Contaminated land

Contaminated land can have major economic, legal and planning implications for the community. Contamination may limit land use potential or increase costs for developers and councils. Their investigation and clean-up is important to protect human health and the environment.

Although contaminated sites can occur anywhere, they are typically clustered in areas which have been used for heavy industry or chemically intensive agriculture. They may also include residential properties, for example, from flaking of lead-based paints or excessive pesticide use.

In very broad terms, the management framework for contaminated land in NSW consists of two tiers:

• the office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), which uses its powers under the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997 (CLM Act) to deal with site contamination that is significant enough to warrant regulation under the Act given the site’s current or approved use
• local councils who deal with other contamination under the planning and development framework, including State Environmental Planning Policy No. 55 - Remediation of Land and the Managing Land Contamination - Planning Guidelines, on sites which, though contaminated, do not pose an unacceptable risk under their current or approved use. In these cases, the planning and development process determines what remediation is needed to make the land suitable for a different use.

More information on contaminated land management in NSW

• Role of OEH (including steps in regulating sites under the CLM Act)
• Role of planning authorities
• Process and outcomes of the review of the CLM Act
• Policy on former unhealthy building land sites
• Responsibilities of landholders and small business regarding land contamination (09811LandContamination.pdf; 355 KB)

More information on the following contaminated land topics

• The NSW site auditor scheme aims to ensure proper management of contaminated land by providing a pool of accredited 'site auditors' who can be engaged to review investigation, remediation and validation work conducted by contaminated land consultants.
• Details of all guidelines under the CLM Act made or approved by OEH
• Environment protection notices issued under the CLM Act, the names of sites and owners or occupiers and copies of site audit statements
• Information on engaging a consultant for contaminated site investigations and remediation in NSW
• Information on remediation of former gasworks sites
• Laws applying to underground petroleum storage systems
• Information on preventative approaches
• Frequently asked questions about contaminated land
• Technical guidance on vapour intrusion (10774vapourintr.pdf; 238 KB)

Contaminated land in the 2009 State of the Environment Report

• Chapter 5.2: Chemicals in the NSW Environment (html)
• Chapter 5: Land (09716land.pdf; 2.2 MB)