New South Wales Consolidated Acts

PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT OPERATIONS ACT 1997 - SECT 115

115 Disposal of waste--harm to environment

(1) Offence If a person wilfully or negligently disposes of waste in a manner that harms or is likely to harm the environment--

(a) the person, and

(b) if the person is not the owner of the waste, the owner,

are each guilty of an offence.

Note : An offence against subsection (1) committed by a corporation is an offence attracting special executive liability for a director or other person involved in the management of the corporation--see section 169.

(2) Defence--lawful authority It is a defence in any proceedings against a person for an offence under this section if the person establishes that the waste was disposed of with lawful authority.

(3) Definitions In this section--

"dispose" of waste includes to dump, abandon, deposit, discard, reject, discharge or emit anything that constitutes waste, and also includes to cause or permit the disposal of waste.

"owner" of waste includes, in relation to waste that has been disposed of, the person who was the owner of the waste immediately before it was disposed of.