New NSW EPA Guidelines on duty to report contamination

On 3 July 2015, the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) published the new Guidelines on the Duty to Report Contamination under the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997 (CLM Act) (Reporting Guidelines). The Reporting Guidelines replace the previous guidelines published in 2009 and provide information on the duty to report contamination to the EPA under the CLM Act.

Any person carrying out activities which may result in the contamination of land and owners or prospective owners of potentially contaminated land should be aware of the duty to notify contamination under the CLM Act and the Reporting Guidelines.

When must contamination be notified to the EPA?

The CLM Act establishes a framework for the investigation of and, where appropriate, regulation and remediation of contaminated sites. The duty to notify contaminated sites provides the EPA with knowledge about which sites are contaminated and whether to take regulatory action. It also provides the public