Managing contaminated land

For more information about this topic please see the guideline List, amend and remove land – Environmental Management and Contaminated Land Registers (ESR/2016/2044) which can be found by going to www.qld.gov.au and using the search term ESR/2016/2044.

Listing land on the land registers

When deciding to list land on the EMR or the CLR the delegate must consider the definition of serious environmental harm, material environmental harm, contaminated land and hazardous contaminant from the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

Contaminated land means land contaminated by a hazardous contaminant.

A hazardous contaminant is a contaminant, other than an item of explosive ordnance, that if improperly treated, stored, disposed of or otherwise managed, is likely to cause serious or material environmental harm because of:

• its quantity, concentration, acute or chronic toxic effects, carcinogenicity, teratogenicity, mutagenicity, corrosiveness, radioactivity or flammability; or
• its physical, chemical or infectious characteristics.

Criteria for including land on the EMR

The administering authority may record particulars of land in the EMR at any time if the authority— (a) is satisfied a notifiable activity has been, or is being, carried out on the land; or (b) is satisfied or suspects, on reasonable grounds, the land is contaminated land.

Criteria for including land on the CLR

If land is recorded on the EMR, the administering authority may record particulars of the land in the CLR at any time if it is satisfied—  (a) the land is contaminated land; and (b) it is necessary to take action to remediate the land to prevent serious environmental harm.

Removing land from the land registers

If you want to have land removed entirely from the land registers—Environmental Management Register (EMR) and the Contaminated Land Register (CLR)—you need to submit a contaminated land investigation document that demonstrates:

• no ongoing notifiable activity is being carried out on the land; and
• the land is not contaminated land and is suitable for any land use.

The term ‘land’ also includes the airspace in and above the land, surface water and ground water.

Making changes to land listed on the land registers

What is a contaminated land investigation document?

A contaminated land investigation document is any, or a combination, of the following:

• a site investigation report
• a validation report
• a draft site management plan (or draft amended site management plan).

A contaminated land investigation document must be prepared by a suitably qualified person and then certified by an auditor.

The outcome of the site investigation will determine whether the land is contaminated land and, if so, whether:

• the contamination needs to be remediated, in which case a validation report must be prepared following remediation to confirm that the remediation process was successful; and/or

• the contamination is best managed under the conditions of site management plan, in which case a draft site management plan must be prepared and submitted for approval.

Submit a contaminated land investigation document

• Submit a contaminated land investigation document—approved form (ESR/2023/6339) NOTE: this form needs to be downloaded and saved locally to fill in, save and sign digitally using Adobe Acrobat reader free software.

Who can submit a contaminated land investigation document?

Any person, such as the landowner, occupier or suitably qualified person, can submit a contaminated land investigation document, however:

• If the contaminated land investigation document is being prepared in order to comply with a notice we have issued, the person we issued the notice to must submit the document.
• Any draft site management plan (or amended plan) not prepared by the landowner must include a statement by the landowner agreeing to the draft plan.
• If a corporation is submitting the documents, an executive officer of the corporation is taken to be the ‘relevant person’ submitting the documents.
• The submission must be accompanied by a contaminated land auditor's certification.

Processing time

We endeavour to process the submission of a site investigation report or validation report within 20 business days. This also includes any site investigation report or validation report which is attached to a compliance permit.

Notification

Removals or changes to land registers

Where the decision is made to remove land or make changes to the land registers, based on a site investigation report or validation report which meets the requirements, we issue a notice within five business days to the landowner and:

• the person who submitted the contaminated land investigation document(s), if different to the owner
• the relevant local government authority, if land is removed from the EMR or CLR
• the Registrar of Titles, if the land is to be removed from the CLR or details about land are amended on the CLR.

Draft site management plans (or draft amended plans)

We decide draft site management plans (or draft amended plans) within 20 business days, unless there is a special circumstance that warrants an extension to the timeframe. Once we make a decision on a site management plan we issue a notice outlining the decision within five business days to the landowner and the person who submitted the contaminated land investigation document, if different to the owner.

If the plan is approved, the notice will also include a certificate of approval and a copy of the site suitability statement for the land. We also attach the site management plan to the relevant land register.

For information on drafting site management plans (SMPs) please see the guideline Draft site management plan (ESR/2025/7047).  This guideline explains:

• what an SMP is
• can I get advice before submitting my application
• how the Act applies to an SMP
• when an SMP is required
• who prepares and submits a draft SMP
• how to write a draft SMP
• what happens after an SMP is approved.