Hunter Water Act 1991.

This Act establishes a State owned corporation in relation to the supply of water, the provision of sewerage and drainage services and the disposal of waste water in the Hunter region and certain other matters. It provides for the transfer of assets, rights and liabilities of the Hunter Water Board and repeals the Hunter Water Board Act 1988.
According to the scheme, a person who holds a relevant environment protection licence will be permitted to discharge saline water only in accordance with the scheme. Discharges are permitted under the scheme only during periods in which the Hunter River is classified as being in flood flow or high flow. During flood flow periods, the licence holder may discharge unlimited amounts of saline water, subject to the salinity targets and any overriding limit that may be applied by the EPA as a condition of the licence held by the discharger. During high flow periods, the licence holder will be entitled to discharge saline water only if the licence holder holds one or more credits in the scheme. The total allowable discharge for the Hunter River catchment is determined on a day-to-day basis, by reference to the salinity targets for the Hunter River catchment. The targets are set out in the Regulation. The more credits the licence holder holds, the more saline water the licence holder is entitled to discharge.
The Regulation is divided in six Parts as follows: Preliminary; General workings of scheme; Discharge rules; Credits in scheme; Trading in credits; Administration of scheme; Cost recovery; Enforcement; Miscellaneous and Savings and transitional provisions.