The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is continuing to advance reform in NSW environment legislation and regulation.
In this article, we cover three reforms of particular relevance to businesses regulated by the EPA, being:
- A new bill to amend environmental legislation in NSW;
- Licensing reforms relevant to holders of environment protection licences; and
- New requirements proposed for Large Greenhouse Gas Emitters.
1. Bill to Amend Environmental Legislation
The Environmental Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (NSW) (Bill) was introduced on 6 August 2025. The key amendments proposed include:
- Increase in threshold to notify pollution incidents. The ‘loss’ or ‘damage’ threshold that enlivens the duty to notify pollution incidents is proposed to be increased from $10,000 to $50,000. The requirement to notify the Ministry of Health of pollution incidents is also proposed to be removed. If passed, changes will be required to incident response procedures including ‘pollution incident response management plans’ required under Part 5.7A of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) (POEO Act).
- Definition of “land pollution”. The definition of “land pollution” is proposed to be expanded to cover matter placed in or on buildings, chattels or fixtures on, below or above land (eg shipping containers), rather than just on land itself, in response to a recent Court decision concerning the placement of waste tyres in shipping containers.
- Preliminary investigation notices. Several amendments are proposed to the EPA’s new ‘preliminary investigation notice’ power (previously covered by our article here). The Bill proposes to enable the EPA to exercise this power retroactively to historical incidents and allows local councils to issue a notice when investigating potential leaks of underground petroleum storage systems. Importantly, failure to comply with a preliminary investigation notice may attract executive liability.
- Notices registered on title. The EPA will have the power to register both clean-up notice and prevention notices on the title to the property.
- On-Site Asbestos Remediation. The Bill proposes to narrow the blanket prohibition on re-use or recycling of asbestos waste (to only apply to waste received from off-site) and to expressly permit re-use or recycling in connection with remediation activities specified in new regulations.
- Industrial chemicals offences. Penalties for industrial chemical offences are proposed to be increased in line with serious waste offences, doubling the penalties for the most serious offences.
- New matters to be considered in imposing penalty. Impacts on Aboriginal cultural values and practices, and “environmental justice principles” are proposed to be added to the list of matters the Court can take into account in sentencing offences under the POEO Act.
- Environmental Policies to apply to business. The Bill proposes to expand the consideration of Protection of the Environment Policies (PEPs). While it will not be an offence to fail to comply with a PEP, it is likely that compliance with the standards and protocols set out in PEPs would be considered a mitigation in any compliance action taken by a regulator.
2. Licensing Reforms
The EPA is also currently implementing changes to environment protection licences under the POEO Act (see here). Licence holders will be receiving draft licence conditions from the EPA and now is the time to prepare.
The key changes include proposed requirements in the longer term for:
- near-real time non-compliance reporting (rather than in Annual Returns); and
- submission of real-time monitoring to ultimately be published in near real-time by the NSW EPA.
Any draft licence conditions should be carefully considered having regard to the changes to plant and equipment, processes and procedures that may be required as a consequence of any variation.
3. New Requirements Proposed for Large Greenhouse Gas Emitters
As covered by our article here, recent legal developments are changing how greenhouse gas emissions are being treated for major projects in NSW and the EPA is continuing to progressively roll out its climate change policy and action plan.
Currently, the EPA is consulting on proposed new requirements for holders of environment protection licences including:
- Climate Change Licensee Requirements
- Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plans: Mitigation Requirements
- Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Guide for NSW Coal Mines.
Submissions can be made until Tuesday 7 October 2025 (see here).
The table directly below summarises the proposed Climate Change Licensee Requirements.
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Explanation
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INDIVIDUAL
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Example
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Annual climate change emissions reporting
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From 28 February 2026 (for FY25 reporting), covered EPLs are to provide the EPA with an annual climate change emissions report. This report is to include details on Scope 1 and 2 emissions, energy produced and consumed, emissions intensities, and energy intensities. The intention is that the EPA, through these reports, receives the same data that is presently supplied to the Commonwealth Clean Energy Regulator. |
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Climate change mitigation and adaptation plans
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From 31 October 2026, the EPA will require EPL holders who are covered by the Safeguard Mechanism, and all coal mines with emissions greater than 25,000 t CO2-e per year, to make a Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plan (CCMAP). These CCMAPs are to be made publicly available. Within the plans, licensees would be required to publish their current and estimated future emissions, existing and planned mitigation measures, and establish emissions reduction goals. CCMAPs, as proposed, will need to be updated every three years. |
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Specific mitigation actions Emissions measurement
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The EPA will develop targeted mitigation requirements for industry sectors to implement specific technologies, processes or emission actions by particular dates. These measures will be tailored to each sector or licensee where necessary and enforced by way of conditions imposed on affected licence holders. |
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Emissions measurement
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The EPA will progressively require facility-level greenhouse gas monitoring for certain groups of licensees. However, as a first step, the NSW EPA will begin establishing regional greenhouse gas monitoring equipment networks. Over time, as technology improves, monitoring requirements may also be put in place for other key sources of fugitive methane, such as surface and underground mining. |
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Greenhouse gas emission limits on licence holders
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Longer term, the EPA will progressively place targeted, evidence-based limits for greenhouse gas emissions on new and existing licence holders in key industry sectors. It is not clear how this will interact with Safeguard Mechanism baselines, but it is possible that the EPA’s emissions limits will be stricter than the equivalents imposed by the Commonwealth. |
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For any assistance arising from the reforms outlined above, please reach out to the KWM team below.
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