Managing contaminated land

A landowner must, before agreeing to sell or dispose of land listed on the Environmental Management Register (EMR) or Contaminated Land Register (CLR), give written notice to the buyer. The notice must inform the buyer that the land is recorded on the EMR or CLR and provide details of any site management plan (SMP) for the land where applicable.

A landowner also has the obligation to give the buyer written notice should land be the subject of:

• a show cause notice
• an environmental evaluation requiring a site investigation to be conducted
• a notice requiring a SMP to be prepared or advising that a SMP has been prepared for the land
• a clean-up notice
• an order under s.458 of the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

If the landowner does not comply with the above requirements the buyer may rescind the agreement by giving the owner written notice before whichever of the following happens first:

• the completion of the agreement; or
• possession under the agreement.

If a buyer rescinds the agreement, any person who has been paid an amount by the buyer must refund the money paid; and the buyer must return to the owner any documents about the disposal, other than the buyer’s copy of the agreement.

Where a landowner does not give the buyer the required notice before the agreement is signed, they may provide a written notice stating that the buyer can rescind the agreement within 21 business days after receiving the notice. If the buyer does not rescind the agreement within the specified period, they are taken to have waived their right.

On 1 August 2025, requirements under the Property Law Act 2023 came into effect in Queensland and introduced a “Seller Disclosure Statement” which brings together seller requirements from other legislation into one place.  The requirement to disclose to buyers if their land is listed on the EMR or the CLR as discussed above, now forms part of the “Seller Disclosure Statement”.

If you are unaware if your land is listed, you can conduct a search of the land registers to meet your obligations under the Property Law Act 2023 and the EP Act.

The Department of Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) maintains the EMR and CLR under the EP Act.  The fees for conducting these searches are set out in the Environmental Protection Regulation 2019.

For more information about the seller disclosure scheme under the Property Law Act 2023, you can visit the Queensland Government’s website here: Seller Disclosure Scheme – Queensland Government

DETSI also maintains a public register of records related to the regulation of the EP Act which may be of interest to you.

Leasing land which is listed on the CLR

If land is listed on the CLR, the landowner has the obligation to:

• notify any lessee that the land has been listed on the CLR within 20 business days
• notify any person who is proposing to lease the land that the land has been listed on the CLR before entering into the lease.

If the owner fails to give this notice the lessee, or the person proposing to lease the land, may terminate the lease by written agreement within 10 business days after becoming aware that the land is listed on the CLR.