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Environmental legislation
In 1997, several environmental laws were integrated into a single act called Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act). This act covers all aspects of pollution and environmental impact relating to waste, toxic waste, water, air and noise.
This legislation is administrated by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA).
Both the EPA and local councils have the authority to issue clean up and prevention notices where pollution has occurred on a worksite and they can issue on the spot fines or prosecute where environmental laws have been breached.
The operator of a business has a responsibility toward the environment which is known as due diligence, or ‘duty of care’. This means that the operator must:
- take all reasonable steps to prevent pollution and protect the environment
- promote action to prevent or minimise potential environmental damage
- be able to show that everything possible has been done to prevent an environmental accident
- make sure all precautionary and control measures are in place and are regularly checked and maintained to minimise the risk of a pollution incident.
The following laws cover environmental legislation in NSW.
- Protection of the Environment Operation Act 1997
- Pesticides Act 1999
- Dangerous Goods Act 1975
- Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979
- Rivers and Foreshores Improvement Act 1948 (administered by the NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation)
- Water Management Act 2000 (administered by the NSW Department of Land and Water Conservation)
- Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (administered by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service)
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (administered by the Federal Government)
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