60Duty to report contamination

#### 60 Duty to report contamination 60 Duty to report contamination > > (1) A person whose activities have contaminated land must notify the EPA in writing in accordance with this section that the land has been so contaminated. > > > > Maximum penalty— > > > > > (a) for a corporation—$2,000,000 and, for a continuing offence, a further penalty of $240,000 for each day the offence continues, or > > > > > (b) for an individual—$500,000 and, for a continuing offence, a further penalty of $120,000 for each day the offence continues. > > > (2) An owner of land that has been contaminated (whether before or during the owner’s ownership of the land) must notify the EPA in writing in accordance with this section that the land has been so contaminated. > > > > Maximum penalty— > > > > > (a) for a corporation—$2,000,000 and, for a continuing offence, a further penalty of $240,000 for each day the offence continues, or > > > > > (b) for an individual—$500,000 and, for a continuing offence, a further penalty of $120,000 for each day the offence continues. > > > (3) A person is required to notify the EPA under subsection (1) or (2) only if— > > > > > (a) each of the following is true— > > > > > > > (i) the substance contaminating the land (the contaminant) or any by-product of the contaminant has entered or will foreseeably enter neighbouring land, the atmosphere, groundwater or surface water, > > > > > > > (ii) the regulations prescribe for the purposes of this subparagraph, or the guidelines specify, a level of the contaminant or by-product in the neighbouring land, atmosphere, groundwater or surface water, > > > > > > > (iii) the level of the contaminant or by-product after that entry is, or will foreseeably be, above the level prescribed or specified and will foreseeably continue to remain above that level, or > > > > > (b) a guideline specifies a level of the contaminant in soils with respect to a current or approved use of the land and the level of the contaminant on or in any part of the soil on that land is equal to or above that specified in the guideline and a person has been, or foreseeably will be, exposed to the contaminant or any by-product of the contaminant, or > > > > > (c) the contamination meets any other criteria that may be prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this subsection. > > > (4) A person is required to notify the EPA under this section as soon as practicable after the person becomes aware of the contamination. > > > (5) A person is taken to be aware of contamination for the purposes of this section if the person ought reasonably to have been aware of the contamination. > > > (6) A notice under this section is to be in a form approved by the EPA and is to specify the following matters to the extent that they are within the knowledge of the person required to give the notice— > > > > > (a) the location of the land, > > > > > (b) the activities that have contaminated the land, > > > > > (c) the nature of the contamination, > > > > > (d) the nature of the risk posed by the contamination, > > > > > (e) any other matter prescribed by the regulations. > > > (7) Information provided by a person for the purpose of complying with this section is not admissible as evidence in any proceedings against that person for an offence under the environment protection legislation (except in proceedings for an offence under this section). > > > (8) The EPA may identify land as significantly contaminated land or make an order under Part 3 in respect of any person, whether or not the person has notified the EPA in accordance with this section. > > > (9) The following are to be taken into account in determining when a person should reasonably have become aware of contamination— > > > > > (a) the person’s abilities, including his or her experience, qualifications and training, > > > > > (b) whether the person could reasonably have sought advice that would have made the person aware of the contamination, > > > > > (c) the circumstances of the contamination. > > > (10) The regulations may exempt, or provide for the exemption of— > > > > > (a) any person or class of persons, or > > > > > (b) any premises or class of premises, or > > > > > (c) any area or class of areas, or > > > > > (d) any activity or class of activities, or > > > > > (e) any other matter or thing or class of matters or things, > > > > from any specified provision or provisions of this section in such circumstances (if any) and subject to such conditions (if any) as may be specified or referred to in the regulations. > > > (11) In this section, a reference to the level of a contaminant or by-product of a contaminant includes a reference to the concentration of the contaminant or by-product. > > Note. > > An offence against subsection (1) or (2) committed by a corporation is an executive liability offence attracting executive liability for a director or other person involved in the management of the corporation—see section 98. > > **s 60:** Subst 2008 No 111, Sch 1 \[15\]. Am 2012 No 97, Sch 1.5 \[3\]; 2014 No 65, Sch 1.1 \[9\]; 2022 No 3, Sch 1\[23\] \[24\].