Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste) Regulation 2000 (2000-192) [GG No 57 of 12.5.2000, p 3837] (NSW)
2000 No 192
| Protection of the Environment | New South Wales |
Operations Amendment (Waste)
Regulation 2000
under the
Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997
His Excellency the Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, has made the following Regulation under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.
BOB DEBUS, M.P.,
Minister for the Environment
Explanatory note
Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 specifies “premises-based” activities under the Act. The Act requires the occupier of the premises at which such an activity is carried on to be the holder of a licence authorising the activity to be carried on at those premises.
The objects of this Regulation are:
| (a) | to vary the operation of Part 1 of Schedule 1 in certain respects, and |
| (b) | to clarify the way in which it operates. |
One category of premises whose occupier requires a licence is a waste facility (as defined in the Dictionary to the Act). Certain landfill sites (as defined in Schedule 1 to the Act) are waste facilities.
| Published in Gazette No 57 of 12 May 2000, page 3837 | Page 1 |
| [8] | |
| 2000 No 192 | |
| Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste) Regulation 2000 | |
| Explanatory note |
This Regulation amends Schedule 1 to the Act to make it clear that premises to which waste is applied (for example, by spraying or spreading) are waste facilities (unless the premises are specified in the Schedule as not being waste facilities). It does this by replacing the definition of “landfill site” with a definition of landfill or application site and by replacing references to “landfill sites” with references to “landfill or application sites”—Schedule 1 [1], [2] and [6].
At present, clause (3) (d) of the matter relating to waste facilities in Schedule l to the Act provides that premises on which “organic waste” (and no other type of waste) is applied for agricultural or environmental rehabilitation purposes are not waste facilities.
This Regulation replaces clause (3) (d) with new paragraphs that specify the kinds of organic waste concerned and (in effect) provide that some kinds of organic waste (such as untreated grease trap waste) cannot be disposed of on any premises, and other kinds of organic waste (such as animal waste and wood waste) cannot be disposed of on premises in the Sydney metropolitan area or the local government areas of Blue Mountains, Cessnock, Gosford, Kiama, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, Wollongong or Wyong, without rendering the premises concerned a waste facility—Schedule 1 [3].
This Regulation also amends Schedule 1 to the Act so as:
| (a) | to insert additional definitions for the purposes of the new clause (3) (d) and (d1)—Schedule 1 [4], and |
| (b) | to replace the definition of food waste and amend the definition of putrescible waste—Schedule 1 [5] and [7], |
| (c) | to specify the circumstances in which the application of waste to land is for agricultural purposes or for environmental rehabilitation purposes—Schedule 1 [8], and |
| (d) | to specify the types of organic waste that are excluded from the categories of flammable solids and substances liable to spontaneous combustion that are specified as hazardous waste—Schedule 1 [9]. |
This Regulation is made under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, and, in particular, under sections 5 (3) and 323 (the general regulation- making power).
2000 No 192
| Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste) | Clause 1 |
| Regulation 2000 | |
| Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste) Regulation 2000 |
1 Name of Regulation
This Regulation is the Protection of the Environment Operations
Amendment (Waste) Regulation 2000.
2 Commencement
This Regulation commences on 1 June 2000.
3 Amendment of Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997
The Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 is amended as set out in Schedule 1.
4 Notes
The explanatory note does not form part of this Regulation.
2000 No 192
Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste)
Regulation 2000
| Schedule 1 | Amendments |
| Schedule 1 | Amendments |
(Clause 3)
[1] Schedule 1 Schedule of EPA–licensed activities
Omit from paragraphs (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j) of the matter relating to Waste facilities in Part 1 “landfill sites” wherever occurring (including in the headings to those paragraphs).
Insert instead “landfill or application sites”.
[2] Schedule 1, Part 1, matter relating to “Waste facilities”
Omit from paragraphs (f) and (g) “landfill site” wherever occurring.
Insert instead “landfill or application site”.[3] Schedule 1, Part 1, matter relating to “Waste facilities”
Omit clause (3) (d). Insert instead:
(d)
premises (other than premises in the extended regulated area, the local government area of Blue Mountains or Wollondilly or the Sydney metropolitan area) on which any one or more of the following types of organic waste (and no other type of waste) is applied to land for agricultural or environmental rehabilitation purposes:
(i) animal waste, (ii) food waste, (iii) natural organic fibrous materials waste, (iv) wood waste, (v)
a type of waste specified in paragraph (d1) (i)–(vii),
(vi)
any mixture of the types of wastes specified in subparagraphs (i)–(v),
(d1)
premises (being premises in the extended regulated area, the local government area of Blue Mountains or Wollondilly or the Sydney metropolitan area) on which any one or more of the following types of organic waste (and no other type of waste) is applied to land for agricultural or environmental rehabilitation purposes:
2000 No 192
Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste)
Regulation 2000
| Amendments | Schedule 1 |
(i) garden waste,
(ii) biosolids categorised as Unrestricted Use in accordance with the criteria set out in the Biosolids Guidelines,
(iii) biosolids categorised as Restricted Use 1, 2 or 3 in accordance with the criteria set out in the Biosolids Guidelines (but only if they are applied to the land in accordance with those Guidelines),
(iv) liquid food waste,
(v) manure,
(vi) treated grease trap waste from the preparation or manufacturing of food,
(vii) any mixture of the types of wastes specified in subparagraphs (i)–(vi),
[4] Schedule 1, Part 3, Interpretative provisions
Insert the following definitions in alphabetical order in Division 2:
animal waste includes dead animals and animal parts and any mixture of those materials, but does not include any animal waste that constitutes Group A waste, hazardous waste or industrial waste.
garden waste means branches, grass, leaves, plants, loppings, tree trunks, tree stumps and the like, and includes any mixture of those materials, but does not include any garden waste that constitutes Group A waste, hazardous waste or industrial waste. grease trap waste means any greases, oils, solids, water or other matter that has collected in a grease trap in the usual course of the operation of the grease trap.
liquid food waste means food waste in liquid form, but does
not include food waste to which liquid has been added.
manure includes any mixture of manure and biodegradable
animal bedding (such as straw), but does not include any
manure that constitutes Group A waste, hazardous waste or
industrial waste.
natural organic fibrous materials waste means bagasse, peat,
seed hulls and husks, straw and the like, and includes any
2000 No 192
Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste)
Regulation 2000
| Schedule 1 | Amendments |
mixture of those materials, but does not include any natural organic fibrous material that constitutes Group A waste, hazardous waste or industrial waste.
treated grease trap waste means grease trap waste that has undergone treatment to remove material that can float, being treatment that includes (or is equivalent to) leaving the grease trap waste to settle by operation of gravity for at least 4 hours, so that only aqueous liquid waste and the settleable portions of the grease trap waste remain, but does not include any treated grease trap waste that constitutes Group A waste, hazardous waste or industrial waste.
wood waste means sawdust, timber offcuts, wooden crates, wooden packaging, wooden pallets, wood shavings and the like, and includes any mixture of those materials, but does not include:
(a) any treated wood, or (b) any wood waste that constitutes Group A waste, hazardous waste or industrial waste.
[5] Schedule 1, Part 3, Division 2, definition of “food waste”
Omit the definition. Insert instead:
food waste means:
(a)
the by-products of any one or more of the following activities:
(i)
the preparation or manufacturing of food (including beverages),
(ii) the processing of meat, poultry or fish, or (b)
food that is unwanted or is no longer fit for the purpose for which it was intended (because, for example, it is spoilt or past its use-by date),
but does not include any of the following:
(c) grease trap waste, (d) packaging, (e)
any food waste that constitutes Group A waste, hazardous waste or industrial waste.
2000 No 192
Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste)
Regulation 2000
| Amendments | Schedule 1 |
[6] Schedule 1, Part 3, Division 2, definition of “landfill site”
Omit the definition. Insert instead:
landfill or application site means a waste facility used for the purpose of disposing waste to land, including (but not limited to) disposal by any of the following methods:
(a) spraying or spreading the waste on the land, (b) ploughing the waste into the land, (c) injecting the waste into the land, (d) mixing the waste into the land, (e) depositing the waste on the land.
[7] Schedule 1, Part 3, Division 2, definition of “putrescible waste”
Insert after paragraph (b):
(b1) grease trap waste, or
[8] Schedule 1, Part 3, Division 2
Insert at the end of the Division:
(2) For the purposes of this Schedule, waste is applied to land for
agricultural purposes only if:
(a)
the agricultural purpose is the dominant purpose of applying the waste, and
(b)
the application of the waste supplies nutriment (whether directly or indirectly) to the land and so maintains or improves (and is not likely to harm) the productivity, quality, development or reproductive capacity of vegetation on the land, and
(c)
the application of the waste (taking into account the manner of its application) does not, and is not likely to, result in the deterioration of the land (for example, through soil structure degradation, salinisation, waterlogging, erosion or the build-up of heavy metals or other contaminants), and
(d)
the application of the waste does not, and is not likely to, constitute a risk to public health.
2000 No 192
Protection of the Environment Operations Amendment (Waste)
Regulation 2000
| Schedule 1 | Amendments |
(3) For the purposes of this Schedule, waste is applied to land for
environmental rehabilitation purposes only if:
(a) the environmental rehabilitation purpose is the dominant purpose of applying the waste, and (b) the application of the waste improves the ability of the soil to sustain vegetation on the land by directly or indirectly improving soil characteristics, and (c) the application of the waste (taking into account the manner of its application) does not, and is not likely to, result in the deterioration of the land (for example, through soil structure degradation, salinisation, waterlogging, erosion or the build-up of heavy metals or other contaminants), and (d) the application of the waste does not, and is not likely to, constitute a risk to public health.
[9] Schedule 1, Appendix to Part 3
(e) of Part 3 (Types of hazardous waste) of the Appendix.
Omit “excluding organic waste” wherever occurring from clause (1) (c) and wood waste”.
BY AUTHORITY
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