2023

The Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has just released the Toxicant default guideline values for aquatic ecosystem protection -  (PFOS) in freshwater, endorsed by technical and policy oversight guideline groups in all states and territories. The key outcome is new default guideline values for PFOS for 99%, 95%, 90% and 80% for the protection of freshwater species, particular for the 99% DGV which is now an order of magnitude higher than listed in the NEMP (2020). 

Link here to the document.

 

2022

ACLCA NSW would like to wish all of our members a safe and happy holiday and we look forward to seeing you at our events in 2023.  We are currently finalising the details for all of our upcoming 2023 events and further details will be posted on our EVENTS page soon.

The ACLCA NSW office will be closed until 17th January 2023.

 

ACLCA NSW is holding it's Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 30th November, followed by a FREE trivia night for members.  All members are invited to attend.  Full details on our EVENTS page, where bookings can be made.

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ITRC/ALGA PFAS Workshop - 14.11.22

If you missed this workshop, the webinar recording is now available on the ITRC youtube channel here.  ITRC is the (US) Interstate Technology Regulatory Council.

 

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International CleanUp Conference - Adelaide September 2022.

ACLCA Early Career Professionals Panel: The challenges of attracting and retaining site contamination professionals, at 3.30pm Tuesday 13th September. The session will be lead by ACLCA National Chair, Larissa Willoughby, and also features presentations by the winners of all state chapter early career professionals competitions. ACLCA NSW is very pleased to be represented by our 2022 Achiever Award Winner Ola Rachid (GHD). See the next generation of contaminated land professionals in action - an opportunity not to be missed! Thanks to Ravi Naidu & crcCARE for their continued support of our ACLCA state prize winners in this way.

 

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EnviSMART meeting on the topic of ‘Understanding the Plastics Cycle to Minimise Exposure’ – Thursday 15^th September – 4.00-5.00pm

The Environmental Science Meeting for Australian Research Teams (EnviSMART) is a national online forum held monthly and is hosted by the Australian Laboratory for Emerging Contaminants (ALEC) at the University of Melbourne. EnviSMART is an opportunity for environmental science professionals and researchers to share science online and is sponsored by ACLCA. Registration is free and open to all.  

Further details here.

The Australian Sustainable Business Group (ASBG) Waste Workshop 2 with a Contaminated Soils Focus – 2 x 1hr webinars on 22^nd and 23^rd September.

This workshop complements the previous Waste Workshop: A Focus on Contaminated Soils moving into details on sampling, analysis and preparation of Waste Classification Reports or applications which satisfies the EPA. It also covers the availability of landfills to accept certain contaminated soils with a focus on asbestos waste and where it can be disposed of, noting that future landfill capacity around Sydney will be increasingly constrained over the next 5 years. The workshop is run over lunch time [eat and  train] over two consecutive days [2 x 1 hour sessions] plus question time.

Further details here.

 

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ACLCA NSW 2022 Achiever Award

Wednesday 29^th June was the presentation evening for our annual Achiever Award and we were very pleased to have so many members turn up to support our presenters with around 50 members in attendance and more joining us online. Thank you to GHD who kindly hosted the event for us.

ACLCA NSW is really pleased to be running this annual event (now in it’s 13^th year!) and we appreciate our member’s support of the event and our presenters every year.

We had a range of very interesting presentations, as follows:- 

Ola Rachid, GHD - “Data control practices for out-of-your-control sites: technological approaches to manage large, complex data sets” 

Julia Griffin, GHD - “Contamination chronicles connecting a community” 

Courtney Lenzo, Arcadis - “Catching the treatment train to new experiences”

Charlotte Gray, GHD - “A passport to learning; how tracking my field experiences set me up for take off”.

WINNER:

---- Ola Rachid, GHD ----

Ola receives a $1000 cash prize and ACLCA NSW will be sponsoring her attendance at the 2022 CleanUp Conference in Adelaide where she will give her presentation along with other ACLCA state chapter winners. 

Second Place

Courtney Lenzo, Arcadis 

Runners-up

Julia Griffin, GHD

Charlotte Gray, GHD

 

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NSW EPA is seeking new members to join the Site Auditor Scheme's Accreditation Panel

Site Auditor Accreditation Panel Vacancies

Nominations are being sought for the following positions:

• a representative of industry
• a representative with tertiary qualifications in a discipline relevant to the contamination of land
• a representative with auditor experience

The term of office is generally 3 years, with members being eligible for re-appointment. A member is entitled to allowances as approved by the EPA in connection with the work of the panel.

Details about the site auditor accreditation scheme and how to apply to become a member of the panel can be found here.

The closing date for applications is 18 March 2022.

 

NSW EPA practice note for preparing environmental management plans for contaminated land.

NSW EPA has just finalised and released it’s new practice note for preparing environmental management plans for contaminated land.  You can download a copy of the practice note from the NSW EPA website here.

 

Asbestos in NSW: Setting the Direction 2021-2022

The NSW Government has just released this strategic report which sets out immediate priorities for action for 2021 and 2022.

 

State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards 2021)

In December 2021 the NSW government announced that the state environmental planning policies (SEPPs) will be consolidated to align with 9 key focus areas.

The State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 (Resilience and Hazard SEPP) consolidates and repeals the provisions of the following 3 SEPPs:

1. SEPP (Coastal Management) 2018 (Coastal Management SEPP)
2. SEPP 33 – Hazardous and Offensive Development (SEPP 33)
3. SEPP 55 – Remediation of Land (SEPP 55).

 

NSW EPA seeking feedback on the conditions of a new Recovered Soil Order and Exemption.

The Recovered Soil Order and Exemption is being proposed to facilitate the reuse of processed excavated material which may include the processing of soil, which can be reused for earthworks and as engineering fill.  Further information and 3 key questions which NSW EPA would like to be answered, can be found on the NSW EPA website here (please ignore the top heading on this page that states the consultation period is closed and scroll down to the relevant section where you will find a link to download the conditions).

NSW EPA is seeking to implement the new requirements in the first quarter of 2022 and feedback on the draft orders and exemptions must be provided by COB 4^th March 2022 to waste.exemptions@epa.nsw.gov.au.

 

 

UTS Contaminated Site Assessment, Remediation and Management (CSARM) 2022 Short Courses

Module A: Ground Rules for Contaminated Sites runs from 2nd - 4th March, and the program continues over the course of the year.  For further information about the full program, click here.

ACLCA NSW members receive a discounted registration rate.

 

 

2021

Great to see our 2021 Young Achiever Award winner, Michael Ashelford (Arcadis), giving his presentation at ecoforum 2021, picture above.  In addition to the $1,000 prizemoney, Michael was also sponsored by ACLCA NSW to attend and give his presentation at the conference, so this was a great opportunity for Michael to represent both Arcadis and ACLCA NSW.  Thank you to ALGA for giving the ACLCA young professional state winners this opportunity.

ACLCA NSW 2021 Young Achiever Award

Wednesday 28^th July was the (virtual) presentation day for our Young Achiever Award and we were very pleased to see it was very well attended with over 70 members logging on to watch our young achievers.

We had a range of very interesting presentations, as follows:-

Jacqueline Connor, Prensa:        “Cow Gastric Juice, Bioaccessibility and You!  Utilising a Contaminant’s Bioaccessibility to Determine Site-Specific HILs”

Jessica Roy, AECOM:                    “Historical Data Mining: A Modern-day Pot of Gold”

Michelle Agnew, Senversa:         “Cross-border Environment Management – a Case For a National Approach”

Michael Ashelford, Arcadis:        “Complex Investigations – Lessons Learned from a Digital Perspective”.

 

WINNER OF THE ACLCA NSW 2021 YOUNG ACHIEVER AWARD

---- Michael Ashelford, Arcadis ----  

Michael receives a $1000 cash prize and ACLCA NSW will be sponsoring his attendance at the 2021 ecoforum conference where he will give his presentation along with other ACLCA state chapter winners at a Young Professionals session.

Second Place

Jacqui Connor, Prensa

Runners-up

Jessica Roy, AECOM

Michelle Agnew, Senversa

Thank you to all of our presenters who gave such interesting presentations in unusual circumstances.  The high standard of the presentations shows we have some very talented young achievers within our membership.

We would also like to thank our judges for their time – Alex Pulkownik (UTS), Anthea White (EPA) and our NSW EPA accredited site auditors Brad May, Epic Environmental and James Davis, Enviroview.

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ACLCA - NATIONAL CHAIRPERSON

ACLCA NSW would like to thank Andrew Kohlrusch (GHD) for his service to ACLCA as our National Chairperson. Andrew supported the Association in this position for more than seven years and we appreciate his time and efforts in doing so.

We would also like to warmly welcome the new National Chairperson, Larissa Willoughby (Bluesphere). 

The ACLCA National committee comprises two representatives from each ACLCA state chapter, and the objective of the committee is to promote national alignment of State Chapters, knowledge sharing and collaboration, and through this to promote best practice and ongoing professional development across the contaminated land industry.

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2021 - kicking it off with a free social event for members!

ACLCA NSW started off the year with a free social event for members in February and it was great to see so many members in attendance.  We were finally able to carry out our presentations to our 2020 Young Achievers Award finalists, and present our winner, Meg Coles (Senversa) with her perpetual trophy and winner's cheque.

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ITRC (Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council) has launched a new 1,4 Dioxane guidance website covering everything from technical challenges in addressing 1,4 Dioxane, to history of it's use, samplying and analysis, fate and transport, toxicity and risk assessment, and more.  Our Resources page has a link to this website, and many other useful industry resources.

 

2020

ACLCA NSW emails

ACLCA NSW has recently changed to a different email provider and can now expand our email distribution list.  If you are a member (work for one of our member companies - check "Our Members" page if you're not sure) and aren't currently receiving emails directly from us, please email our Executive Officer at nsw@aclca.com.au and request to be added to the email list.

 

NSW EPA Seeking Feedback on Revised Guidelines.

The NSW EPA is reviewing the Sampling Design Guidelines for contaminated land and is seeking feedback. Further information about the consultation process as well as the updated guideline documents can be found here. 

Stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on these extensively overhauled guidelines if they wish to. You can submit your comments:

• directly to CLM.Consultation@epa.nsw.gov.au at any time prior to 5 pm on Sunday 8 November 2020

• Via the e-form at https://yoursay.epa.nsw.gov.au/sampling-design-guidelines; or

• through ACLCA NSW, who will be putting together a submission using comments provided by members. Comments must be received by the Executive Officer at nsw@aclca.com.au no later than 30 October 2020. 

In addition, the NSW EPA is also inviting feedback on the revised Guidelines for Implementing the protection of the Environment Operations (Underground Petroleum Storage Systems) Regulation 2019. Further information about the consultation process as well as the updated guideline documents can be found here. Due to the short deadline, ACLCA NSW will not be issuing collated comments regarding these guidelines.

Please submit your comments:

• directly to  UPSSREG@epa.nsw.gov.au; or

• via the e-form at https://yoursay.epa.nsw.gov.au/guidelines-underground-fuel-tanks

 

Our ACLCA NSW Young Achiever Award presentations were held on Wednesday 29th July, in a new online format, and this was very well attended with over 80 members logging in to watch the presentations.  Thank you so much to those who attended online - it’s great to see such continued interest in this event.

Winner of the ACLCA NSW Young Achiever Award 2020:

---- Meg Coles, Senversa ----

Meg receives a $500 cash prize and ACLCA NSW will also be sponsoring her attendance at the 2020 Virtual Ecoforum Conference and giving her presentation on Friday 18th September. Congratulations Meg and good luck with your presentation at the conference.

Second place
Kate Dean, WSP

Runners-up
Jessica Watson, GHD

Grace Rogers, GHD

Christie Allen, GHD

Thank you so much to all of our presenters who gave such interesting presentations in unusual circumstances.  We hope you all enjoyed the opportunity and found it to be a rewarding experience.   Everyone was very impressed with the standard of the presentations and it is clear that we have some very talented young achievers within our industry. 

We would also like to thank our judges for their time - Alex Pulkownik (UTS), Anthea White (EPA) and Tom Onus (Ramboll Australia, NSW EPA Accredited Site Auditor).

Lastly, a big thank you to the Executive Committee members who set up and co-ordinated the presentations and especially our Vice-President Yliane Yvanes-Giuliani who also did a wonderful job of hosting the event for us.  This was our first time holding an event with 5 different presenters and we are pleased that it all ran so smoothly.

 

NSW EPA Guidelines Updated

NSW EPA has advised that some minor amendments to two NSW EPA Contaminated Land Guidelines have been made and the two guidelines have been republished.  The notice relating to the publishing of the amended guidelines was issued in the NSW Government Gazette on 12 June 2020. The following Contaminated Land Guidelines have been re-published:

 • ‘Consultants reporting on contaminated land’

 • ‘Assessment and management of hazardous ground gases’ 

The changes include:

 • updating a reference in the reporting guidelines from PFAS NEMP to the new PFAS NEMP 2.0 (the broken hyperlinks are being corrected in the new version mentioned above)

 • improve useability by converting the reporting guidelines to PDF, and making the ground gas guidelines more accessible for the vision impaired

 • fix small typos / grammatical and formatting errors

 • adding cover photos for consistency and easy identification 

The guidelines are now in effect and can be found on the NSW EPA website.

PFAS NEMP 2.0

Version 2 of the PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (PFAS NEMP 2.0) has now been published. The updated PFAS NEMP is available at the website of the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture Water and the Environment here: https://www.environment.gov.au/protection/chemicals-management/pfas.

All states, territories and the Australian Government have collaborated to develop version 2.0 of the PFAS NEMP, which was agreed by Heads of EPAs in October 2019. The document has incorporated feedback from the public consultations held in early-to-mid 2019 on the draft PFAS NEMP 2.0. The PFAS NEMP 2.0 continues to provide a consistent, practical, risk-based framework for the environmental regulation of PFAS-contaminated materials and sites, and is intended to be the primary source of specific guidance for the assessment and management of sites impacted with PFAS. 

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has also released a revised Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Framework for Responding to PFAS Contamination (the PFAS IGA). The revisions to the Agreement and its Appendices A and C, which came into effect on 7 February 2020, support strengthened collaboration and cooperation between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories to respond consistently and effectively to per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination. A newly included National PFAS Position Statement (Appendix D) sets out a shared vision of governments to reduce future releases of PFAS into the environment. The revised PFAS IGA is available at the COAG website here: https://www.coag.gov.au/about-coag/agreements/intergovernmental-agreement-national-framework-responding-pfas-07feb20

 

Updated Guidelines for Consultants Reporting on Contaminated Land

The Guidelines for Consultants Reporting on Contaminated Land form part of a series of statutory guidelines made or approved by the EPA to support the administration of the CLM Act.  The newly updated guidelines were released on 4th April 2020 and came into effect immediately, replacing the 2011 edition.  These guidelines have been revised to reflect current legislation, technical guidance and best practice as well as public submissions on the consultation draft.

You can access a copy of the updated guidelines here or via the NSW EPA website.

 

ACLCA NSW response to COVID-19.

NSW Health response and company responses to the spread of COVID-19 are rapidly evolving.

Businesses in NSW and beyond are implementing a number of measures to protect the health of employees and visitors to reduce the risk of exposure to, and spread of, COVID-19. These measures include cancelling or postponing any external client events for the ensuing months. 

ACLCA NSW supports and follows the directives of our Company member hosts and has postponed ALL events and training until further notice. Updates will be provided on our website and directly through emails to your company representative. 

We are currently reviewing options for delivering training and monthly technical presentations, either via Webinar or a similar format.  Members will be updated on this as soon as details are finalised.

Please go to our Events page to keep up-to-date with all upcoming webinars.

 

2019

The ACLCA NSW Executive Committee is meeting early in December to plan our schedule of events for 2020.  We will be organising our monthly technical seminars, OHS training course, extra CPD courses for members, annual trivia night, Soil Logging Workshop, Young Achievers Award and other events. Once details are finalised we will email members with details and update the website.

Please check our EVENTS page soon for further details.

 

The NSW EPA is seeking feedback on updated guidelines for:

Consultants reporting on contaminated land: Contaminated Land Guidelines; and

Assessment and management of hazardous ground gases: Contaminated Land Guidelines.

Consultation will close midnight 8 October 2019.

The new guidelines are expected to be finalised and published in late 2019.

How to have your say:

You can download and submit feedback on the draft guidelines through the NSW EPA 'Have your say' page.

If you have any questions on the consultation process, please call the Environment Line on 131 555

or email: CLM.Consultation@epa.nsw.gov.au. 

 

Consultation on draft of version 2 of the PFAS National Environmental Management Plan

The PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP) was published in February 2018 following agreement by all Australian Environment Ministers. The Heads of EPAs (HEPA) National Chemicals Working Group (NCWG) has been working since then to clarify and expand on the guidance in the NEMP. This updating work is consistent with the commitment by HEPA that the NEMP will be a living document. A comprehensive review of the PFAS NEMP will be undertaken in 2023.

Stakeholders are invited to consider and provide feedback on the aspects of the NEMP that are either new or significantly revised.

Consultation schedule:
From March to April 2019, the NCWG, under the direction of HEPA, will host open consultation sessions in all capital cities around Australia. Anyone is welcome to attend.
The Sydney consultation is scheduled for Wednesday 10 April. Please register by COB Friday 5 April to receive the event details.
More details on the PFAS NEMP 2.0, including how to make a submission and the national consultation schedule, are located on the EPA Victoria website.

 

NSW EPA - UPSS Stakeholder briefing and discussion forum 

On 1 September 2019, the regulation of underground petroleum storage systems (UPSS) in NSW will become a shared responsibility between the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and local councils. The NSW EPA is holding a briefing and discussion forum for the petroleum industry on 27 March 2019 in Sydney about the transition process.  Further details are in the flyer here. 

Who should attend?

Oil/fuel companies, independents, service station operators, distributors, contractors, service providers, designers and consultants.

Information will be provided on

• updating EPA guidance material on UPSS management
• training and capacity building for council officers
• evaluating UPSS operator performance and compliance
• following up previously exempt or non-compliant sites

The EPA will be seeking your views about the key issues, and concerns you may have about the regulatory transition process, and what the solutions might be.

 

Consultation on Draft of Version 2 of PFAS NEMP - EPA VIC

The PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP) was published in February 2018 following agreement by all Australian Environment Ministers. The Heads of EPAs (HEPA) National Chemicals Working Group (NCWG) has been working since to clarify and expand on the guidance in the NEMP.  Version 2 of the draft NEMP can be viewed here.

UTS Contaminated Site Assessment, Remediation and Management (CSARM) short course series.

The UTS (CSARM) short course series comprises 5 modules running from February to November and, along with attendance at ACLCA NSW monthly seminars, can help you extend your knowledge base and update your professional skills, and also achieve your CPD goals.  Further information about the courses can be found on the UTS website here.

Please note, members of ACLCA NSW are entitled to the discounted rate.

 

 

2018

Changes to the EP&A Act – Planning Certificates

In November 2017 the NSW Government passed legislation to update the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act). The changes to the Act commenced on Thursday 1 March 2018. The Department of Planning and Environment have created a Guide to the updated Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. 

 

New Approved Contaminated Land Notification Form

The NSW EPA has recently approved an updated Contaminated Land Notification Form (‘Section 60’ form). The form now includes a link to the Duty to Report Contamination Guidelines and requests supporting sources of information. You can download the new Contaminated Land Notification Form here or from the EPA Website.

 

ANZECC Guideline Update – It is understood that The Australian New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality currently undergoing revision has been approved by the Commonwealth and is currently with State jurisdictions for approval prior to finalisation. Significant changes to water and sediment ecological criteria based on developments in toxicity data and further clarity on the methodology for their derivation are expected. For further information on the protocols for deriving criteria, please refer to https://www.csiro.au/en/Research/LWF/Areas/Environmental-contaminants/Water-and-sediment-quality-guidelines.