4 Interpretation
(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
activity means a current or proposed activity and includes a current
or proposed process, operation, project, venture or business.
air includes any layer of the atmosphere.
approved means approved in writing by the NT EPA.
auditor, in relation to an environmental audit program, means a
person who carries out an environmental audit for the purposes of
the program.
authorised officer means an authorised officer appointed under
section 70.
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best practice environmental management means the
management of an activity or premises in a cost-effective manner
that, having regard to national or international practices for
management of activities or premises of the same kind, ensures the
continued minimisation of the actual or potential environmental
impact of the activity or premises.
best practice licence means:
(a) a best practice licence granted under section 34; or
(b) a licence that is to be taken to be a best practice licence by
virtue of section 44(6).
code of practice means a code of practice approved under
section 13.
compliance plan means a compliance plan approved under
section 61.
contaminant means a solid, liquid or gas or any combination of
such substances and includes:
(a) noise, odour, heat and electromagnetic radiation;
(b) a prescribed substance or prescribed class of substances; and
(c) a substance having a prescribed property or prescribed class
of properties.
ecologically sustainable development, see section 4 of the
Environment Protection Act 2019.
emergency authorisation, see section 46A.
environment means land, air, water, organisms and ecosystems
and includes:
(a) the well-being of humans;
(b) structures made or modified by humans;
(c) the amenity values of an area; and
(d) economic, cultural and social conditions.
environment protection approval means an approval granted
under section 34.
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environment protection licence means:
(a) an environment protection licence granted under section 34;
or
(b) a licence that is to be taken to be an environment protection
licence by virtue of section 44(3).
environmental audit has the meaning given in section 47.
environmental audit program means an environmental audit
program specified in a notice under section 48 or an order under
section 49.
environmental harm means:
(a) any harm to or adverse effect on the environment; or
(b) any potential harm (including the risk of harm and future harm)
to or potential adverse effect on the environment,
of any degree or duration and includes environmental nuisance.
environmental nuisance means:
(a) an adverse effect on the amenity of an area that:
(i) is caused by noise, smoke, dust, fumes or odour; and
(ii) unreasonably interferes with or is likely to unreasonably
interfere with the enjoyment of the area by persons who
occupy a place within the area or are otherwise lawfully
in the area; or
(b) an unsightly or offensive condition caused by contaminants or
waste.
environment protection objective means an environment
protection objective under Part 4 as amended and in force from
time to time.
environmental value means a feature of, or a use of, the
environment, or of a part of the environment, that is specified in an
environment protection objective under section 17(1)(b) as a
feature or use to be protected.
holder of an environment protection approval includes a person
to whom an environment protection approval has been transferred
under section 46.
Section 4 - Waste Management and Pollution Control Act 1998 - Interpretation | Zoe
Waste Management and Pollution Control Act 1998 4
holder of a licence includes a person to whom a licence has been
transferred under section 46.
improvement plan means a plan implementing in stages:
(a) improvements in waste management; or
(b) improvements in the prevention, reduction, control,
rectification or clean up of pollution or environmental harm
resulting from pollution,
that are consistent with this Act but which are improvements greater
than that required by or under this Act.
land includes water and air on, above or under land.
licence means a licence granted under this Act.
listed waste means a waste prescribed for the purposes of this
definition.
material environmental harm means environmental harm that:
(a) is not trivial or negligible in nature;
(b) consists of an environmental nuisance of a high impact or on a
wide scale;
(c) results, or is likely to result, in not more than $50,000 or the
prescribed amount (whichever is greater) being spent in taking
appropriate action to prevent or minimise the environmental
harm or rehabilitate the environment; or
(d) results in actual or potential loss or damage to the value of not
more than $50,000 or the prescribed amount (whichever is
greater).
monitoring means an action taken to detect or measure
qualitatively or quantitatively the presence or amount of any
substance, characteristic or effect.
national environment protection measure means a measure
made under section 14(1) of the National Environment Protection
Council (Northern Territory) Act 1994.
noise means a vibration of a frequency in the range of 0 to
20,000 Hertz.
NT EPA, see section 3 of the Northern Territory Environment
Protection Authority Act 2012.
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occupier means:
(a) in relation to premises – a person who occupies or controls
the premises, whether or not he or she owns them; or
(b) where different parts of premises are occupied by different
persons, in relation to a part of premises – the person who
occupies or controls that part of the premises, whether or not
he or she owns the premises,
but does not include a mortgagee in possession of the premises
unless the mortgagee assumes active management of some or all
activities on the premises.
owner, in relation to premises, does not include a mortgagee in
possession of the premises unless the mortgagee assumes active
management of some or all activities on the premises.
performance agreement means a performance agreement
entered into under section 66.
pollute means:
(a) emit, discharge, deposit, or disturb, directly or indirectly, a
contaminant or waste; or
(b) cause, permit, or fail to prevent, directly or indirectly, the
emission, discharge, deposition, disturbance or escape of a
contaminant or waste.
pollution means:
(a) a contaminant or waste that is emitted, discharged, deposited
or disturbed or that escapes; or
(b) a contaminant or waste, effect or phenomenon, that is present
in the environment as a consequence of an emission,
discharge, deposition, escape or disturbance of a contaminant
or waste.
pollution abatement notice means a notice issued under
section 77 or 78.
premises includes equipment, plant and structures, whether
stationary or portable, and the land on which premises are situated.
re-cycling means the recovery and reprocessing of waste into a
new product or base material.
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re-use means the treatment of waste without reprocessing so that it
may be used again for its original purpose or an alternative
purpose.
residential premises, in relation to premises that are used for both
residential and non-residential purposes, only includes that part of
premises that are used only for residential purposes.
sale includes:
(a) every method of disposition for valuable consideration,
including by way of barter;
(b) the disposition to an agent for sale on consignment;
(c) offering for sale or attempting to sell;
(d) receiving or having in possession for sale;
(e) exposing for sale;
(f) sending or delivering for sale;
(g) causing or permitting to be sold, offered or exposed for sale;
and
(h) disposal by way of raffle, lottery or other game of chance.
serious environmental harm means environmental harm that is
more serious than material environmental harm and includes
environmental harm that:
(a) is irreversible or otherwise of a high impact or on a wide scale;
(b) damages an aspect of the environment that is of a high
conservation value, high cultural value or high community
value or is of special significance;
(c) results or is likely to result in more than $50,000 or the
prescribed amount (whichever is greater) being spent in taking
appropriate action to prevent or minimise the environmental
harm or rehabilitate the environment; or
(d) results in actual or potential loss or damage to the value of
more than $50,000 or the prescribed amount (whichever is
greater).
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this Act means this Act, the Regulations or an environment
protection objective, environment protection approval, environment
protection licence, best practice licence, environmental audit
program, compliance plan, performance agreement or pollution
abatement notice.
vehicle means:
(a) a conveyance or other device designed to be propelled or
drawn by any means; or
(b) a device that runs on wheels or tracks (whether or not with
motive power), including agricultural machinery, equipment
and implements, trailers and caravans; or
(c) an aircraft; or
(d) a vessel as defined in section 8 of Schedule 1 to the Marine
Safety (Domestic Commercial Vessel) National Law Act 2012
(Cth).
voluntary environmental audit means an environmental audit
carried out other than for the purposes of an environmental audit
program.
waste means:
(a) a solid, a liquid or a gas; or
(b) a mixture of such substances,
that is or are left over, surplus or an unwanted by-product from any
activity (whether or not the substance is of value) and includes a
prescribed substance or class of substances.
waste management includes the management of the generation,
re-use, re-cycling, storage, collection, transportation, treatment and
disposal of waste.
water includes:
(a) surface water, ground water and tidal waters;
(b) coastal waters of the Territory, within the meaning of the
Coastal Waters (Northern Territory Powers) Act 1980 of the
Commonwealth; and
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(c) water containing an impurity.
Note for subsection (1)
The Interpretation Act 1978 contains definitions and other provisions that may be
relevant to this Act.
(2) For the purposes of this Act, loss includes the reasonable costs and
expenses that would be incurred in taking all reasonable and
practicable measures:
(a) to prevent or mitigate pollution or environmental harm arising
from pollution; and
(b) to make good environmental damage resulting from pollution.
(3) For the purposes of this Act, environmental harm or environmental
damage may be caused by pollution whether the harm or damage:
(a) is caused directly or indirectly or is a direct or indirect result of
the pollution; or
(b) results from, or is caused by, the pollution alone or from the
combined effects of the pollution and other factors.