We can require financial assurance as a condition of:
- a permission
- a site management order
- an environmental action notice
- an environmentally hazardous substance order.
The Environment Protection Regulations 2021(opens in a new window) set out prescribed activities where a financial assurance may be required as a condition of your permission:
- A01 – Reportable priority waste management
- A05a – Landfills (excluding municipal landfills servicing less than 5,000 people)
- A13a – Waste and resource recovery (large)
- A13b – Waste and resource recovery (medium)
- G04 – Bulk storage
- L02 – Contaminated sites (onsite soil retention)
We consider risk assessment criteria to decide:
- if you need a financial assurance
- what form of financial assurance you need.
When we determine the amount, we consider:
- a reasonable estimate of the cost of remediation or clean-up of your site
- our published methods for calculating the amount of financial assurance
- an independent assessment, if we require one under section 222 of the Environment Protection Act 2017(opens in a new window).
If you can demonstrate that a different calculation method is better and more appropriate, we use that method.
This page is a summary of Financial assurance for permissions and contaminated land management.
Financial assurance for a landfill
A financial assurance covers the cost of:
- dealing with unexpected events
- auditing
- closing the landfill and aftercare
- long-term monitoring of the site.
We will request an independent assessment of the amount of financial assurance. This will require you to:
- prepare a proposal that estimates the amount of financial assurance you need
- get your proposal assessed by an independent environmental auditor.
We use your proposal and the auditor's assessment to decide on the amount of financial assurance you need.
For public entity or local government landfill operators, we accept internal provision of funds to cover decommissioning, rehabilitation and long-term costs. You need to:
- evaluate the anticipated costs
- include these costs in your financial statements.
Calculate your financial assurance amount
Use the method and standards set out in Calculation of financial assurance for landfills, reportable priority waste management and waste and resource recovery facilities.
You need to use realistic unit costs in your financial assurance estimate. For example, you can base your estimate on the cost of previous rehabilitation works on similar sites.
If you need expert help, visit Work with a consultant.
Get an auditor assessment
The calculation method for landfills requires an independent assessment. You will need to use an environmental auditor appointed by us.
The auditor you use for the assessment must be independent and have no conflict of interest. Do not use the same environmental auditor or company who worked on your proposal to then assess it.
The auditor does not visit your site. They determine the unit costs for your activities using industry rates from sources like:
- tender documentation from other landfill rehabilitation projects
- Rawlinsons Construction Cost Guide.
The auditor completes the Landfill financial assurance calculation assessment. Include this form with your submission of the independent assessment of the financial assurance amount.
Minimise your financial assurance amount
You can progressively rehabilitate your landfill to reduce the amount of financial assurance you need.
We release the operational component of the financial assurance for a landfill cell when:
- we verify that you have put in place the final capping, infrastructure and controls
- we determine that the closure and aftercare component of the financial assurance is enough to cover the remaining anticipated costs.
We gradually reduce the closure and aftercare component as you meet your rehabilitation milestones.
Financial assurance for waste and resource recovery facilities
The amount of financial assurance is based on the cost of disposing of waste to landfill. It depends on the estimated scale of the clean-up. The cost includes the waste levy.
Calculate your financial assurance amount
Use the methods and standards in Calculation of financial assurance for landfills, reportable priority waste management and waste and resource recovery facilities.
Calculate the amount of financial assurance required using:
- the total waste limit under your permission
- all waste types included in your permission.
If sub-limits for your waste types are not included in your permission, use the highest unit disposal cost and the total waste limit for onsite storage.
For example, if you handle both combustible and non-combustible wastes, use the combustible recyclable material formula for all of the waste on site.
Use the maximum weight of stockpiled waste allowed under your permission for your calculation.
We can accept alternative methods for calculating weight if you provide evidence.
If you need expert help, visit Work with a consultant.
Minimise your financial assurance amount
You can minimise the amount by managing your site to:
- reduce stockpile volumes
- only receive and process non-combustible materials.
Financial assurance for reportable priority waste management
The amount of financial assurance you need is based on the cost to dispose of the amount of reportable priority waste that you can legally store on your site.
It equals the cost of removing and either treating or disposing of the waste.
Calculate your financial assurance amount
Use the methods and standards in Calculation of financial assurance for landfills, reportable priority waste management and waste and resource recovery facilities.
The calculation method assumes that:
- your facility is permitted to store several different waste types with no sub-limits then the highest unit disposal cost among the waste types will be used to calculate
- you store the maximum amount of permitted waste at your site.
If you need expert help, visit Work with a consultant.
Minimise your financial assurance amount
You can minimise the amount by specifying separate waste limits for high-cost and low-cost wastes. We calculate your financial assurance by adding up the waste disposal costs for the permitted amount of each waste.
To learn about varying your licence to specify separate waste types, visit Amend a licence, permit or registration.
Bulk storage of hydrocarbons
You may need financial assurance to store hydrocarbons in bulk.
The amount needs to cover the costs of remediation or clean-up of land and groundwater contamination.
Calculate your financial assurance amount
We work with you to determine an appropriate amount of financial assurance.
Minimise your financial assurance amount
You can minimise the amount by working with us to demonstrate:
- you have identified and reduced contamination and fire risks
- you have put in place financial risk mitigation in case there's a significant pollution event.
Onsite contaminated soil retention
You need financial assurance when constructing infrastructure to contain contaminated soil.
The amount needs to cover the total cost of the infrastructure you need to manage the risk of pollution from the contaminated soil.
Calculate your financial assurance amount
We work with you to determine an appropriate amount of financial assurance.
Minimise your financial assurance amount
To minimise the amount, do not store contaminated soil on site. Instead, treat the contamination, or dispose of the soil to an appropriate landfill.
Financial assurance for contaminated land management
We may make financial assurance a condition of site management orders or environmental action notices.
We apply risk assessment criteria to determine if we need a financial assurance from you.
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