Skip to main content Skip to navigation
NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)
NSW EPA logo
  • Legislation and compliance
  • News and media
NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA)
  • Your environment
    • Back
    • Air
    • Chemicals
    • Climate change
    • Contaminated land
    • Dangerous goods
    • Household building and renovation
    • Illegal dumping
    • Litter
    • Native forestry
    • Noise
    • Onshore gas industry
    • Pesticides
    • Plastics
    • Radiation
    • Recycling and reuse
    • Waste
    • Water
  • Reporting, incidents and recovery programs
    • Back
    • Flood recovery programs
    • Bushfire recovery
    • Duty to self-report pollution
    • Report pollution
  • Licensing and Regulation
    • Back
    • Legislation and compliance
    • Licensing
    • Public registers
    • Policies and guidelines
    • Do I need a licence?
    • Authorised officers and enforcement officers
  • Working together
    • Back
    • Community engagement
    • Grants
    • Have Your Say – public consultation
    • Our stories
    • Partnerships with the EPA
    • For local government
    • EPA roadshows
    • Engaging with young people
    • Doing business with us
  • About us
    • Back
    • What we do
    • Our organisation
    • Our response to Covid-19
    • Media centre
    • Publications and reports
    • Access to information
    • Careers with us
    • Contact us
  • Legislation and compliance
  • News and media
Dialogue start
    Dialogue end
    Photograph of water in the ocean
    1. Home
    2. Newsletters
    3. EPA Connect newsletter
    4. December 2021
    5. Landmark environment legislation closes loopholes
    6. ...
    • Print
    • Mail

    Landmark environment legislation closes loopholes

    The Environment Protection Legislation Amendment Bill was introduced into NSW Parliament in November. This hallmark legislation is intended to enable the EPA to crack down on environmental crime and care for our land and waterways, by closing loopholes and regulating against avoidable pollution and incidents

    pile of illegally dumped rubbish on public

    New environment protection legislation will crack down on crime like illegal dumping

    The new legislation, if passed after being debated in early 2022, will help tighten existing environmental laws, ensuring people or companies that commit crimes or benefit from them, pay for them or are held to account, and innocent landholders and communities are protected from financial and human health impacts.

    “Over the past three years alone, loopholes in environmental laws have resulted in over 132,000 tonnes of contaminated waste being illegally dumped in communities putting human health and the environment at risk,” EPA Executive Director Regulatory Policy Nancy Chang said.

    “The government or innocent landholders are being left with substantial costs to clean up this contamination.

    “The Bill proposes changes to the POEO Act, Contaminated Land Management Act, Pesticides Act and Radiation Control Act to improve their effectiveness to respond to changing criminal behaviours.

    “This new legislation will expand our regulatory powers and tools to ensure those responsible for contamination and pollution can be made to clean it up or manage it into the future, including the ability to take action against multiple people that contributed to a crime.

    “It will enable us to increase penalty amounts to deter criminal activity and reflect the true cost of those crimes.”

    The proposed increases bring the penalties in line with similar offences under other Acts such as the Crime Act 1900 and the Corporations Act 2001 (Commonwealth).

    Find out more

     

    Articles in this issue

    • Message from the CEO
    • Landmark environment legislation closes loopholes
    • Plastics Plan and waste strategy forge ahead
    • Snapshot
    • New milestone and children's charity for Return and Earn
    • Eden community celebrates bushfire clean-up
    • Around the Grounds
    • Happy sustainable Christmas!
    Subscribe to EPA Connect newsletter

    For business and industry

    • Public registers
    • Duty to notify pollution incidents
    • Recycling and reuse
    • Waste
    • Legislation and compliance
    • Environment protection licences
    • Guide to licensing
    • Dangerous goods

    For local government

    • Information and resources for local government

    Contact us

    • 131 555
    • Online
    • info@epa.nsw.gov.au
    • EPA Office Locations
    • Accessibility
    • Disclaimer
    • Privacy
    • Copyright
    Find us on
    Please consider the environment before printing.