Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy 2015 (SA)

South Australia Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy 2015 under the Environment Protection Act 1993

Contents Part 1—Preliminary 1 Short title 3 Interpretation 5 Environmental harm 6 Environmental values of waters 7 Activation of trigger values 8 Application of policy Part 2—Water quality measures Division 1—General environmental duty 9 General environmental duty (section 25 of Act) Division 2—Offences 10 Class 1 pollutants 11 Class 2 pollutants 12 Discharge limits for declared activities 13 Antifoulants 13A Prohibited firefighting foam and foam products 14 Waste from extractive industries 15 Waste from miscellaneous works 16 Waste from septic systems 17 Waste from sewerage infrastructure 18 Waste from vessels 19 Waste from waste depots 20 Wastewater lagoons Division 3—Matters relating to Part 6 of Act 21 Matters relating to Part 6 of Act Part 3—Amendment of policy 22 Amendment of policy by Gazette notice under section 32 of Act Schedule 1—Environmental values of waters (clause 6) 1 Interpretation 2 Environmental values of waters—default values 3 Environmental values of particular waters Schedule 2—Class 1 pollutants Schedule 3—Class 2 pollutants Schedule 4—Codes, standards, guidelines and other documents Legislative history

Part 1—Preliminary 1—Short title This policy may be cited as the Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy 2015. 3—Interpretation (1) In this policy, unless the contrary intention appears— Act means the Environment Protection Act 1993; antifoulant means any chemical substance designed for application to water submerged surfaces to inhibit the growth of plants, animals or other organisms on those surfaces; ANZECC means the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council; aquaculture licence has the same meaning as in the Aquaculture Act 2001; ARMCANZ means the Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand; cavity in land includes a bore, mine shaft, well, infiltration basin and other similar structure and a naturally occurring sinkhole; class 1 pollutant means a pollutant listed in Schedule 2; class 2 pollutant means a pollutant listed in Schedule 3; composting works has the same meaning as in the Act Schedule 1 Part A clause 3(2)(a); contaminated stormwater means stormwater that is contaminated by a class 1 pollutant, a class 2 pollutant or any material that could be reasonably prevented from entering the pipes, gutters and other channels used to collect and convey the stormwater; Coorong means the area of water separated from the Lower Murray, and from Lake Alexandrina, by the Goolwa, Mundoo, Boundary Creek, Ewe Island and Tauwitchere Barrages, and separated from the ocean by Sir Richard Peninsula and Younghusband Peninsula, and by the geodesic from the location on mean high water springs closest to the mouth of the River Murray on the northern side of the headland of Sir Richard Peninsula to the location on mean high water springs closest to the northern side of the headland of Younghusband Peninsula; discharge waste or a pollutant includes deposit the waste or pollutant or dispose of the waste or pollutant; discharge waste or a pollutant into waters or onto land—see subclause (2); environmental values of waters—see clause 6; Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 or GDA2020 has the same meaning as in the determination under section 8A of the National Measurement Act 1960 of the Commonwealth for the recognised‑value standard of measurement of position; hazardous waste means listed waste having a characteristic described in Schedule 2 of the Environment Protection (Movement of Controlled Waste) Policy 2014; human wastewater means human waste either alone or in combination with water; inland waters means waters of the State other than marine waters; Lake Albert and Lake Alexandrina means the waters of Lake Albert and Lake Alexandrina downstream from a line joining the upstream sides of the landings used by the ferry at Wellington closest to 35°19'52.481" South, 139°23'4.326" East, and separated from the Coorong by land and by the Goolwa, Mundoo, Boundary Creek, Ewe Island and Tauwitchere Barrages and including those waters of the Finnis River and Currency Creek situated upstream from Lake Alexandrina to the southernmost side of the first road bridge by which they are each crossed; landfill depot has the same meaning as in the Act Schedule 1 Part A clause 3(3)(a); liquid waste has the same meaning as in the Act Schedule 1 Part AA; listed waste means a substance or thing listed in Schedule 1 Part B of the Act; mandatory provision—see subclause (4); MAR scheme means a scheme in which water is injected or otherwise purposely transferred into an aquifer for the purpose of environmental benefit or storage and subsequent recovery; Note— MAR stands for Managed Aquifer Recharge. medical sharps has the same meaning as in the Act Schedule 1 Part AA; medical waste has the same meaning as in the Act Schedule 1 Part AA; public stormwater system means any equipment or infrastructure for collecting, treating or conveying stormwater for the purposes of stormwater management, or flood mitigation, conducted by a public authority, and includes catchment management equipment and infrastructure; salt interception scheme means a scheme conducted by a public authority involving pumping and drainage of underground waters for the purpose of intercepting and avoiding saline water flows into those waters; septic system means a system used on premises for the on‑site collection, treatment and disposal of sewage generated at the premises, and includes a septic tank; sewerage infrastructure has the same meaning as in the Water Industry Act 2012; sinkhole means a surface depression caused by a collapse of soil or overlying formation above fractured or cavernous bedrock; stormwater means rain or melted precipitation that runs off land or structures on land; surface waters means waters other than underground waters; trigger value—see clause 7; underground waters means waters occurring naturally under the ground or introduced to an aquifer or other area under the ground; vessel facility means a facility for the mooring, berthing, securing, storage, construction, repair or maintenance of a vessel and includes a marina, pontoon, jetty, wharf, boat ramp, slipway and boat yard; waste depot has the same meaning as in section 113 of the Act; wastewater means waste principally consisting of water and includes— (a) human wastewater; (b) sewage; (c) water containing food or beverage waste; (d) wash down water or cooling water; (e) irrigation runoff or contaminated stormwater; (f) water containing any other trade or industrial waste; (g) any other water that has been used in any form of human activity; (h) a combination of any of the above; wastewater lagoon means— (a) a sedimentation or detention basin; or (b) an artificial wetland; or (c) a leachate pond (containing leachate from composting works or a landfill depot); or (d) a tailings dam; or (e) any other dam, pond or lagoon constructed and used for the purpose of holding wastewater; wastewater management system means a system designed and operated for the purpose of collecting and managing wastewater so as to minimise any adverse impacts of the wastewater on the environment; watercourse means any of the following (whether or not temporarily wet or temporarily dry): (a) a river, creek or other natural watercourse (whether modified or not); (b) a lake, wetland, swamp, dam or reservoir or other body of water that collects water or through which water flows; (c) the Coorong; (d) an artificial channel; (e) a public stormwater disposal system, and includes part of a watercourse; Water Quality Guidelines means the Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality 2000 prepared by ANZECC and ARMCANZ, as in force at the commencement of this policy; waters means waters to which this policy applies (see clause 8). (2) For the purposes of this policy, the following applies in relation to the meaning of discharge waste or a pollutant into waters or onto land: (a) a person discharges waste or a pollutant into waters or onto land if the person causes or allows the waste or pollutant to be discharged into the waters or onto the land or fails to prevent it from entering the waters or escaping onto the land (including by processes such as seepage or infiltration or carriage by wind, rain, sea spray or stormwater or by the rising of the water table); (b) waste or a pollutant will be taken to have been discharged onto land if it is discharged into a quarry or a cavity in land; (c) the discharge of waste or a pollutant into a watercourse that is temporarily dry will be regarded as the discharge of the waste or pollutant into waters. (3) For the purposes of the descriptions of waters in this policy, unless the contrary intention appears, all lines are geodesics based on the Geocentric Datum of Australia 2020 and all co‑ordinates are expressed in terms of GDA2020. (4) In this policy, the expression mandatory provision followed by a statement as to the category of offence is to be taken to signify that contravention of the provision at the foot of which the expression appears is, for the purposes of Part 5 of the Act, an offence of the category so stated. Note— Unless the contrary intention appears, terms used in this policy that are defined in the Act have the respective meanings assigned to those terms by the Act. 5—Environmental harm For the purposes of section 5(1)(c) of the Act, each of the following is declared to constitute environmental harm in relation to waters: (a) loss of seagrass or other native aquatic vegetation from the waters; (b) a reduction in numbers of any native species of aquatic animal or insect in or in the vicinity of the waters; (c) an increase in numbers of any non‑native species of aquatic animal or insect in or in the vicinity of the waters; (d) a reduction in numbers of aquatic organisms necessary to maintain the health of the ecosystem of the waters; (e) an increase in algal or aquatic plant growth in the waters; (f) the waters becoming toxic to vegetation on land; (g) the waters becoming harmful or offensive to humans, livestock or native animals; (h) an increase in turbidity or sediment levels of the waters. 6—Environmental values of waters (1) For the purposes of this policy, waters may have 1 or more of the following environmental values: (a) aquatic ecosystems; (b) recreation and aesthetics; (c) drinking water for human consumption; (d) primary industries—irrigation and general water uses; (e) primary industries—livestock drinking water; (f) primary industries—aquaculture and human consumption of aquatic foods. (2) The environmental values of waters are set out in Schedule 1. 7—Activation of trigger values For the purposes of this policy, a trigger value for waters is activated if— (a) in the case of waters with an environmental value of aquatic ecosystems—a trigger value for an indicator specified in Chapter 3 of the Water Quality Guidelines— (i) has been reached or exceeded for a chemical substance or a characteristic; or (ii) in the case of a minimum level specified for a characteristic, has not been reached, in respect of the waters when assessed against Chapter 3 of the Water Quality Guidelines (and any other provisions of those guidelines that assist in the interpretation and construction of Chapter 3) on the basis of a 95% level of protection of species; or (b) in the case of waters with an environmental value of primary industries—irrigation and general water uses—a trigger value for an indicator specified in Chapter 4.2 of the Water Quality Guidelines— (i) has been reached or exceeded for a chemical substance or a characteristic; or (ii) in the case of a minimum level specified for a characteristic, has not been reached, in respect of the waters when assessed against Chapter 4.2 of the Water Quality Guidelines (and any other provisions of those guidelines that assist in the interpretation and construction of Chapter 4.2), applying, if there are long term and short term trigger values for an indicator, the long term trigger value; or (c) in the case of waters with an environmental value of primary industries—livestock drinking water—a trigger value for an indicator specified in Chapter 4.3 of the Water Quality Guidelines— (i) has been reached or exceeded for a chemical substance or a characteristic; or (ii) in the case of a minimum level specified for a characteristic, has not been reached, in respect of the waters when assessed against Chapter 4.3 of the Water Quality Guidelines (and any other provisions of those guidelines that assist in the interpretation and construction of Chapter 4.3); or (d) in the case of waters with an environmental value of primary industries—aquaculture and human consumption of aquatic foods—a guideline value for an indicator specified in Chapter 4.4 of the Water Quality Guidelines— (i) has been reached or exceeded for a chemical substance or a characteristic; or (ii) in the case of a minimum level specified for a characteristic, has not been reached, in respect of the waters when assessed against Chapter 4.4 of the Water Quality Guidelines (and any other provisions of those guidelines that assist in the interpretation and construction of Chapter 4.4). 8—Application of policy (1) This policy applies in relation to all surface and underground waters (whether or not on or below private land) including the water within a public stormwater system or an irrigation drainage channel, but excluding— (a) water within the pipes and closed tanks of a water reticulation system or salt interception scheme; and (b) water within sewerage infrastructure or any other wastewater management system; and (c) water within a closed tank constructed of or lined with material impervious to water; and (d) water within a private or public swimming pool. (2) This policy does not apply in relation to the discharge of uncontaminated stormwater into any waters or onto land in a place from which it is reasonably likely to enter any waters (including by processes such as seepage or infiltration or carriage by wind, rain, sea spray or stormwater or by the rising of the water table). (3) Except for clause 9(e) and (f) (and Schedule 4) and Part 2 Division 3, and subject to an environmental authorisation held by a public authority relating to a prescribed activity of environmental significance referred to in Schedule 1, Part A, clause 4(2) of the Act (Discharge of Stormwater to Underground Aquifers), this policy does not apply in relation to the ultimate discharge of stormwater from a public stormwater system by a public authority responsible for the system into any waters or onto land in a place from which it is reasonably likely to enter any waters (including by processes such as seepage or infiltration or carriage by wind, rain, sea spray or stormwater or by the rising of the water table). (4) Nothing in this policy affects the operation of an authority or exemption given by or under any Act or law (other than the Environment Protection Act 1993) and in force immediately before the commencement of this policy. (5) If, immediately before the commencement of this policy, a prescribed activity of environmental significance was being lawfully undertaken by a person in a manner that would contravene a provision of this policy, that provision will not apply in relation to the activity so undertaken until the expiry of the second year of operation of this policy. (6) In this clause— uncontaminated stormwater means stormwater other than contaminated stormwater.