Overview
The NSW Environment Protection Authority will bring a new Chemical Control Order (CCO) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into effect on 1 October 2026, mandating standardised PFAS monitoring and reporting at every licensed landfill and sewage treatment plant (STP) across the state. The order applies to operators holding an Environment Protection Licence (EPL) for these facility types, including closed landfills that still carry an active licence.
This matters because landfills and STPs are recognised secondary receivers of PFAS, meaning they accumulate the substances from countless upstream sources rather than being the original point of contamination. Historically, PFAS monitoring at these sites in NSW has been inconsistent, driven by site-specific licence conditions rather than a uniform statewide standard. The CCO changes that, replacing discretionary or negotiated sampling with fixed, compulsory monitoring frequencies and reporting formats that apply regardless of a facility’s individual licence history.
For Australian environmental professionals, developers, councils and legal teams working across NSW contaminated land and waste management, this is a direct regulatory shift with immediate compliance timelines. Facility operators, their environmental consultants and their legal advisers have a defined window to prepare before the order takes legal effect.
Key details
The CCO is issued under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW) and the Environmentally Hazardous Chemicals Act 1985 (NSW), giving the NSW EPA statutory power to impose facility-wide PFAS controls independent of individual EPL negotiations. From 1 October 2026, licensed landfills must undertake annual monitoring of leachate and quarterly (four times a year) monitoring of downgradient groundwater. Where suitable groundwater monitoring points are not available, surface water points must be defined and used instead.
Sewage treatment plants face a separate but equally prescriptive requirement: quarterly monitoring of treated effluent discharges. Both facility types must use standardised sampling and analytical methods and report the resulting data directly to the NSW EPA in prescribed formats and within set timeframes. This standardisation is the operative change. Rather than each facility negotiating its own monitoring regime through licence variations, the CCO applies one testing and reporting framework across the sector.
The practical effect of direct, standardised reporting is that the NSW EPA gains the ability to compare PFAS mass loads across facilities and catchments on a like-for-like basis. Where a facility returns elevated PFAS concentrations relative to catchment norms, operators should anticipate follow-on regulatory action, which may include statutory clean-up notices, requirements for secondary site investigations, or amendment of existing EPL conditions to impose tighter controls.
Alignment with the PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (PFAS NEMP 3.1) framework is expected for guideline values and investigation trigger thresholds, meaning facilities will need to interpret their monitoring results against the same national PFAS guideline hierarchy already used in contaminated land assessment elsewhere in Australia, rather than a bespoke NSW-only threshold set.
Australian context: PFAS NEMP alignment and NSW landfill compliance
This CCO sits within the broader national PFAS management architecture established by the PFAS NEMP, now in its 3.1 iteration, which already guides investigation trigger thresholds and guideline values used across state jurisdictions including NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Because the CCO is expected to align with PFAS NEMP thresholds rather than create a separate NSW standard, practitioners working across multiple states should not need to run parallel guideline frameworks, but they will need NSW-specific sampling frequency and reporting compliance layered on top of the technical assessment work they already do under NEPM 2013 and PFAS NEMP.
Landfills and STPs are treated as secondary PFAS receivers in national policy discussion precisely because they collect PFAS-impacted waste, leachate and trade waste from diffuse upstream sources such as firefighting foam use, industrial discharge and consumer product waste streams. NSW’s move to mandate fixed monitoring at these facility types reflects a recognition, consistent with national PFAS policy direction, that secondary receivers require just as much regulatory attention as primary contamination sources such as former firefighting training grounds.
Other states have taken varying approaches to PFAS monitoring at landfills and STPs, generally relying on licence-by-licence conditions rather than a single overarching control order. NSW’s CCO represents one of the more prescriptive and consolidated regulatory instruments seen in this space in Australia, and it is reasonable to expect other jurisdictions and their EPAs will watch the NSW rollout closely as a template for standardising secondary receiver monitoring elsewhere.
Practical implications for EPL holders and environmental consultants
Operators holding an EPL for a landfill or STP in NSW, including operators of closed landfills that retain an active licence, need to review and update their Sampling and Analysis Quality Plans (SAQPs) now to incorporate the mandatory PFAS analyte suite, sampling frequencies and approved methods ahead of the 1 October 2026 commencement date. Waiting until the order takes effect leaves no buffer to establish a defensible baseline before compulsory reporting begins.
Environmental consultants and hydrogeologists have a defined technical role to play in the lead-up to commencement. This includes verifying that existing downgradient groundwater monitoring points remain suitable for the required quarterly sampling, defining surface water monitoring points where suitable groundwater points are not available, and confirming that field sampling procedures and laboratory analytical methods meet the standardised requirements under the CCO. Early baseline sampling before the compulsory reporting start date will give operators the context needed to interpret future results against PFAS NEMP 3.1 guideline values, and to respond on a sound footing if elevated concentrations prompt regulatory follow-up.
References and related sources
- Primary source: www.claytonutz.com
- nsw.gov.au
- PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP)
- NSW EPA
How iEnvi can help
iEnvi provides specialist consulting services relevant to this topic. Our team includes CEnvP Site Contamination Specialists with experience across contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, ecology, and regulatory compliance.
- iEnvi groundwater services
- iEnvi remediation and validation services
- iEnvi expert services and independent review services
This is an iEnvi Machete news summary. Prepared by iEnvi to summarise the source article for contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, approvals and site risk professionals.
Published: 18 Aug 2026
Need advice on this topic? Speak to an iEnvi expert at info@ienvi.com.au or 1300 043 684, or contact us online.
Need advice on this issue? iEnvi provides practical, senior-led environmental consulting across contaminated land, remediation, ecology and environmental risk.
Team credentials Environmental management plans Contaminated land advice Remediation services Talk to iEnvi