You must notify us of prescribed notifiable contamination on your land. This includes groundwater.
When you become aware – or reasonably should be aware – of prescribed notifiable contamination, you must notify us as soon as practicable.
Whether you are aware or should reasonably be aware of notifiable contamination depends upon:
- your skills, knowledge and experience
- whether it was practicable for you to seek help
- the circumstances of the contamination.
More information about notifiable contamination is in our Guide to the duty to notify of contaminated land.
- Duty to notify of contaminated land, section 40, Environment Protection Act 2017.
- Manner and form of notification, section 41, Environment Protection Act 2017.
- Regulations 8 to 14, Environment Protection Regulations 2021.
Who it applies to
The duty applies to a business or person who manages or controls land that has been contaminated by notifiable contamination.
You manage or control land if you can exercise power over that land – for example, if you:
- hold a legal interest in the land as the owner, leaseholder (tenant) or committee of management
- have access to or use of the land.
If other people share management or control, then only one person has to notify us. However, you are responsible for notifying us unless you know that someone else has done it.
What you must do
Confirm you have notifiable contamination. Use our Guide to the duty to notify of contaminated land or seek help from an expert. For information on finding an expert, visit Work with a consultant.
Notify us of the contamination. Visit Notify of contaminated land.
If there's imminent risk of harm, you must call our 24-hour pollution hotline on 1300 372 842.
You may need to share the notification and information. Visit Duty to manage contaminated land.
There are penalties if you do not meet this duty.
Examples
When notification is required
Sarah owns a property in an industrial estate formerly used for electroplating. There is likely to be contamination.
Sarah refers to Planning Practice Note 30 - Potentially Contaminated Land(opens in a new window) (Planning Vic). She suspects her land is contaminated land. Sarah does not have sufficient information to know if notifiable contamination exists. This requires soil and groundwater data.
Sarah engages a consultant to conduct a detailed site investigation.
The investigation finds soil contamination above the average threshold for some contaminants.
Sarah refers to our Guide to the duty to notify of contaminated land. She determines that there is notifiable contamination on her land.
Sarah engages a consultant to notify us of the notifiable contamination. The consultant follows the contaminated land notification process.
The notification made by the consultant includes information regarding:
- the location of the land
- the activity resulting, or suspected as resulting, in the contamination
- the nature and extent of the contamination
- the nature of the risk of harm to human health and the environment from the contamination
- the management response, or proposed management response, to the notifiable contamination.
Sarah engages the consultant to develop a plan to manage the contamination. She does this as part of complying with the duty of persons to manage contaminated land.
Sarah does not wait for feedback from us. She immediately implements the plan to manage the contamination.
When notification is not required
Graham is planning a car park at a warehouse in an industrial area. He is aware that parts of the site were levelled using soil from an unknown offsite source.
He refers to Planning Practice Note 30 - Potentially Contaminated Land (Planning Vic). Importation of fill has a medium potential for contamination. Graham suspects the land is contaminated land. He does not have sufficient information to determine if notifiable contamination exists.
Graham engages a consultant to conduct a preliminary site investigation and a detailed site investigation (DSI).
The DSI finds:
- areas of the site contain buried fragments of bonded asbestos-containing material
- there is no potential for a person to be exposed to friable asbestos during the planned works or during regular site operation.
Graham refers to our Guide to the duty to notify of contaminated land. He determines the contaminated land is not notifiable contamination.
Graham engages the consultant to develop a plan to manage the contamination. He does this as part of complying with the duty of persons to manage contaminated land. Graham documents the reasons why a contaminated land notification was not required for the site.
This information is a summary of our Guide to the duty to notify of contaminated land.
Updated