Monaro farmers say more fine-tuning is needed to ensure the NSW government's planned overhaul of land clearing laws allows them to clear invasive pests.
The state government this week unveiled a draft bill Environment Minister Mark Speakman described as striking a balance between improved environmental outcomes and cutting red tape for farmers.
If passed, it will replace the Native Vegetation Act and relax the laws surrounding land clearing, creating a self-regulatory framework for farmers.
Maps will be developed dividing the state's land into three categories: exempt areas, regulated areas requiring approval before native vegetation can be cleared, and patches governed by other laws.
Four codes will also govern different levels of land clearing, ranging from low-level maintenance for building fences up to large-scale farm planning.
NSW Farmers Native Vegetation Working Group chairman Mitchell Clapham said the bill would affect native grasslands more than any other area in the Monaro region.
However, he said the Office of Environment and Heritage used a "flawed" proxy relying on the level of soil disturbance or cultivation to determine whether or not an area was of high conservation value.
"In areas where you have exotic or invasive weeds that are marching across the landscape, and they may well be coming across in a native pasture that has never been disturbed," he said. "That will come up in the OEH's model as of high conservation value, when it's nothing of the sort."
The association will hold a public meeting in Cooma on May 18 to discuss the bill, but Mr Clapham said only "boots on the ground" could ensure areas were correctly classified.
The government has attempted to offset the relaxed laws with $240 million over five years to encourage private land conservation, as well as a $100 million "Save Our Species" fund.
Biodiversity offsetting "deals" could also be struck between farmers and authorities, while the former would also have the opportunity to instead pay through a Biodiversity Conservation Fund for additional land clearing privileges.
Mr Speakman said the laws would not follow Queensland's example, where a similar change in legislation led to the clearance of 300,000 hectares of bushland in a single financial year.
"We have tough measures to protect endangered ecological communities supported by Commonwealth protections that will conserve our biodiversity for future generations," he said.
In the ACT, native vegetation is covered by a range of Commonwealth and territory laws.
Clearing native flora is permitted for routine agricultural practices, but only if it affects the minimum extent necessary to perform the work.
The NSW proposal has drawn criticism from conservation groups, who claim it will lead to mass land clearing.
Nature Conservation Council chief executive Kate Smolski said the bill, if left unaltered, did not leave enough safeguards for environmental protection.
"It is unacceptable to trade binding legal protections for funding promises that are not enforceable by law," she said.
"A funding promise is worthless without a legislative guarantee."
Consultation for the bill closes on June 28.
