Tips for searching the contaminated land record of notices

This information will help you effectively search the EPA’s contaminated land record of notices. You should read and be aware of the disclaimer before you start your search.

Two different searches

The two different types of search make it as easy as possible to find the information you are looking for.

  • Search 1 allows you to narrow down your search by entering information in more than one field such as suburb, date or notice type. 
  • Search 2 is for people who have a notice number or an area number. By typing this number in, you can quickly go to the relevant site.

Search for a specific site

To search the record for a property, use Search 1 and select the local government area (LGA) or suburb the property is in by selecting ‘LGA’ or ‘Suburb’ from the drop-down menus. If you get no results, there are no notices issued for properties in that LGA or suburb. If you do get results, read through the list of properties carefully. Note that large industrial sites can be turned into new subdivisions with different street names, different Lot and DP numbers and even different suburb names. The record of notices has the names and numbers as they were when the notice was issued.

The Office of Local Government has adjusted some local government boundaries and merged some LGAs. As a result, some sites on the record may be listed under their original rather than their new LGAs. The EPA is trying to keep LGA records as up-to-date as possible. 

More information about changes to LGA boundaries

No search by Lot and DP numbers

The Lot and DP numbers in a notice on the record were accurate at the time the notice was issued but the land may have since been allocated new Lot and DP numbers. Additionally, in the earlier days of regulation of contaminated sites it was not routine for the EPA to describe a site by Lot and DP, so this information is not always on the notice.

Search by date

Search 1 allows you to search by date for old and new notices in a specific area. Firstly enter the ‘LGA’ or ‘Suburb’ from the drop-down menus then type in the date range you are interested in. You can leave the ‘from’ or ‘to’ fields blank to find everything before or after a certain point. This search will show all notices that have been issued and revoked during that period.

Note that the first notices were issued in 1987. For dates after 2000, the search will accept a 2-digit year but for earlier dates you need to enter a 4-digit year. Be sure to use the Australian date format (day/month/year).

You can use just search by date to find all notices issued in all areas within a date range.

Search by notice type

Select the type of notice you are interested in from the drop-down menu under 'Notice type' in Search 1. Remember that notices issued under section 35 or section 36 of the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act 1985 are deemed by the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997 to be ‘management orders’.

Search by company name

Type in all variations of the company name without ‘Pty’ or ‘Ltd’ in the 'Name' field in Search 1 to find all relevant sites.

 

Search by area or notice number

If you know the area number for a site, or the number of a specific notice relating to the site, enter the number in Search 2.

An area number is a unique number the EPA uses to identify a site regulated under the CLM Act. The same area number links all EPA notices issued under the CLM Act relating to that site. The area number is generally a four-digit number starting with a 3, e.g. 3456. 

In the past, the area number was known as a UB or unhealthy building number, and related to the Unhealthy Building Land Act 1990, which has been repealed. More about unhealthy building land.


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