Queensland Consolidated Regulations

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION REGULATION 2019 - REG 36

36 Conditions to be considered for environmental management decisions

(1) The administering authority must, for making an environmental management decision relating to an activity, consider whether to impose conditions about each of the following matters—

(a) implementing a system for managing risks to the environment;

(b) implementing measures to prevent or minimise the release of contaminants or waste;

(c) ensuring an adequate distance between any sensitive receptors and the relevant site for the activity to which the decision relates;

Examples of a condition for paragraph (c)—

a condition requiring riparian buffers, noise buffers or buffers for protecting endangered regional ecosystems

(d) limiting or reducing the size of the initial mixing zone or attenuation zone, if any, that may be affected by the release of contaminants;

(e) treating contaminants before they are released;

(f) restricting the type, quality, quantity, concentration or characteristics of contaminants that may be released;

(g) managing the way in which contaminants may be released;

Examples of a condition for paragraph (g)—

• a condition restricting the release of a contaminant at a particular temperature, velocity or rate or during particular meteorological conditions or water flows

• a condition restricting the release of a contaminant to a depth below the level of surface waters

(h) ensuring a minimum degree of dispersion happens when a contaminant is released;

Example of a condition for paragraph (h)—

a condition requiring the use of a diffuser for releasing a contaminant

(i) protecting environmental values, and meeting quality objectives, under relevant environmental protection policies;

(j) recycling, storing, transferring or disposing of waste in a particular way;

(k) rehabilitating land to achieve particular outcomes;

(l) implementing measures for the ongoing protection of environmental values that are, or may be, adversely affected by the activity;

(m) if under an environmental objective assessment, the assessor is not satisfied an environmental objective has been achieved—implementing measures for minimising the adverse effects of not achieving the environmental objective.

(2) In this section—

"attenuation zone" means the area around a release of contaminants to groundwater in which the concentration of the contaminants in the release is reduced to ambient levels through physico-chemical and microbiological processes.

"initial mixing zone" means an area where water containing contaminants mixes rapidly with surface water because of the momentum or buoyancy of the contaminated water and the turbulence of the surface water.

"relevant site" , for an activity, means a place where the activity is, or is proposed to be, carried out.