Contaminated Land Audits are required if the property is to be rezoned to a more ‘sensitive’ land use (e.g. commercial to residential), or a request has been made to remove it from the Contaminated Sites Register (an official list of badly polluted sites), or it has specific audit requirements under an EPA Victoria notice.

Two types of audits are provided for under Victorian Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) legislation: 1) general audits of the environmental performance of an industrial operation and, 2) land contamination audits specifically for property.

In Victoria, Contaminated Land Auditors are appointed by the EPA. Their function is to ensure that audited land meets the specifications for a desired end use. Consequently, they must be independent of the consultant engaged to assess or clean up the property. Atma Environmental has worked with numerous Auditors and ensures that all reporting meets the exacting standards required by an Auditor.

Where the Auditor finds that the site is suitable for ‘any beneficial use’ he may issue a Certificate of Environmental Audit and the site can be used for whatever purpose. Where an Auditor finds that the site contains some residual contamination he may issue a Statement of Environmental Audit. Development of such land can proceed if the contamination is in keeping with the acceptable land-use.

Complete and total clean up of contamination is not always required.

Atma Environmental will assist you in resolving complex contaminated land auditing and property development issues.