74GSite management notice

74G Site management notice

(1)  The Director may issue a site management notice in respect of an area of land that is a contaminated site for the purpose of ensuring the safe management of the contaminated site and the pollutant that is polluting it.

(2)  The Director may serve a site management notice in respect of an area of land on any one or more of the following persons:

(a) any person the Director reasonably believes is, or is likely to be, wholly or partly responsible for causing the area of land to be a contaminated site;

(b) the owner, occupier or person in charge of the area of land;

(c) any other person if written documentation has been provided to the Director showing to the satisfaction of the Director that the person has accepted responsibility for the management of the pollution of the area of land, either specifically or as part of a more general acceptance of responsibility in relation to the pollution of the area of land.

(3)  For the purposes of subsection (2)(a) and without limiting that subsection, an owner, occupier or person in charge, or former owner, occupier or person in charge, of an area of land (the "pollutant source land") may be taken to be responsible for causing the pollutant source land, or another area of land, in respect of which the site management notice is issued to be a contaminated site if he or she, while such an owner, occupier or person in charge, in the opinion of the Director –

(a) knew, suspected or reasonably should have suspected that there was in, on or under the pollutant source land a pollutant in a concentration greater than the background concentration; and

(b) allowed, is likely to have allowed or is likely to allow the pollutant to escape or be discharged, emitted or released into, on or under the pollutant source land or that other area of land.

(4)  Without limiting the works or actions that a site management notice may require a person on whom it is served to do or take, a site management notice may require a person to do or take one or more of the following works or actions:

(a) the erection of a fence, wall, bund or other barrier;

(b) testing and monitoring for the purpose of detecting any changes in the nature and extent of any risk of harm to persons or environmental harm that is or may be caused by the relevant pollutant in, on or under the contaminated site when that site is used in accordance with its existing land use or a proposed land use;