Managing asbestos in and on land

Guidance has been developed by the NSW Heads of Asbestos Coordinating Authorities (HACA) to provide general direction on the assessment and management of asbestos in soil. Managing asbestos in soil has implications for the current and future occupants of the land and any workers employed on the site.

The guidance applies principally to the legacy of poor historical on-site management of asbestos materials and not to the illegal disposal or landfilling of waste generated off-site.

See the SafeWork NSW website for:

Managing naturally occurring asbestos

Asbestos occurs in some rocks and soils as a natural mineral. Less than one per cent of the land surface of NSW is estimated to have the potential for naturally occurring asbestos within 10 metres of the land surface. With few exceptions, (like road building and maintenance in naturally occurring asbestos areas), the risk of exposure associated with naturally occurring asbestos is very low.

Guidance has been developed by the NSW Asbestos Coordination Committee (NACC) to provide general information on reducing potential exposure to residents, farmers and people managing recreational activities in areas identified with a high probability of naturally occurring asbestos.

This guidance has been developed in the form of three fact sheets

  1. Factsheet 1 - Recreation in areas of naturally occurring asbestos
  2. Factsheet 2 - Residing in areas of naturally occurring asbestos
  3. Factsheet 3 - Farming in areas of naturally occurring asbestos

Geographic information system maps have been developed by NSW Trade and Investment, locating high, medium and low probability areas of naturally occurring asbestos. View the Naturally-occurring asbestos in NSW maps.

If you have any further questions relating to naturally occurring asbestos, please download the NSW Government frequently asked questions sheet on naturally occurring asbestos.

Managing asbestos contaminated sites

On 24 August 2021 the West Australian Department of Health published the revised Guidelines for the Assessment, Remediation and Management of Asbestos Contaminated Sites in Western Australia (the WA Asbestos Guidelines). The WA Asbestos Guidelines are a valuable resource for the management of asbestos contaminated sites, and the previous (2009) version of the guidelines has been widely referenced in NSW. However, some parts of the 2021 version of the WA Asbestos Guidelines are not wholly consistent with the regulatory framework in NSW.

In response, the EPA published a position statement on 14 April 2022 to clarify the activities that were permitted under the NSW regulatory framework. In response to industry feedback on the position statement, the EPA subsequently undertook consultation on revisions to the position statement. Feedback from industry and community on the proposed revisions was that these still did not provide enough clarity about what is permitted under the NSW regulatory framework.

The EPA recognises that different asbestos-contaminated sites may require different remedial approaches, depending on the circumstances. Considering the feedback received to date, the EPA has decided to provide the following general information while it explores any changes that could be made to the regulatory framework to clarify the permissibility of certain remedial approaches.

In NSW, the remediation of sites contaminated with asbestos can be regulated under the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997 (the CLM Act) and/or the planning framework, depending on the significance of the contamination and how it will be managed.

Land that is significantly contaminated because of poor historical on-site management of asbestos materials is generally regulated by the EPA under the CLM Act.

Contaminated sites that do not pose an unacceptable risk under their current or approved use are generally regulated by planning authorities under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021 and with reference to the Managing Land Contamination – Planning Guidelines (PDF 218KB).

Land that is impacted because of asbestos waste from an off-site source is generally regulated under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (POEO Act) and associated waste legislation.

The purpose of remediating asbestos-contaminated soils is to remove, reduce or contain the asbestos so that it doesn’t pose a risk of harm to human health or the environment for the current, approved or proposed land-use.

Assessment and remediation of asbestos-contaminated sites should be risk-based and take a weight of evidence approach, based on a site’s history and Conceptual Site Model (CSM). The remediation objective and process must be documented in a remedial action plan, prepared by suitably qualified and experienced contaminated land consultant (see Engaging a consultant).

Once completed, the remediation must be independently validated to ensure that the management objectives have been achieved, including whether the site is suitable for the current, approved or proposed use.

The EPA has made or approved several statutory guidelines for consultants and site auditors to follow when preparing remedial action plans and validating remediation works (see Statutory guidelines).

The EPA considers that the remediation of asbestos-contaminated soils carried out in accordance with Chapter 4 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience and Hazards) 2021, including remediation required or approved under the CLM Act, would not constitute land pollution or the re-use or recycling of asbestos waste.

Asbestos-contaminated soils cannot be remediated at a contaminated site then subsequently transported to another site for reuse or recycling.

The Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer is undertaking a review of asbestos in waste and asbestos-contaminated soils, which is expected to be finalised by the end of this year.

Previous position

  • Position statement: WA guidelines for asbestos contaminated sites  (EPA, April 2022). This document is no longer in effect and replaced by the information on this webpage.
  • Draft position statement: management of asbestos-contaminated sites  (EPA, June 2023). This document was published for consultation purposes and was not finalised by the EPA.

For copies of these documents contact info@epa.nsw.gov.au 

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