Program Overview

Introduction to CSMR Module 3: Better Contaminated Land Regulation

CSMR Module 3: Better Contaminated Land Regulation is a short course designed to provide participants with a comprehensive understanding of the NSW regulatory regime as it applies to council contaminated land activities. This course is part of a series of Practical Contaminated Sites Management and Regulation (CSMR) courses offered by UTS.

Course Overview

The course covers the NSW Acts, Regulations, and Policies relevant to council regulation and management of contaminated land, including the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, the Resilience and Hazards SEPP, the Protection of the Environment (Operations) Act, and the relevant regulations. The roles of councils, NSW EPA, and site auditors are considered, and participants will learn how to write practical and enforceable consent conditions, identify areas of likely non-compliance, and determine which Act and regulation to apply in various circumstances.

Key Benefits

The key benefits of this course include:

• Identifying the NSW statutory instruments available to councils for regulating contaminated land
• Understanding the powers and duties of NSW Councils with respect to contaminated land
• Understanding the role of NSW EPA and site auditors and what assistance councils can get from NSW EPA
• Knowing when to require a site auditor to be appointed
• Knowing which piece of legislation is best for regulating different kinds of contaminated land issues
• Being able to develop appropriate and enforceable development consent conditions relating to contaminated land
• Being able to decide whether a long-term environmental management plan is a suitable solution and understanding the options for legal enforceability and their pros and cons

Satisfactory Completion

Satisfactory completion of this course may qualify for eight hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and can be used for credit towards consultant certification with Soil Science Australia or the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ).

Digital Badge and Certificate

A digital badge and certificate will be awarded following the successful completion of any necessary tasks or assessments to demonstrate acquired learning of the short course or for meeting attendance and/or participation requirements.

Price

The full price of the course is $750 (GST free). Discounts are available for multiple module or learner enrollments, as well as for members of Environmental Health Australia (EHA) and the Australasian Land and Groundwater Association (ALGA).

Course Outline

The course is an online, full-day short course that provides stand-alone training in NSW contaminated land regulation and compliance. It can be taken as a single-day course or in combination with Modules 1 and 2 of the series. The course is presented in lectures and workshops with a focus on interactivity and learning by doing.

Course Content

The course covers the following content:

• NSW Regulators' roles and duties
• Site audits and how to use them
• Development consents and enforceable conditions
• Section 10.7 certificates
• Voluntary planning agreements
• Waste management regulations
• Long-term environmental management plan enforceability
• Contaminated land registers

Delivery Details

Topics will be explained in lectures lasting between 30 minutes and 90 minutes, with opportunities for questions and discussion. Presenters will share slides and other visual material over Zoom. Each session will include exercises for participants to complete, to consolidate their learning and practice the skills they have learned.

Resources and Pre-reading

The UTS Open learning platform, Canvas, provides course summary information, contact details and profiles of all the presenters, lecture and workshop notes and slides, a reading list, and useful links to appropriate resources.

Learning Objectives

On successful completion of this course, participants should have an understanding of:

• Council and NSW EPA roles in contaminated land regulation within the planning system
• Council land management roles and compliance requirements
• How to draft enforceable conditions
• When to require the appointment of a site auditor
• How to set up and manage a useful contaminated land register
• When it is reasonable to accept a long-term environmental management plan

Requirements

To complete this online course, participants will need a personal computer with adequate internet access and sufficient software and bandwidth to support web conferencing.

Discounts

Discounts are available for this course as follows:

• 2 module or 2 learner CSMR enrollments: 10% discount
• 3 module or 3 learner CSMR enrollments: 15% discount
• Environmental Health Australia (EHA) and the Australasian Land and Groundwater Association member (ALGA) single module: 3% discount
• EHA and ALGA member two module/learner CSMR enrollments: 13% discount
• EHA and ALGA member three module/learner CSMR enrollments: 18% discount

Who is this Course For?

This course is suitable for:

• Planning officers
• Environmental health officers
• Council contaminated land specialists
• Council land managers
• Private certifiers
• Lawyers
• Ecologists and landscape architects
• Emergency services land managers
• Infrastructure and traffic engineers