Waste Management and Pollution Control Act
- Environmental duties
- Compliance guidelines
- Report on the implementation of the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act
Environmental duties
Key points
- There is a General Environmental Duty which establishes an environmental ethic
- Codes of Practice will assist in complying with the General Environmental Duty
- There is a duty to report moderate to serious pollution incidents. This is mandatory
The Act creates 2 important duties.
General Environmental Duty
The adoption of environmentally sound work practices needs to be underpinned by an environmental ethic - the General Environmental Duty. This duty requires any person undertaking an activity which causes, or may cause pollution, to take all reasonable steps to minimise the pollution or environmental harm and to reduce the generation of waste.
Although not enforceable in its own right, failure to comply with the General Environmental Duty is likely to result in breaches of the Act such as the offence of causing pollution. Compliance with the General Environmental Duty may also be achieved by issuing a pollution abatement notice.
When deciding how to fulfil the General Environmental Duty a person or company will need to consider the potential for environmental harm resulting from an activity, the sensitivity of the environment into which contaminants or wastes are to be discharged, current technology, and financial implications.
Duty to Notify of Incidents Causing or Threatening to Cause Pollution
A person undertaking an activity must notify the Administering Authority within 24 hours of becoming aware (or from when the person could reasonably be expected to have become aware) of an incident such as a spill which has caused, or is likely to cause, moderate (material) or serious environmental harm.
This duty to notify is mandatory. However, the notification itself can not be used to prosecute a person for any other offence under the Act. The maximum penalties for intentionally failing to notify are up to $50,000 for a person and $250,000 for a company.
Notification can either be made by phone or in writing and sent to the Environment Protection Agency:
By phone: Pollution Hotline |
In writing: Environment Protection Agency Program Fax (08) 8924 4053 |
The notification must include details of:
- the incident;
- the place, date and time of the incident;
- how the pollution occurred, is occurring or may occur;
- any attempts made to deal with the pollution or resultant environmental harm; and
- the contact details of the person notifying
Compliance guidelines
- Compliance Guidelines (pdf 85Kb).
The Guidelines describe how compliance with the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act should be achieved. The Guidelines are intended to provide greater certainty and predictability to the compliance process and thereby assist industry to comply with the legislation and enable the community to better understand compliance outcomes.
The Guidelines emphasise a range of methods that will be used to achieve compliance including:
- cooperative action
- legislative action
- Court action
Prosecution is discretionary and will be used where it is in the public interest.
Report on the implementation of the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act
This report was prepared by the Environment Protection Agency in accordance with Section 116 of the Waste Management and Pollution Control Act. It provides a description of the implementation of the Act from commencement to August 2005, including a summary of activities undertaken and administrative arrangements established to support implementation of the Act.
For the purpose of reporting on the implementation of the Act since commencement, the following key activities have been chosen for consideration:
- approvals and licensing
- policy implementation
- compliance and enforcement activities
The report should be read in conjunction with a copy of the Act and regulation.
