New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CONTAMINATED LAND MANAGEMENT ACT 1997 - SECT 5

5 Contamination

(1) "Contamination" of land, for the purposes of this Act, means the presence in, on or under the land of a substance at a concentration above the concentration at which the substance is normally present in, on or under (respectively) land in the same locality, being a presence that presents a risk of harm to human health or any other aspect of the environment.

(2) "Contaminate", for the purposes of this Act, means to cause such contamination.

(3) However, land is not, for the purposes of this Act, contaminated land:

(a) merely because in any surface water standing or running on the land a substance is present in such a concentration, or

(b) merely because of the presence of a substance prescribed by the regulations, or

(c) in circumstances prescribed by the regulations.

(4) Land may, for the purposes of this Act, be contaminated land even if it became contaminated partly or entirely by the migration of contaminants into, onto or under the land from other land.

Note: See also sections 9 (Assessment of risk of harm) and 13 (Responsibility if contamination indirect or delayed or risk arises from change of use).