Legislation and Policy

Queensland Urban Utilities is a statutory authority and the Central South East Queensland distributor–retailer formed under the South-East Queensland Water (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) Act 2009. This means Queensland Urban Utilities is a service provider for water and sewerage services under the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008 with a service area incorporating Brisbane, Ipswich, Somerset, Lockyer Valley and Scenic Rim local government areas.

Trade waste legislation

Under the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008, Queensland Urban Utilities may consent to the discharge of trade waste to sewer. To the extent that Queensland Urban Utilities permits the discharge of trade waste to sewer, its management of such discharges is regulated by legislation including the Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008, the South-East Queensland Water (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) Act 2009, the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and the Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009.

The Environmental Protection Act 1994 provides a general prohibition against the pollution of the environment by the discharge of trade waste, except where the person or agency holds an environmental authority permitting such discharge. The discharge options for producers of trade waste are:

obtain an environmental authority to treat the waste themselves before discharge to the environment, or
to have it treated at an approved treatment facility, or
seek approval from a distributor-retailer such as Queensland Urban Utilities to discharge to the sewerage system.

The discharge of trade waste to stormwater drainage is prohibited under the Environmental Protection Act 1994 and the City of Brisbane Act 2010 and Local Government Act 2009.

A distributor-retailer is not obliged to accept trade waste, but where it does it must meet its obligations under the Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009, including the requirement to implement a Trade Waste Environmental Management Plan (TWEMP) to control trade waste entering its system, and for that plan to consider the effect of trade waste on:

the receiving environment
the end use of waters to which the trade waste is being released (e.g. downstream recycling)
the materials used to construct the sewerage system
the health and safety of people working on the sewerage service
the treatment capabilities of the sewage treatment plants.

These considerations have become known as our “trade waste objectives”.

List of Legislation Relevant to Trade Waste

Environmental Protection Act 1994
Environmental Protection Regulation 1998
Environmental Protection (Waste Management) Regulation 2000
Environmental Protection (Waste Management) Policy 2000
Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009
Plumbing and Drainage Act 2002
Standard Plumbing and Drainage Regulation 2003
Public Health Regulation 2005
Water Supply (Safety and Reliability) Act 2008
South-East Queensland Water (Distribution and Retail Restructuring) Act 2009

Current copies of legislation are available from www.legislation.qld.gov.au

Trade waste environmental management plan (TWEMP)

The Trade Waste Environmental Management Plan (TWEMP) sets out how Queensland Urban Utilities manages trade waste discharges and meets its obligation to have such a plan under the Environmental Protection (Water) Policy 2009.

The TWEMP aims to standardise trade waste management practices across Queensland Urban Utilities’ service area. Notwithstanding the general alignment of trade waste management practices, the TWEMP applies certain local provisions where these are desirable to ensure we can achieve our trade waste objectives.

It details monitoring, compliance and enforcement activities, establishes administrative review processes and describes Queensland Urban Utilities’ powers and obligations and the obligations of its customers. The TWEMP also details Queensland Urban Utilities’ trade waste fees and charges, which are levied on a user pays basis.

Trade Waste Environmental Management Plan

Trade waste policy

To ensure the continued protection of our environment and waterways, Queensland Urban Utilities’ policy is to conditionally accept trade waste into sewerage infrastructure provided that:

it does not contain substances in amounts that are or may be toxic or hazardous to sewerage infrastructure, treatment processes, personnel or the environment
where necessary, trade waste has been pre-treated by on-site ‘best practicable treatment’ to ensure sewer acceptance criteria are not exceeded
the system is of adequate capacity to collect, transport and treat the trade waste.

Queensland Urban Utilities is committed to improving efficiency and minimising the impact of waste. To achieve these principles, our management of trade waste focuses on:

Development and implementation of a comprehensive TWEMP
Clear communication of the TWEMP (and its stated requirements) to trade waste customers
Application of risk based management activities, including a consistent and equitable basis for scheduling compliance activities
Conservation of resources and protection of the environment through waste minimisation, recycling, reuse and treatment at source
Adoption of relevant national and state guidelines (specifically including the National Wastewater Source Management Guideline (2008))
Development of pricing and charging policies to reflect user pays principles.