What's new: 2005
December 2005
Sydney drinking water catchment
Audit of the Sydney drinking water catchment 2005 is the fourth independent audit report of this catchment.
Biodiversity banking scheme
BioBanking: a biodiversity offsets and banking scheme - working paper for comment
Recycled organics for erosion control
Recycled Organics in Catchment Management: Final Report - results of scientific trials undertaken over a three-year period into the use of recycled organics for erosion control and catchment management
Environment restoration
City & Country Environment Restoration Program provides funding of $439 million over five years for restoring our icon wetlands, protecting our marine environment, securing the high conservation values of our crown lands and reducing the ecological footprint of our urban centres.
Residue wastes exemptions
Residue wastes - general exemptions under the Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 2005, which facilitate applying some residue wastes to land, were gazetted on 1 December.
November 2005
Extended producer responsibility
Extended producer responsibility - public consultation report on submissions received on the EPR Priority Statement 2004
Sustainability compact
Sustainability compact: Hewlett-Packard Australia - business partnerships on sustainability projects.
Protecting the environment and your business
Liquid waste fact sheets - Protecting the environment and your business
Ethnic communities
The Environment and Ethnic Communities in 2004 - social research report
Learning for Sustainability
Learning for Sustainability: NSW Environmental Education Plan 2006-09 - draft for comment by Nov 14.
October 2005
Beachwatch & Harbourwatch
State of the Beaches, 2004-05: Sydney, Hunter & Illawarra regions
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee
Members sought for DEC's new Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee.
The committee will advise the Director-General of the Department of Environment and Conservation and the Minister for the Environment on matters relating to the identification, assessment and management of Aboriginal cultural heritage in NSW.
Send us your nomination before 30 November 2005.
September 2005
New publications on recycled organics
Four new publications on recycled organics
Recycling for local government
Four new publications on recycling for local government
Threatened species website
Threatened species, populations and ecological communities of NSW: what they look like, where and how they live, why they're threatened, and what we can do to help bring them back from the brink of extinction
August 2005
Air pollution
Air pollution modelling and assessment, and sampling and analysis - approved methods revised
Waste regulation
The Protection of the Environment Operations (Waste) Regulation 1996 was repealed on 1 September 2005 in accordance with the Subordinate Legislation Act. As an interim measure, the POEO (Waste) Regulation 2005 has been made and this carries over all the provisions of the 1996 Regulation until 1 March 2006. This timeframe allows DEC to seek the community's views on the new provisions in the revised regulation and to make any appropriate amendments to those provisions before they commence in March 2006.
Contaminated land
Information for the Assessment of Former Gasworks Sites provides general information for the assessment of former gasworks sites and is not prepared as a guideline for the purposes of s.105 of the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997.
New publication
Biodiversity Certification and Banking in Coastal and Growth Areas- sets out how the new concepts of "biodiversity certi.cation" and "biodiversity banking" will operate in areas where high population growth and economic development are transforming the landscape and causing irreversible biodiversity loss. Available as PDF.
July 2005
Compliance audit program
Piggeries Compliance Performance Report presents the key findings of compliance audits carried out on a representative sample of premises within the piggery industry sector in NSW.
State of the Parks 2004
State of the Parks 2004 report
June 2005
Consultation draft Bill
Consultation draft of Protection of the Environment Operations Bill 2005 is currently available for public comment until 22 July 2005.
Recovering Western Sydney's precious patches
New guidelines: Recovering bushland on the Cumberland Plain: best practice guidelines for the management and restoration of bushland.
Environmental management on the urban fringe
Four new publications on environmental management on properties located within the rural urban fringe.
Effective stormwater education case studies
Three new detailed case studies on stormwater education: Bronte Catchment Citizen's Jury, Cooks River environmental assessment and education project and Waverley Council - effective environmental education.
May 2005
Pesticide use
Implementation of the Pesticides Act 1999 - a report by the Pesticides Implementation Committee provides recommendations for future government and industry action to reduce the risks associated with pesticide use.
Revitalising Sydney's National Parks
Revitalising Sydney's National Parks - NSW Government Budget Commitments 2005-08
April 2005
Three-time award winner
DEC has won a prestigious National Trust award for its ambitious long-term plan to improve the Audley area in Royal National Park. Audley was one of three DEC winners of the Energy Australia National Trust Heritage awards. The others were DEC's Aboriginal Women's Heritage program, which won the Cultural Heritage category, and David Keith and Elizabeth Tasker, who won the Education category with their book Ocean Shores to Desert Dunes.
Air toxics
Ambient concentrations of toxic organic compounds in NSW: internal working paper #2, presents the measurement results and a statistical analysis of the concentrations of 41 organic air toxic compounds in ambient air at five representative sites over several years
Annual report
Threatened species
Conserving biodiversity: Threatened Species Legislation Amendment Act 2004 - The Amendment Act integrates conservation more closely with the state's land-use planning and natural resource management laws.
March 2005
Clean Air Forum 2004
NSW Clean Air Forum 2004: Proceedings of the NSW Clean Air Forum held in November 2004
Review of arsenic timber treatments - final report
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has released the final review report on the findings and regulatory outcomes of arsenic timber treatments (copper chrome arsenate (CCA) and arsenic trioxide).
Noise survey
Neighbourhood noise survey results - conducted to inform the DEC's five-yearly review of noise regulations.
Load Calculation Protocol
Updated pollution Load Calculation Protocol gazetted 25 February. The major change to the previous version of the Protocol is that licensees are able to apply to the EPA to use site-specific emission factors to calculate loads of pollutants for all components of each LBL activity (ie. EF-SS has been included in every Part B Table). It also includes other amendments already approved (eg. revised primary iron and steel production protocol which was approved in August 2003) and other text changes to clarify issues raised by users and to simplify the language used in the document.
February 2005
New strategy to guide sustainable park visitation
Comment on the draft 'Living Parks' strategy, which aims to improve both improve park visitor experiences and park conservation.
Botany Groundwater Cleanup Project
Botany Groundwater Cleanup Project - Determination Report
Wood preservation industry
Environmental compliance report - wood preservation industry and questions and answers on the wood preservation industry.
January 2005
Environment Trust grants 2004-05
Environmental Trust grants $6.3 million in 2004-05
Effluent use
Environmental Guidelines: Use of Effluent by Irrigation provides guidance on the beneficial use of effluent and outlines how this can be accomplished in an ecologically sustainable and socially responsible way. This guideline is educational and advisory, not a mandatory or regulatory tool, and does not introduce new environmental requirements.
Protecting Aboriginal objects and places - interim guidelines
Protecting Aboriginal objects and places - interim guidelines for community consultation under Part 6 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act (NPW Act).