New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CONTAMINATED LAND MANAGEMENT ACT 1997 - SECT 11

11 Declaring land to be significantly contaminated land

(1) If the EPA has reason to believe that land is contaminated and that the contamination is significant enough to warrant regulation under this Division, the EPA may declare the land to be significantly contaminated land.

(2) The declaration is to be made by notice published in the Gazette that:

(a) describes with reasonable particularity the land that is to be significantly contaminated land, and

(b) specifies the substances that the EPA has reason to believe contaminate the land in such a way as to warrant regulation under this Division, and

(c) states the harm that the EPA has reason to believe has been, or may be, caused by the substances, and

(d) advises that declaring the land to be significantly contaminated land does not prevent the carrying out of voluntary management of the land by any person, and

(e) advises that any person may, within a period (not being less than 21 days) specified in the notice, make submissions to the EPA on whether the EPA should serve a management order in relation to the land or on any other matter concerning the land.

(3) Each substance that is specified in the notice under this section is a "significant contaminant" and the actual or possible contamination of the land by the significant contaminant is "significant contamination".

(4) The EPA is to serve a copy of the notice on:

(a) the owner of the land (or, if the EPA does not know the identity or address of the owner, the notional owner of the land, if any, whose identity and address are known to the EPA), and

(b) those persons (whose identities and addresses are known to the EPA) who the EPA has reason to believe are responsible for significant contamination of the land, and

(c) the occupier of the land, and

(d) the local authority in relation to the land, and

(e) if the EPA has reason to believe that a significant contaminant of land originates from the use of a cattle dip site on the land in relation to a treatment ordered under the Stock Diseases Act 1923 -the Director-General of the Department of Primary Industries.

(5) The EPA is to publish a policy on the Department’s website on the Internet setting out how it intends to notify the public about:

(a) land that it has declared to be significantly contaminated land, and

(b) land that has ceased to be significantly contaminated land,

and it is to notify the public in accordance with that policy. However, failure to comply with this subsection does not invalidate any notice under this section.