SEPP 55

SEPP 55 stands for State Environmental Planning Policy No. 55 - Remediation of Land under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The responsible authority is Planning NSW (formerly the Department of Urban Affairs & Planning).

SEPP 55 has been designed to ensure that;

• Remediation of contaminated land is permissible,
• Remediation works require consent only where they have the potential for significant environmental impacts (Category 1) in other cases no consent is required (Category 2)
• Remediation is carried out to appropriate standards
• Applications for remediation cannot be refused without substantial justification
• Councils are notified before and after remediation takes place
• Considerations relating to possible contamination are given as early as possible in rezoning and development applications.
  

Guidelines to SEPP55 have been written primarily for planning authorities, in particular local councils.

As well as outlining the process for planning consent, these Guidelines contain recommendations on restrictions on land use and Section 149 certificates. This is important as lenders have been known to refuse funds when contamination is recorded on a S.149 Certificate, even where the development has been approved for the proposed use. Section 149 is in effect a notation that a purchasers solicitor would find during their search.

Restrictions on land use are applied by environmental planning instruments, but may also be documented in a Council policy.

The existence of a Council policy to restrict the use of land due to contamination must be notified on certificates issued under Section 149(2) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act. The appropriate use of S.149 certificates is an important issue, because S.149 is a key mechanism of information provision, and inappropriate notations on certificates can adversely affect land values.

Planning NSW recommends that S.149 certificates be used in the following manner;

• Council places notations on S.149(2) certificates where land use is restricted, and where insufficient information is available to determine if land use should be restricted.
• Notations are not placed on S.149(2) certificates where the land has been remediated and use is no longer restricted, or where the land is known not to be contaminated.
• Council provides other information under S.149(5) that may be relevant to contamination considerations, such as previous land used, remediation works that have been carried out, the existence of any assessment or investigation reports or site audit statements

HOW CAN NEW ENVIRONMENT HELP?

The above information is a simplified summary.

New Environment can provide detailed advice, site sampling and consultancy.