Pollution Control Licences

There were some big changes made in the NSW Environmental Legislation in 1999.

A significant change was the commencement of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, and some associated Regulations on 1 July 1999. This Act replaced the old Clean Air Act 1961, Clean Waters Act 1970, Noise Control Act 1975, Pollution Control Act 1970, Environmental Offences and Penalties Act 1989, the major provisions of the Waste Minimisation and Management Act 1995. The key provisions of the old Acts were kept, however there was a change to Load Based Licensing, to a single Licence for a site, covering all aspects of air, water, noise etc, greater power and responsibility for Local Government, and the provision for formal Protection of the Environment Policies. The licensing schedule is designed to fit with the integrated development process.

See Appropriate Regulatory Authority below.

POLLUTION CONTROL LICENSING

Schedule 1 of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 and its associated series of regulations lists premises or activities that will require an Environment Protection Licence from the EPA. Those industries on Schedule 1 correspond approximately to the designated developments listed in Schedule 3 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act Regulation of 1994. There will be a single licence for a site covering all aspects of air, water and noise.

The Act also introduces a load based system. The smaller the load on the environment, the lower the fee. The individual company is free to calculate the fee according to the factors defined in the protocol and then to make the choice whether to pay the tariff or reduce emissions to gain savings. There is provision for tradeable emissions and offset schemes and allowance for the lesser impact of some pollutants outside Wollongong-Sydney-Newcastle.

While there is a long list of industries/activities in Schedule 1 that require licences, only a few of these are subject to load based licensing.

Industries subject to pollution load fees are:

• Agricultural fertiliser production
• Waste incinerators
• Brickworks
• Cement production
• Fuel terminals (large)
• Coke works
• Electricity generation
• Glass production
• Paint and plastics production
• Paper production
• Petroleum refining
• Iron and steel production
• Non-ferrous metal production
• Sewage treatment
• Waste oil recovery

The fees are to be phased in over time.

For all other activities on Schedule 1 of the Act, the old non-load based licence system continues. There is also a facility for activities not on Schedule 1 to apply for a water licence. This would be encouraged in cases of discharge to a sensitive location or for industries with a direct discharge to stormwater, that is, sensitive or bigger cases, or cases where the pollutant load exceeds the guidelines. In these cases the licence is likely to carry conditions such as monitoring, reporting and implementation of a reduction program.

APPROPRIATE REGULATORY AUTHORITY

The Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO) has clarified the regulatory roles of the EPA and councils. This is achieved by removing the overlapping powers that existed in the old legislation, so that only one authority is responsible for any activity or premises. For example, if premises are licensed by the EPA for water pollution the EPA is the Appropriate Regulatory Authority (ARA) with regards to pollution control for all activities that occur on the whole site. The EPA is the ARA for scheduled activities, licensed premises, public authorities and activities carried out by councils.

Councils are the ARA for all other activities or premises, except where another public authority is declared the ARA.

Schedule 1 of the POEO (General) Regulation 1998 of the POEO Act lists premises or activities that will require a licence from the EPA. In these situations the EPA will be the ARA for that site. The new law makes some changes to the roles of councils and the EPA.

• The EPA will be ARA for all premises or activities that require a licence to pollute air or water or which request a licence. These are generally larger operations.
  
• The EPA will transfer to councils the regulation of generally smaller activities and construction sites, that is, activities not in the Schedule.

If the EPA licenses a site for any reason it becomes the ARA for all environmental impacts from the activity or premises.

The Protection of the Environment Operations (Savings and Transitional) Regulation 1998 establishes the arrangements for the transfer of regulation of premises and of confidential information to and from councils or the EPA. Councils have the responsibility to appoint their own authorised officers.

There is a number of new mechanisms to assist authorised officers to regulate pollution where they are the ARA. These include environment protection notices. The existing notice provisions under the Noise Control Act 1975 (NSW) have been transferred to the POEO Act with only minor changes.

Notices can apply to water, air, noise and land pollution and waste management. They are designed to supplement existing notice and order provisions in other legislation.

The environment protection notices are similar to the orders provisions in the Local Government Act 1993. Unlike the Local Government Act orders, environment protection notices are much easier for councils to use and are not as restrictive in terms of when, in what circumstances and to whom the notice can be issued.

The types of environment protection notices are:

• clean-up notices
• prevention notices
• compliance cost notices

Noise pollution is regulated by three regulatory mechanisms. These are:

• noise control notices
• noise abatement directions
• noise control orders

More than one notice can be given to the same person or corporation.