A Pollution Incident Response Management Plan (PIRMP) is a document that outlines what procedures are in place to minimise the risk of a pollution incident on a premises. This includes having clear and effective notification, action and communication procedures to ensure the incident is dealt with safely, and all relevant people and authorities are notified, and kept informed throughout the incident.
All holders of environment protection licences, or licensees, are required to prepare a PIRMP in accordance with section 153A of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act).
To assist licensees with preparing a PIRMP, the NSW EPA has developed a PIRMP Guideline, which provides details on the legislative requirements, and how to prepare, test and implement the plan. This Guideline was updated in 2019.
PIRMP Guideline
The Guideline: Pollution Incident Response Management Plans (PIRMP Guideline)(PDF 13MB) sets out the PIRMP requirements for licensees under the POEO Act and the Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Regulation 2022 (the General Regulation).
It is designed to help licensees (or other persons required to develop a PIRMP) to meet their legislative obligations by providing
- plain English summaries of the legal obligations
- additional detail to help licensees comply with their obligations
- two PIRMP templates, one for premises-based licensees and mobile plant licensees (Word DOCX 139KB) and another for transporters of trackable waste (Word DOCX 135KB), as an optional resource to assist licensees develop their PIRMPs.
Consultation on draft PIRMP Guidelines
In mid-2019 the EPA sought feedback on draft revised PIRMP Guidelines and templates. All feedback was taken into consideration when the revised Guideline was finalised.
Feedback included written submissions and responses to a licensee survey.
The EPA has developed a summary of the consultation feedback: PIRMP Guidelines to provide information on the major issues raised, the EPA’s responses and the survey responses.
It should be noted that while the Guideline has been revised, there has not been any changes to licensees’ legislative obligations in relation to PIRMPs.
Frequently asked questions
The EPA has developed a series of FAQs in relation to the PIRMP requirements.