound understanding of the history and evolution of environmental law and how it underpins development planning with particular emphasis being placed on the NSW experience;
- to develop awareness of planning legislation in NSW and the need to engineer within the constraints of that legislation;
- to provide knowledge of the planning process and constraints on land use planning; to develop skills to identify and deal with legal problems confronting engineers in industry;
- to develop the capacity to communicate when dealing with legal matters relating to the environment and land use planning; and
- to equip students with conceptual and technical understanding of environmental law and environmental planning and to develop skills necessary to deal with environmental issues and anticipate the evolution of environmental planning practice.
Skills and knowledge from this subject will help students to effectively interact and collaborate with legal practitioners in their future work. Students are exposed to the following topics.
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Environmental law: the operation of the Environment Protection Authority of NSW, key environmental legislation (such as Protection of the Environment Operations Act, Clean Waters Act, Waste Minimisation Act, Clean Air Act, Noise Control Act, Biodiversity Conservation Act), miscellaneous environmental legislation addressing pollution issues (Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal Act, Sydney Water Corporatisation Act), and selected court decisions relating to pollution and land use issues (Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997).
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Environmental planning: evolution of human settlement, NSW environmental planning legislation, urban planning and sustainability, planning the neighbourhood, development control processes and development control case studies, environmental studies, environmental impact assessment in NSW, project control and the environment.
During tutorials, students discuss environmental law and planning issues using case studies. Students present a discussion paper on an environmental issue of an engineering nature, which assists in developing communication skills. Examples are drawn from classic law cases around the world, examples from high profile cases in Australia, and major planning exercises in NSW.
Subject learning objectives (SLOs)
Upon successful completion of this subject students should be able to:
| 1. | Apply a complex array of environmental and planning legislation, and law cases to the field of civil and environmental engineering contexts. (B.1) |
|---|---|
| 2. | Analyse the balance between the development and the environment, then derive strategies to resolve conflicts in the interaction between development and environmental protection. (B.1) |
| 3. | Describe and apply technical, legal and social considerations in the planning process. (B.1) |
Course intended learning outcomes (CILOs)
This subject also contributes specifically to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs):
- Socially Responsible: FEIT graduates identify, engage, interpret and analyse stakeholder needs and cultural perspectives, establish priorities and goals, and identify constraints, uncertainties and risks (social, ethical, cultural, legislative, environmental, economics etc.) to define the system requirements. (B.1)
Contribution to the development of graduate attributes
Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies
This subject contributes to the development of the following Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competencies:
- 1.5. Knowledge of engineering design practice and contextual factors impacting the engineering discipline.
- 1.6. Understanding of the scope, principles, norms, accountabilities and bounds of sustainable engineering practice in the specific discipline.
Teaching and learning strategies
The lecture sessions will be complemented by tutorial sessions comprised of seminars and workshops, where case studies will be considered. Tutorial sessions will have a teaching strategy that include class discussion and debate, role play to stimulate the desire to learn material that will be of considerable use in the workplace. Formative feedback will be provided in the form of in-class conversation and guidance.
Students will be encouraged to be interactive on all aspects of the course of instruction, which will include the use of power-point presentations, videos and slide presentations of engineering projects where environmental or planning legal issues are addressed.
This subject is delivered in block mode.
To ensure that you gain most from the subject, students are expected to participate in all workshop and tutorial activities. The student is required to explore concepts before the formal class, thus affording a basic understanding and reasoning which enables enhanced opportunities for discussion, formative assessment and face-to-face verbal feedback in tutorial sessions. It is essential that students should undertake all pre-class exercises (including lecture note, video clips, audio podcast and interactive graphics) prior to each class. All pre-class materials will be provided through Canvas prior to each class.
Students will be encouraged to participate in collaborative learning in small groups (maximum 3 persons) in tutorial sessions and in online (Canvas) forums. Instructors and Tutors address the concepts of the wide range of civil and environmental engineering topics in Tutorial sessions where students are encouraged to work in 'small' groups. The Tutorials (Exercises and/or Case studies) are worked through with the students. Tutorial exercises are based on workplace scenarios relating to ecologically sustainable development and development control. Real-world workplace case studies are considered.
Content (topics)
1. Environmental Law: The evolution of Environmental Law, the legal framework in Australia, environmental movement, the model environmental law, interaction between environmental law and development planning, and various legislations governing environmental planning with a focus on the NSW legal system including Protection of the Environment Operations Act, Waste Minimisation Act, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal Act, the Sydney Water Corporatisation Act, and selected court decisions relating to pollution and land use issues.
2. Environmental Planning: Evolution of human settlement, Urban planning and sustainability, Neighbourhood planning concepts, planning approval pathway, case studies of the Sydney Olympic Park and the Greater Sydney Region Plan.
Assessment
Assessment task 1: Environmental law & planning scenario analysis
| Intent: | This assessment task aims to assist students to consolidate and refine their ability to analyse environmental and planning legislation. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): B.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | Task 1a Report: limited to 1500 words in length Task 1b Report: limited to 1500 words in length |
Assessment task 2: Environmental planning case analysis report & presentation
| Intent: | In this assessment task students will develop problem solving, critical analysis and communication skills to resolve conflicts between development and environmental conservation and apply these skills in the planning process. |
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| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 2 and 3 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): B.1 |
| Type: | Report |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 40% |
| Length: | Stage 1 Outline: No limit in length |
Assessment task 3: Online quiz
| Intent: | In this assessment task students will interpret the implication of contemporary environmental law in the context of land use and development planning. |
|---|---|
| Objective(s): | This assessment task addresses the following subject learning objectives (SLOs): 1 and 3 This assessment task contributes to the development of the following Course Intended Learning Outcomes (CILOs): B.1 |
| Type: | Quiz/test |
| Groupwork: | Individual |
| Weight: | 30% |
| Length: | 1.5 hours |
Required texts
There is no compulsory textbook for this subject. The follow texts are recommended for supplementary reading:
Hornstein, D., (2013) Environmental Law and Policy. The University of North Carolina Press. ISBN: 978-1-4696-1572-1
William, P., (2015) Environmental Law Handbook - Planning and Land Use in New South Wales. 6th Ed. ISBN: 978-0-4552-3611-7.
Recommended texts
This Subject Outline is located on the Canvas site for this subject.
Printed notes will be handed-out in class for both the 'Environmental Planning' and the 'Environmental Law' components respectively.
A list of references where required will be made available by the appropriate facilitator in class.
Other resources
All students must access the Canvas site at least weekly for information on the following matters:
1. Specific instructions relating to attendance at and/or requirements for classes and/or Seminar sessions;
2. Changes to the Subject program, namely classes and/or facilitators;
3. Supplementary subject materials;
4. Selected “Power-point” presentations; and
5. Assignments/tasks set by Facilitators.