Regulatory, policy and legislative updates
Summary of recent regulatory, policy and legislative updates. Listed with most recent update first.
2025
| Date of change | Summary | Legislation, regulation, policy or other |
|---|---|---|
| 5 December | Acid sulfate soil order The requirements that must be met by a supplier of | Order and exemption |
| 20 November | Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approvals Protocols: Protocol 31: Matters covered by the approval Amended on 20 November 2025 to include a note to a Ministerial Direction issued by the Minister for Agriculture directing Forestry Corporation of NSW to reduce the volumes of various timber products taken by harvesting operations in native forests in the north east region of New South Wales. | Protocols |
| 11 November | New PFAS monitoring requirements open for comment Public Consultation on the proposed PFAS Monitoring Chemical Control Order is open until Tuesday 10 February 2026. | Consultation |
| 9 November | NSW Plastics Plan 2.0 Sets out our next steps to reduce plastic waste in the environment and in landfill, with actions staged between 2026 and 2030 to ensure businesses, communities, and regulators have enough time to transition to the new requirements. | Policy |
| 22 October | Waste and Circular Infrastructure Plan The first part of its infrastructure plan to prevent a waste crisis in NSW. This plan also incorporates updated settings on Energy from Waste, following the recent review. | Policy |
| 17 October | Oyster shells to be used on land Clear standards have been released by the NSW EPA, outlining how oyster shell waste should be dried, processed and applied to land to improve soil health and reduce acidity. | Order and exemption |
| 29 August | Protection from Harmful Radiation Regulation 2025 The Protection from Harmful Radiation Regulation 2025 commenced on 29 August 2025. The 2025 Regulation replaces the Protection from Harmful Radiation Regulation 2013 following a review of the 2013 Regulation. The 2025 Regulation continues and strengthens requirements for the safe management and use of radiation to protect people and the environment against the harmful effects of radiation and minimise unnecessary exposure, while enabling its beneficial use. | Legislation Regulation |
| July | Management of asbestos in recovered fines and recovered materials for beneficial reuse in NSW Advice from the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer (OCSE) looks to balance risk with promoting safe removal and effective management of asbestos. | Policy |
| 28 March | Product Lifecycle Responsibility Bill 2025 Creates a framework for suppliers of certain products to participate in mandatory stewardship schemes. This means that those who make and sell products must adhere to requirements on design and manufacturing, reuse and recycling and safe disposal options of their product. | Bill (passed 28/3/25) Legislation |
| 25 February | FOGO mandates and rollout Food Organics and Garden Organics (FOGO) collection services to begin:
| Legislation |
| Date of change | Summary | Legislation, regulation or policy |
|---|---|---|
| 27 May 2024 | Forestry: amendment of the site-specific biodiversity conditions to ensure further protection for greater gliders In addition to the protections starting on 16 February 2024:
| Policy |
| 25 March 2024 | New national standard for the environmental risk management of industrial chemicals The regulation of environmentally hazardous chemicals now occurs through the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) and key provisions from the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act 1985 (EHC Act) and regulation will be transferred to the POEO Act. The EHC Act is now repealed. Environmental Legislation Amendment (Hazardous Chemicals) Act 2024 | Legislation Regulation |
| 3 April 2024 | Landmark environmental regulatory reforms
Environment Protection Legislation Amendment (Stronger Regulation and Penalties) Act 2024 | Legislation |
| 28 February 2024 | Integrated waste tracking solution Enables waste consignors, transporters and receivers to track and report on all types of hazardous and regulated waste in one system. It is a key step towards delivering a nationally consistent hazardous waste tracking and data system, a commitment under the National Waste Policy Action Plan and NSW Waste and Sustainable Materials Strategy 2041. | Policy Tools |
| 16 February 2024 | Forestry: updates to Coastal IFOAs to ensure further protection for greater gliders Change to the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA) protocol, introducing a site-specific biodiversity condition for greater gliders that requires the retention of additional hollow bearing trees. This includes undertaking surveys for greater gliders and their dens at night, with results available to the EPA within 7 days of the survey and extra tree retention provisions. | Policy |
| Phase-outs from June 2022 | Banning of certain single-use plastics The NSW Plastics Action Plan highlights the phase-out of certain single-use plastics as a key action, with a timetable for phasing out the most littered plastic items. The Plastic Reduction and Circular Economy Act 2021 (PRCE Act) was made in November 2021 to enable this to occur. The legislation also provides a comprehensive framework that helps NSW transition towards a circular economy where materials and resources are valued and kept in the productive economy while creating jobs and protecting the environment and the community. | Legislation Policy |