PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT OPERATIONS ACT 1997 - SECT 91
Clean-up by owners and occupiers of premises and polluters
PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT OPERATIONS ACT 1997 - SECT 91
Clean-up by owners and occupiers of premises and polluters
91 Clean-up by owners and occupiers of premises and polluters
(1) Notices The appropriate regulatory authority may, by notice in writing, do
1 or more of the following--
(a) direct an owner or occupier of premises at or
from which the authority reasonably suspects that a pollution incident has
occurred or is occurring,
(b) direct a person who is reasonably suspected by
the authority of causing or having caused a pollution incident,
(c) direct a
person who is reasonably suspected by the authority of contributing, to any
extent, to a pollution incident,
to take such clean-up action as is specified
in the notice and within such period as is specified in the notice.
Note : "pollution incident" and
"clean-up action" are defined in the Dictionary.
(1A) The appropriate
regulatory authority may give a clean-up notice to a person under subsection
(1)(c)--
(a) whether or not another person has been given a clean-up notice in
relation to the pollution incident, and
(b) whether or not another person
contributed to the pollution incident.
(1B) Without limiting subsection (1),
a clean-up notice given to a person under subsection (1)(c) may require the
person to carry out clean-up actions to completely prevent, minimise, remove,
disperse, destroy or mitigate pollution resulting or likely to result from the
incident irrespective of the nature or extent of the person's contribution to
the incident.
(2) Notices by EPA in emergency The EPA may, if it considers
that it is necessary to do so because of an emergency, give the clean-up
notice even if it is not the appropriate regulatory authority with respect to
the pollution incident.
(3) Reports The clean-up notice may require the
person to whom the notice is given to furnish reports to the appropriate
regulatory authority regarding progress on the carrying out of the
clean-up action.
(4) If the person given a clean-up notice complies with the
notice but was not the person who caused, or solely caused, the
pollution incident, the cost, or part of the cost, of complying with the
notice may be recovered by the person who complied with the notice as a debt
in a court of competent jurisdiction from any person who caused or contributed
to the pollution incident.
Note--: See also section 144AG, which provides
that this part applies to the depositing of litter or waste referred to in
section 144AE(1) or the depositing of litter under Part 5.6A as if the
depositing of the litter or waste were a pollution incident.
