North-South Corridor – environmental regulation

During the planning phase of the T2D project, the EPA is considering potential air quality impacts from activities that occur before, during and after road construction. There is substantial evidence that air pollution does have adverse effects on our health and consequently any improvement in air quality will result in improved health outcomes.

Air quality after construction is being considered at the design stage, so that traffic and emissions modelling informs the design and reasonable and practicable measures are taken to prevent or minimise any adverse air quality impacts. This includes ventilation requirements within the tunnels and the safe discharge of tunnel-ventilation emissions.

During demolition and construction activities, the EPA expects contractors to implement all appropriate measures to minimise any impact on air quality, including dust suppression, consideration of meteorological conditions for certain earth-moving activities and to implement all necessary controls to restrict and control the dust.

All work will need to meet the legislative criteria specified within the EPA's Environment Protection (Air Quality) Policy 2016 and the General Environmental Duty requirements in section 25 of the Environment Protection Act 1993.

As further details are made available by DIT in regard to the T2D project, this website will be updated. If you would like to learn more about the T2D Project, please sign up to receive electronic updates or download fact sheets

For more information, please contact on 1300 951 145 or email.

Further information on evaluation distances for air quality and noise management, assessment and emission testing methodology is available from EPA website.

There will be noise and vibration mitigation requirements associated with the T2D project, both during construction and to consider in the planning phase for after the work is complete.

Noise and vibration during both construction and operation of the proposed road and tunnels must comply with the Environment Protection Act 1993. In order to comply with the Part 4 Section 25, the EPA expects DIT to undertake planning and construction work according to its Guideline for the Management of Noise and Vibration: Construction and Maintenance Activities.

DIT and its contractors must consider and address the potential effects of construction and maintenance noise and vibration during the planning phase, and undertake reasonable and practicable mitigation to avoid nuisance to the community and the environment. DIT has a factsheet available on its website that outlines how it will achieve this.

As further details are made available by DIT in regard to the T2D project, this website will be updated. If you would like to learn more about the T2D Project, please sign up to receive electronic updates or download fact sheets

For more information, please contact on 1300 951 145 or email.

If you would like further EPA information, or have a question for an EPA noise expert, please visit the EPA website.

The EPA is providing advice to DIT about how to prevent or minimise air quality, noise, site contamination, waste, wastewater and water quality impacts associated with the design, construction and operational components of the project.

The EPA’s input into the planning system helps ensure that development is located, designed and constructed to prevent or minimise impacts on the environment, human health, amenity, and promotes ecologically sustainable development

For those ancillary components of the T2D project that will require development approval (eg temporary concrete batching plants, asphalt plants and potentially waste soil recovery facilities) the EPA will be formally consulted under the Planning Development and Infrastructure Act 2016. In these instances the EPA will direct the relevant planning authority about whether such development should be approved and, if so, what conditions should be attached to any development approval.

As further details are made available by DIT in regard to the T2D project, this website will be updated. If you would like to learn more about the T2D Project, please sign up to receive electronic updates or download fact sheets

For more information, please contact on 1300 951 145 or email.

If you would like further information, or to speak with the EPA about its role in the planning and environmental impact assessment process, please visit the EPA website or email us.

The Environment Protection Act 1993 and Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010 define 'waste', and set out the regulatory requirements for waste management activities. One of these requirements is the implementation of the waste management hierarchy, which prioritises various waste management approaches.

In accordance with the hierarchy, avoiding waste generation is the most preferable, with disposal only occurring where other waste management options such as reuse, are not possible. In applying the waste management hierarchy and protecting the environment, the EPA seeks to:

• Promote the best and safest use of recovered resources, and
• Reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and ending up in our environment.

A circular economy is a self-sustaining system which aims to keep materials in use, or ‘circulating’, for as long as possible. It extracts the maximum value from materials such as soils while in use, then recovers and reuses them in other forms.

The 2 waste streams which will be relevant during T2D early works include management of waste soils and construction and demolition waste. In accordance with EPA regulatory requirements, the options for both waste streams in South Australia include reuse, treatment or disposal. Examples of reuse include where waste soil is reused for levelling land associated with infrastructure development, or where construction and demolition waste (eg concrete) is processed into aggregate to be used as road base.

In 2020, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) began a soil and water survey program to test relevant geotechnical, hydrogeological and contamination conditions close to South Road. This program is continuing, though once complete it will assist in the determination of the most appropriate waste soil management option(s) when T2D construction work begins. It will also enable the EPA to ensure that waste soils are being diverted from the project to the most appropriate location.

Waste transportation will also be an important consideration in the early works of the T2D. In accordance with the Environment Protection (Waste to Resources) Policy 2010 a person who transports waste, including waste soil and construction and demolition waste, must take all reasonable and practicable steps to cover, contain or secure the waste. Depending on the waste that is being transported, an EPA License may be required and the waste must be tracked.

As further details are made available by DIT in regard to the T2D project, this website will be updated. If you would like to learn more about the T2D Project, please sign up to receive electronic updates or download fact sheets

For more information, please contact on 1300 951 145 or email.

Further information on Waste & Recycling and Waste Transportation and Tracking is available from the EPA website.

The EPA is responsible for the responding to water pollution through the Environment Protection Act 1993. It provides the regulatory framework to protect the South Australian environment and is supported through subordinate legislation and regulatory tools including the Environment Protection (Water Quality) Policy 2015 (Water Quality Policy).

The EP Act and Water Quality Policy places a general obligation on DIT and its contractors to take all reasonable and practicable measures to minimise environmental harm caused by pollution.

The Water Quality Policy states that a person must not discharge pollutants into any waters (including the public stormwater system). The definition of waters includes public stormwater systems, groundwaters, inland surface waters and marine waters, and listed pollutants cannot be placed into any of those waters or onto land in a place where they are reasonably likely to enter those waters (including by processes such as seepage or infiltration or carriage by wind, rain, sea spray or stormwater or by the rising of the water table).

If you would like to report a water pollution incident in regard to the T2D project, please contact the EPA 24/7 hotline on (08) 8204 2004.

For further information please visit the EPA website, or email us.