You have a duty to notify us of prescribed notifiable contamination on your land. This includes groundwater contamination. To understand this duty, visit Duty to notify of contaminated land.
If there's imminent risk of harm, call our 24-hour pollution hotline on 1300 372 842.
You may need help from an expert to identify and manage contaminated land. Visit Work with a consultant.
Learn more about managing contaminated land and groundwater.
When contamination is notifiable
Contaminated land or groundwater is only notifiable when specific substances are present above specific concentrations and in specific circumstances.
Part 2.1 of the Environment Protection Regulations 2021(opens in a new window) defines the types of contamination that are notifiable. The Regulations also define when contamination does not need to be notified – referred to as exempt notifiable contamination.
Specific substances
The specific substances that make contamination notifiable are at least one of:
- substances named in section 6 of Schedule B1 of the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure (ASC NEPM) (see regulation 13(d))
- non-aqueous phase liquids in groundwater, surface water or an aquifer (see regulation 10(3))
- friable asbestos in or on soil on land (see regulation 9).
Specific concentrations
The specific concentrations above which contamination is notifiable are determined differently for different substances:
- For specific substances listed in the ASC NEPM, present in soil and vapour – health investigation levels (HILs) and health screening levels (HSLs).
- For specific substances listed in the ASC NEPM, present in groundwater and surface water – concentration thresholds in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines or the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality.
- For friable asbestos – airborne asbestos fibre levels in excess of 0.01 fibres/mL by means of inhalation.
The applicable concentrations for HSLs and HILs are further specified for different circumstances.
Specific circumstances
The specific circumstances that make contamination notifiable are:
- a person is, or is likely to be, exposed to a contaminant – including friable asbestos – in or on soil (this includes soil vapour)
- a contaminant in or on soil has entered, or is likely to have entered, from the land onto adjacent land
- a contaminant in or on soil is likely to enter and remain on adjacent land
- contaminated groundwater discharges, or is likely to discharge, to surface water
- contaminated groundwater is used, or may be used, for human consumption or contact, stock watering or irrigation
- contamination discharges into surface water
- excavated soil (other than fill material) sourced from contaminated land on site – from an activity that does not need a permission – is proposed to be retained on site.
To learn more about how to determine if your contamination is notifiable, visit our Guide to the duty to notify of contaminated land. Our guide includes a decision-making diagram to help you identify notifiable contamination under the Regulations.
Who can submit a notification
To be authorised to make a notification, you must be the person in management or control of the land.
If you have a duty to notify us of contamination, a contractor or agent may complete the notification on your behalf. The contractor or agent should be able to satisfy us that they are authorised to make a notification on your behalf.
More than one person may have management or control of the land. Notification by one of those people generally satisfies the notification duty for all other people in management or control of the contaminated land.
If you're in management or control of contaminated land, you must provide adequate information to any person who may be:
- affected by the contamination, or
- expected to come into management or control of the contaminated land.
Adequate information includes whether a contaminated land notification has been submitted and, if so, the information in the notification.
How to make a notification
Submit a contaminated land notification through our portal(opens in a new window).
You need to sign up to use the portal. If you need help, call 1300 372 842.
In your notification, you must provide information on your management response, or proposed management response, to the notifiable contamination. This allows us to assess how you're meeting your duty to manage contaminated land.
The amount of information you need to provide depends on the nature and extent of the risk being managed.
If you become aware of any other required information after you've made a notification, you must either:
- submit a new notification
- update the existing notification.
You must do this as soon as possible.
How we respond to a notification
After you submit the notification, you get an automated receipt.
We make an initial assessment of the risk of harm from the contamination. If the risk needs further assessment, we also consider your management response. We may ask you for more information.
We contact you if we need to take regulatory action to manage the contamination. Our Compliance and enforcement policy sets out our regulatory approach.
You're expected to implement your management response without waiting for feedback from us.
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