Environmental Management and Pollution Control (Waste Management) Regulations 2000

Environmental Management and Pollution Control (Waste Management) Regulations 2000

I, the Governor in and over the State of Tasmania and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Executive Council, make the following regulations under the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 .

11 December 2000

G. S. M. GREEN

Governor

By His Excellency's Command,

D. E. LLEWELLYN

Minister for Primary Industries, Water and Environment

PART 1 - Preliminary

1.   Short title

These regulations may be cited as the Environmental Management and Pollution Control (Waste Management) Regulations 2000 .

2.   Commencement

These regulations take effect on 1 January 2001.

3.   Interpretation

In these regulations –

Act means the Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 ;

approved means approved –

(a) in writing by the Director; or

(b) under a permit issued under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 for a level 1 or level 2 activity; or

(c) under an environment protection notice issued by –

(i) the Director under section 27 or section 44 of the Act; or

(ii) a council officer under section 44 of the Act; or

(d) in accordance with any national agreement to which Tasmania is a signatory, including the NEPM;

approved method means a management method approved under regulation 9 ;

contravene includes fail to comply with;

environmental approval means an environmental approval issued under regulation 12 ;

environmentally significant characteristic means a characteristic specified in List 2 of the NEPM, as amended from time to time;

facility means a place where waste is received for the purpose of transfer, storage, reuse, reprocessing, treatment or disposal of waste, and includes a waste depot within the meaning of Schedule 2 to the Act;

facility operator means a person who is in charge of a facility;

general waste means waste other than controlled waste;

National Management Plan means a plan –

(a) in respect of a material or waste; and

(b) prepared under the National Strategy for the Management of Scheduled Wastes (1993) by the Australian and New Zealand Environment Conservation Council (ANZECC);

NEPM means the National Environment Protection (Movement of Controlled Waste between States and Territories) Measure, as amended from time to time, made by the National Environment Protection Council on 26 June 1998, under the National Environment Protection Council Act 1994 of the Commonwealth;

receiving waters means waters into which a waste is released or disposed;

store, in relation to waste, means to store for any duration otherwise than –

(a) at the place at which the waste is produced while awaiting transport to another place; or

(b) at residential premises; or

(c) at a waste transfer station;

waste producer means a person who requires a waste to be disposed of, whether that person has produced the waste, is the occupier of premises which have received the waste from someone else, or has responsibility for waste arising from an historic activity;

waste transporter means a person who collects and transports controlled waste.

4.   Application

(1)  The Director may, by notice published in the Gazette, direct that any or all of the provisions of these regulations do not apply according to the terms of the notice in respect of a controlled waste –

(a) on a single occasion; or

(b) for a specified time period; or

(c) for an indefinite time period.

(2)  A notice may be subject to such conditions as the Director specifies in the notice.

(3)  These regulations do not apply to anything referred to in clause 8(d), (e), (f), (g) or (h) of the NEPM.

(4)  It is a defence to a charge of contravening these regulations for a person to prove that the act or omission was carried out or happened –

(a) in the exercise of a power under section 34 of the Act; or

(b) under an instruction or direction issued by the Director.

(5)  These regulations do not derogate from the Dangerous Goods Act 1998 or any regulations made under that Act.

PART 2 - Management of controlled waste

5.   Controlled wastes

For the purposes of the definition of "controlled waste" in section 3 of the Act, a waste is prescribed as a controlled waste if it exhibits an environmentally significant characteristic and is one of the following:

(a) derived or arising from agricultural produce or veterinary chemical products within the meaning of the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals (Control of Use) Act 1995 ;

(b) a dangerous good within the meaning of the Dangerous Goods Act 1998 ;

(c) derived or arising from poisons within the meaning of the Poisons Act 1971 ;

(d) a waste within the meaning of the Quarantine Regulations 2000 of the Commonwealth, as amended;

(e) a scheduled waste within the meaning of a National Management Plan;

(f) any other waste declared by the Director, by notice published in the Gazette, to be waste consisting of, or containing a quantity of, a pollutant that when placed in, or discharged into, the environment may –

(i) directly or indirectly cause environmental harm; or

(ii) give rise to the abnormal concentration of any substance in any plant, animal or organism above natural concentrations; or

(iii) adversely affect the use or value of the receiving waters for recreational, commercial, domestic, agricultural or industrial purposes; or

(iv) contain sufficient heat, or be likely to generate sufficient heat by itself or in combination with other matter, to ignite or cause fire; or

(v) give rise to undesirable, abnormal or harmful growth of a plant, animal, virus or organism.

6.   General responsibilities

(1)  A person must not receive, store, reuse, recycle, reprocess, salvage, incinerate, treat, dispose of or use for energy recovery a controlled waste otherwise than at a facility specifically approved for that waste and –

(a) as approved; or

(b) in accordance with –

(i) an environmental approval; or

(ii) a method approved by the Director.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  If a controlled waste is subject to the provisions of a National Management Plan or a national environment protection measure made under the National Environment Protection Council Act 1994 of the Commonwealth, the waste is to be managed in accordance with that Plan or measure.

(3)  Before removing from a site a waste that may reasonably be suspected to be a controlled waste, a person must ensure that the waste is analysed to determine whether it is a controlled waste.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 20 penalty units.

7.   Production, storage and treatment of controlled waste

(1)  A person must not cause or permit a controlled waste to be produced, stored or treated in such a manner that it is reasonably likely that the waste will –

(a) leak, spill or escape into the environment; or

(b) cause environmental harm.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  If the Director considers that the aggregate quantity of a class or type of a controlled waste produced or stored on premises causes, or is likely to cause, environmental harm, the Director may require the waste producer or the occupier of the premises to submit the following information:

(a) the class or type, quantity and concentration of the controlled waste produced or stored on the premises;

(b) the location on the premises of the controlled waste.

(3)  A person must not fail to submit the information when required to do so by the Director.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 20 penalty units.

(4)  The Director may give the waste producer or occupier of premises written notice requiring the controlled waste to be collected and transported by an approved waste transporter to a facility approved for receiving the waste.

(5)  A person must not contravene a notice under subregulation (4) .

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

8.   Disposal of controlled waste

(1)  A person must not deposit at any place a controlled waste in a manner that –

(a) directly or indirectly causes, or is likely to cause, environmental harm; or

(b) gives rise, or is likely to give rise, to the abnormal concentration of any substance in any plant, animal or organism above natural concentrations; or

(c) adversely affects, or is likely to adversely affect, the use or value of the receiving waters for recreational, commercial, domestic, agricultural or industrial purposes; or

(d) contains sufficient heat, or is likely to generate sufficient heat by itself or in combination with other matter, to ignite or cause fire; or

(e) gives rise, or is likely to give rise, to undesirable, abnormal or harmful growth of a plant, animal, virus or organism.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  A person must not dilute a controlled waste with any other waste or any other substance to lower the concentration of contaminants to a level where it is not a controlled waste requiring regulation, unless the person has received an environmental approval from the Director under regulation 12 to do so.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

9.   Approved management method

(1)  The Director may approve a management method for the management of a waste.

(2)  A management method is to specify the minimum requirements for the management of the waste, including its storage, handling, reuse, reprocessing, recycling, treatment and disposal.

(3)  Where the Director approves a management method, he or she is to publish notice of the approval of that method in the Gazette.

(4)  An approved method has effect from the day of publication of the notice under subregulation (3) .

(5)  The Director may, by notice published in the Gazette, revoke or amend an approved method.

(6)  The revocation or amendment of an approved method has effect from the day of publication of the notice under subregulation (5) .

PART 3 - Management of General Waste

10.   Disposal of general waste

(1)  Subject to subregulation (2) , a person must not receive, store, reuse, recycle, reprocess, salvage, incinerate, treat, dispose of or use for energy recovery general waste otherwise than –

(a) as approved; or

(b) in accordance with a method approved by the Director.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  Subregulation (1) does not apply to –

(a) the deposit of soil, rock, concrete, bitumen or similar non-putrescible material that –

(i) is not contaminated by other waste; and

(ii) does not contain contaminant levels exceeding limits set by the Director; or

(b) the domestic composting of green and organic waste.

(3)  For the purposes of subregulation (2)(b) , the following are green and organic waste:

(a) wood sawdust, shavings and chips;

(b) non-contaminated timber and treated timber;

(c) non-contaminated lumber and treated lumber;

(d) paper;

(e) agricultural materials;

(f) silvicultural materials;

(g) tree debris and stumps;

(h) diseased trees;

(i) grass;

(j) weeds;

(k) any other waste declared by the Director by notice published in the Gazette to be green and organic waste.

11.   Prohibited activities at facilities

(1)  A facility operator must not accept the following waste at a facility:

(a) liquid or semi-liquid waste;

(b) hot ash;

(c) material that is burning or smouldering;

(d) material that is likely to spontaneously combust;

(e) an explosive;

(f) live ammunition.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units.

(2)  Subregulation (1) does not apply in respect of a facility approved for receiving the relevant waste.

(3)  A person must not set fire to, or burn, waste at a facility otherwise than with the approval of the Director and the Tasmania Fire Service.

(4)  A person must not, without the approval of the owner of the facility, the facility operator or the Director –

(a) enter a facility otherwise than to deposit waste; or

(b) remain on a facility after depositing waste; or

(c) interfere with, or remove waste from, a facility.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 20 penalty units.

PART 4 - Miscellaneous

12.   Environmental approvals

(1)  The Director may issue an environmental approval for the reuse, reprocessing, recycling, treatment, energy recovery or disposal of specified controlled wastes or classes of controlled waste.

(2)  A person may apply in writing to the Director for an environmental approval under this Part.

(3)  An application is to include the following details:

(a) a description of the waste;

(b) the physical state of the waste;

(c) any hazardous characteristics of the waste;

(d) any known contaminants in the waste and their concentration;

(e) any contaminants that may reasonably be suspected to be in the waste;

(f) any containment or packaging of the waste;

(g) the amount of waste;

(h) the origin of the waste, including –

(i) the name and address of the waste producer; and

(ii) the place of production of the waste; and

(iii) the nature of the activity by which the waste is generated;

(i) the period to which the application relates;

(j) any proposed form of storage, disposal, reprocessing, reuse, recycling or energy recovery of the waste, including the rate of waste input;

(k) any waste minimisation or management plans prepared by, or for, the applicant;

(l) any risk management and environmental management measures to be undertaken;

(m) any alternative options for reuse, reprocessing or recycling of the waste;

(n) any monitoring measures, management process or sampling or analysis proposed to prevent, or minimise the risk of, environmental harm;

(o) any other information the Director requires to determine the application.

(4)  An environmental approval may –

(a) specify –

(i) the quantity and class or type of controlled waste or individual consignment of controlled waste that may be dealt with under the approval; and

(ii) any other relevant characteristics of the waste to which the approval relates; and

(b) give directions as to the manner in which the controlled waste is to be managed to prevent or minimise the risk of environmental harm; and

(c) specify the period for which the approval is in effect; and

(d) include any other requirements the Director considers necessary or desirable to prevent or minimise the risk of environmental harm.

(5)  The Director may refuse an application under subregulation (2) if –

(a) the applicant has been convicted of an offence against the Act or these regulations, or any other offence that relates to dealing with a controlled waste; or

(b) the Director reasonably believes the application contains, or is accompanied by, information that is false or misleading to a significant extent.

(6)  An environmental approval to reuse a controlled waste may not be issued in relation to infectious or potentially infectious waste, medical or clinical waste, chlorinated hydrocarbons or a waste dealt with under a National Management Plan.

(7)  An environmental approval issued under this regulation does not affect a requirement under the Act or any other Act.

(8)  A person who is aggrieved by a decision of the Director to refuse an application may appeal to the Appeal Tribunal.

13.   Rescission of Environment Protection (Waste Disposal) Regulations 1974 and amendments

The Environment Protection (Waste Disposal) Regulations 1974 and subsequent amendments to those regulations are rescinded.

14.   Expiry

These regulations expire on 30 June 2005.

Displayed and numbered in accordance with the Rules Publication Act 1953.

Notified in the Gazette on 20 December 2000

These regulations are administered in the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the regulation)

These regulations make provision in respect of –

(a) the management of controlled waste and general waste; and

(b) miscellaneous matters relating to waste.