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Questions and answers for the landowner/occupier
Illegal waste dumping
- Why is illegal waste dumping a problem?
- I don't run a waste facility. How does this affect me?
- What can be done to deal with these problems?
- How will the changes protect me?
- Do I have to use a notice?
- Should I use a notice?
- What if I accept waste I shouldn't have?
- If I sign the notice can I take the waste?
- What do I do if I want to take waste?
- Do I have to do this for all waste?
Why is illegal waste dumping a problem?
Illegal waste dumping can:
- lower the value of your property and surrounding properties
- lead to land degradation
- impact on the health of your family, neighbours and the local community in your catchment
- contaminate local waterways
- contribute, on occasions, to dangerous landslides
Apart from these critical concerns, illegal waste dumping can cost you money. There is a high cost to the community as a whole when remediation work is required following waste dumping. The cost of cleaning up after waste dumping can be particularly devastating, however, for the individual landowner/occupier.
Back to topI don't run a waste facility. How does this affect me?
The legal definitions of "waste" and "waste facility" are very broad. A waste facility covers any premises used for storing, treating, reprocessing, sorting or disposing of waste. If you use material brought from another site to build a dam on your property or to construct a driveway or to fill certain areas then this might mean your land is being used, in the legal sense, as a waste facility.
There are some properties in metropolitan, rural and semi-rural areas of NSW that are being used currently as illegal waste dumping or landfill sites. In some cases a few unscrupulous waste generators and/or transporters seeking to minimise disposal costs have talked landowners into accepting waste which they are not lawfully able to accept. In other cases, landowners/occupiers are unaware of the requirement to get council and Environment Protection Authority (EPA) approval before accepting waste.
Landowners/occupiers can suffer a double blow: they find that they are left with a serious land degradation problem and, up until now, in many cases have been left footing the clean-up bill on their own.What can be done to deal with these problems?
In order to tackle the illegal waste dumping problem and protect landowners from unscrupulous dumpers, some legislative changes have been made. The changes were originally contained in the Waste Minimisation and Management Amendment Act 1998 and commenced on 15 January 1999. In general terms, they have been brought forward into the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, which commenced on 1 July 1999.
The new laws are aimed at making sure transporters and owners of waste accept responsibility for its disposal in a lawful manner. They introduce tougher offence provisions for waster transporters and waste owners who are responsible for illegal dumping. The changes:
- make it harder for transporters to get away with dumping waste illegally by making it an offence for them to dispose of waste at a place that cannot lawfully be used as a waste facility; and
- stop waste generators and transporters escaping from liability by simply saying they obtained permission from a landowner to leave waste on their property. Under the new laws, transporters must be able to prove the property can legally accept the waste
The existing liability of landowners/occupiers remains unchanged under the new legislation. However, the changes provide an increased level of protection for landowners/occupiers.
How will the changes protect me?
Under the new laws, if a transporter wants to rely on advice from a landowner or occupier that their land can be used lawfully as a waste facility, they can only rely on a notice, certified by the landowner or occupier, in a form approved by the EPA.
The notice, which can be given to a transporter or displayed at a property, will describe the amounts and types of waste you say you can lawfully store, treat, reprocess, sort or dispose of. It will also state why you can lawfully do this, for example, because you hold a waste facility licence.
It is very important that you clearly state the exact type and amount of waste you can take. If a transporter provides different waste they may be guilty of an offence and can be made to pay for any clean-up action required. For example, if you want clean fill you should describe it as "clay, gravel, sand, soil and rock not mixed with any other waste" to make it clear you are not agreeing to take waste contaminated with lead or other substances. Landowners/occupiers should ensure that they retain a copy of any notice given out.
Section 143 notices
You can download a notice in a form approved by the EPA that can be given to a waste transporter or displayed at a property:
PDF: notice_s143.pdf (16 Kb; requires Acrobat Reader)
RTF: notice_s143.rtf (33 Kb; documents in RTF format will open in most word processing programs)
Note: you should keep a copy of the notice for your records.
See section 143 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.
Do I have to use a notice?
No. You do not have to give a transporter a notice to accept waste. A transporter can rely on other means to establish if your place can lawfully be used as a waste facility for the waste. For example, they could rely on an EPA waste facility or activity licence.
Should I use a notice? You should only use a notice when you are absolutely sure you can lawfully use your property as a waste facility for the waste you describe in the notice. If a transporter gives you the waste described in the notice but you could not lawfully accept this, you, and not the transporter, may be liable for a waste disposal offence.
What if I accept waste I shouldn't have?
Currently it is an offence for the owner or occupier of any land to cause or permit their land to be used as a waste facility without lawful authority. It is also an offence to fail to hold a waste facility or activity licence where this is required by law. The new laws have not changed this.
If I sign the notice can I take the waste? No. Signing the notice does not mean you can lawfully take the waste.
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What do I do if I want to take waste?
You should check whether you need a waste facility or waste activity licence. You can ring the EPA Environment Line on 131 555 for assistance.
You should also check with your local council to see if you need development consent before you accept the waste.
- Landowners/occupiers can suffer a double blow: they find that they are left with a serious land degradation problem and, up until now, in many cases have been left footing the clean-up bill on their own.