Defence National
Environmental
Standard
Standard for the Prevention and Management of
Pollution from Stormwater
Quality information
DNES Approver
DNES Exemption
Approver
This DNES takes effect from the Date of Issue
Document number
Revision
DNES Owner
Date of Issue
Date of Next Revision
DNES Endorsers
Terms, definitions and acronyms
Standard definitions for key terms (including acronyms where applicable) are included in the table
below.
Table 1
Key terms, definitions and acronyms
Acronym (if
applicable)
Term
Definition
Australian and
New Zealand
Environmental
Conservation
Council
ANZECC
Independent body which prescribes the ANZECC 2000 guidelines for fresh and marine
water quality
Base Support
Manager
BSM
Under the Base Accountabilities Model, a BSM is the DSRG representative
accountable for delivery of base support management and services, including
integrated delivery of agreed support services, for a given base.
Defence
Environmental
Management
System
EMS
The Defence EMS operates in support of the Defence Environmental Strategic Plan
2010-2014 and aims to deliver environmental services in an integrated and systematic
manner to support ADF capability.
Defence Estate
Land owned, leased or used by the Department of Defence.
Defence
National
Environmental
Standard
DNES
A set of quality or performance conditions specifying Defence’s minimum acceptable
level of environmental management for an environmental factor, activity or process.
Directorate of
Energy
Efficiency and
Resource
Management
DEERM
Directorate within Environment and Engineering (E&E) branch of DSRG Infrastructure
Division, responsible for policy and technical advice relating to energy efficiency and
resource management, including pollution prevention.
Environment
Environmental
Clearance
Certificate
Surroundings in which Defence personnel and its contractors operate, including air,
water, land, natural resources, heritage, flora, fauna, humans, and their interrelation.
ECC
Environmental
Factor
Government
Furnished
Facilities
Document that details a planned activity, mitigation measures relevant to the planned
activity and sets out conditions to minimise the likelihood of significant environmental
impacts arising. ECCs are used by exception in instances where the planned activity is
not fully covered by existing operational controls.
A manageable and measurable environmental item that needs to be considered and/or
actively managed due to Defence’s interest or obligation. The term replaces the
previous concepts used within Defence of environmental values, environmental
aspects, assets, areas of interest, areas of concern, and valued environmental
components (VECs).
GFF
Facilities built and owned by the Commonwealth entrusted to a contractor as part of a
specific contract delivery arrangement
Incident
Any occurrence that can result in an impact or impacts on the environment. This
includes incidents, complaints, near misses, observations and non-conformances.
Incident Form
Electronic Form linked to the Incident Register, where information on the incident and
associated actions are recorded. The Incident Form comprises three parts:
Part A: First stop form completed by Originator to capture initial information
about an incident;
Part B: Review and verification of initial information; and
Part C: Form used to guide and document the findings of an investigation into an
incident and prescribe subsequent actions.
Nonconformance
An action or omission that did not meet Defence’s environmental operational controls
including Defence Instructions, Defence Environmental Standards, Environmental
Clearance Certificate conditions, Range Standing Orders, Standard Operating
Procedures; or an action or omission that did not meet external conditions placed on
Defence.
Notification Alert
An automated email or system notification to relevant stakeholders and decision
makers describing the contents of the completed form or updated register.
Operational
control
(environmental)
Measures applied to activities, products and services to prevent, or reduce the extent
of, environmental impact.
Acronym (if
applicable)
Term
Definition
Personnel
Members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), members of the Australian Public
Service (APS) employed by Defence, contractors/subcontractors and/or consultants
performing work or providing services for Defence, and third parties or other visitors to
the Defence Estate.
Preventative
Action
An action that eliminates or minimises impacts which have already occurred due to an
incident, and/or prevents or minimises the risk of a similar incident occurring in the
future.
Project
Manager
Staff member responsible for management of an Estate Maintenance or Operations
project.
Regional
Environment
Officer
REO
Supports and represents the Senior Environment Manager at bases and groups of
bases.
Senior ADF
Officer
SADFO
Under the Base Accountabilities Model, the role of SADFO is an additional role for an
appointed senior military officer on a given base. SADFOs are required to provide
broad leadership to all military staff on the base, consistent with the Chief of Defence
Force’s expectations of all senior ADF officers.
Senior
Environment
Manager
SEM
Senior professional advisor for environmental matters in a DSRG region, advising
Defence personnel including senior Commanders and managers. Leads the
environmental team and manages the regional implementation of national strategic
programs.
Standard
Operating
Procedures
SOP
Operational control that specifies how a standard activity should be undertaken. This
may include specific requirements to minimise WHS and environmental risks. Initial
incident responses may also be detailed for certain activities.
Standing Orders
Operational control that provides enforceable instructions relevant to a Defence
Property. Traditionally, environmental instructions are included as Chapter 13 in Range
Standing Orders. Standing Orders may sometimes be referred to as Standing
Instructions by some services.
Trigger Value
A specific contaminant concentration in water, above which is an indication that
freshwater and marine species may be subject to harm due to the presence of a
contaminant
Technical
Authority
TA
Primary source of technical guidance for a given subject matter area.
Urban Water
UW
Stormwater sourced from any hard surface in developed infrastructure
Water Sensitive
Urban Design
WSUD
Use of purpose designed landscaping to improve reduce irrigation needs, increase
water retention and improve runoff water quality
Purpose
1.
The purpose of this DNES is to achieve the minimum stormwater management
requirements as specified in the Policy for the Prevention of Pollution from
Stormwater. This DNES achieves these objectives by setting the minimum
performance requirements for stormwater pollution prevention and management
on the Defence Estate.
Scope
2.
This DNES applies to all facilities and infrastructure at Defence Establishments,
including Government Furnished Facilities (GFF) operated on behalf of Defence
by contractors.
3.
This DNES does not apply to natural surface runoff from undeveloped land,
training areas without identified sources of pollution or contractor owned
facilities and infrastructure.
4.
This DNES does not apply to construction sites for which dedicated stormwater
management plans are required, however in so developing stormwater
management plans for construction sites this DNES must be complied with at a
minimum.
Related Defence Standards
5.
Wastewater DNES.
6.
Refer to the DNES Register on the Defence EMS Website for a list of all DNES
and their current development status.
Performance Requirements
7.
The following minimum performance levels apply at the establishment level and
are required to be actioned by appropriate site personnel. If a minimum
performance level is not practicable it must be reported as such, consistent with
reporting requirements contained within this DNES. If Defence Establishments
are already meeting these minimum performance levels, there is no need for
further action other than to ensure ongoing compliance.
8.
ANZECC 2000 trigger values at 95 percentile protection levels will be adopted
for all water quality parameters where discharge to the environment occurs.
Trigger values must be selected to reflect the natural water quality parameters
of the receiving environment.
9.
Where ANZECC 2000 trigger values are being exceeded, or a likely to be
exceeded, the management approach as outlined in the ANZECC 2000 will be
used to identify environmental values, water quality guidelines and water quality
objectives which will inform the development of appropriate water quality
triggers. This will then guide the development of appropriate corrective actions.
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Minimum Performance Levels
10. To enable compliance with all following minimum performance levels, all
Defence Establishments must ensure that stormwater drains are clearly
identified and marked as such, either by colour, symbol or plain English
denoting that it is a stormwater drain in accordance with AS 1345-1995. This
marking must be on the pavement next to or on top of the entry to the
stormwater drain. If the discharge point is known, this must also be added to the
marking.
11. To satisfy stormwater management principle 1 (as specified in the Policy) all
onsite sources of stormwater pollution must be identified and registered as a
potential pollution source. These potential pollution sources must then be
assessed to determine if they can be eliminated or minimised. Pollution sources
must be risk rated in accordance with the Defence Environmental Risk Tool in
order to prioritise pollution prevention activities. In so identifying the potential
sources of pollution a quick assessment of the likely contaminants of concern
from these potential sources must be conducted, so as to inform outflow
monitoring requirements should they be necessary.
12. If activities generating potential stormwater pollution occur with sufficient
regularity, and there is no practicable means of eliminating or reducing the
contaminant loading of the water, inflow sampling may be required to monitor
water quality passing into the stormwater system.
13. To satisfy management principle 2 (as specified in the Policy), potential onsite
re-use of stormwater must be considered. Onsite re-use is only to be
considered if it has been assessed as presenting acceptable risk to human
health or the environment. Potential sources for re-used stormwater shall be
registered and risk assessed in the same manner as potential pollution sources.
Where risk assessment and/or sampling has confirmed the water is suitable for
onsite re-use, this is to be raised as an action for consideration by CMS
contractors. Stormwater reuse must conform to the National Water Quality
Management Strategy Australian Guidelines for Water Recycling: Managing
Health and Environmental Risks, Stormwater Harvesting and Reuse (2009).
14. To satisfy management principle 3 (as specified in the Policy), all liquid trade
waste must be appropriately stored onsite for treatment or disposal. Areas
where trade waste is generated must be suitably isolated from the stormwater
system. This may consist of the use of triple interceptors, isolation valves or
changes in procedures and processes that reduce the risk of trade waste
moving into the stormwater system.
15. To satisfy management principle 4, all areas where hazardous substances are
stored must have sufficient bunding and containment (consistent with Australian
Standards on the storage of hazardous substances) and spill response
equipment must be sufficient so as to minimize the possibility of passage into
the stormwater system. Areas where fuel or chemical spills could occur (outside
of storage areas) are already required to have sufficient spill response
equipment.
16. After applying the minimum performance levels above, where stormwater is
being discharged into public systems or natural waterways, campaign and event
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based monitoring of water quality must take place. Campaign sampling consists
of monthly, bi-monthly, bi-annual or annual sampling of stormwater outflows
(whichever is deemed appropriate) whilst event based sampling consists of
outflow sampling after rainfall events (typically greater than 10mm in any 24
hour period). Establishments that have existing water quality monitoring
plans/strategies should continue their implementation, cognisant of the need to
meet the minimum performance levels. Sampling activities should be tailored to
the site specific water quality guidelines for each site.
Minimum Management Measures
17. At a minimum, Defence Establishments shall develop a register of potential
stormwater pollution sources. Whilst not constrained by format or presentation,
the register must contain the following information:
a. Location of the pollution source within the establishment
b. Nature of the potential pollution (i.e. fuel, gross contaminants, heavy
metals, surfactants, etc.)
c. The activity that may give rise to such pollution and how often the
activity occurs
d. The nearest stormwater drain and its outflow point
e. The untreated risk rating (in accordance with the Defence ERT); and
f. Potential measures for elimination or minimisation.
18. High priority and high risk sites must develop and implement a stormwater
pollution management planning process. High priority and high risk sites are
defined as:
a. Sites which are adjacent to a Ramsar Wetland and have the potential to
discharge stormwater into such a wetland
b. Sites who’s discharge is likely to adversely impact upon a Matter of
National Environmental Significance (MNES) as defined in the EPBC
Act
c. Sites which are flood prone or are in known flood plain areas (e.g.
RAAF Williamtown, RAAF Townsville)
d. Sites where stormwater is discharging to water courses used for
irrigation or domestic water extraction.
19. The planning process must include, in addition to the minimum performance
levels above:
a. Schematics and drawings of the entirety of the existing stormwater
system, which identifies any connections or linkages with any
wastewater systems, outflows to natural waterways, urban stormwater
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systems, retention infrastructure
management systems
and
other
such
stormwater
b. Details of existing stormwater mitigation infrastructure (i.e. retention
basins) and the quantity of water they are designed to accept
c. A comprehensive sampling and analysis schedule.
20. This planning process may be implemented as a stand-alone process through
the development of a Stormwater Pollution Management Plan, or may be
incorporated into existing site planning processes.
Incident, Emergency and Non-Conformance
21. All Defence personnel shall be responsible to report any suspected pollution
event to the REO and their direct supervisor.
22. The REO and/or SEM shall be responsible for determining whether the reported
incident constitutes a pollution event that requires internal or external reporting.
Any significant spills leaving the site, deemed by the REO or SEM to be likely to
impact human health or the environment, shall be actively managed and
reported to the relevant State Environmental Protection Agency and other
prescribed agencies at the legislated State notice period.
23. Refer to DNES – EP3: Environmental Incident Management for general incident
and non-conformance management requirements under the Defence EMS.
24. Refer to Base Emergency Response Plans for additional base-specific incident
and emergency management requirements.
Monitoring, Audit and Review
25. A risk-based annual monitoring and reporting plan will be developed as part of
the stormwater management process. This will identify all monitoring and
reporting requirements.
26. Stormwater which is being discharged into urban stormwater infrastructure or
natural waterways must be monitored against the site specific water quality
guidelines as required in the minimum performance requirements. The
periodicity of monitoring shall be decided by the REO and/or SEM. Monitoring
may be conducted by Defence staff or a suitably qualified contractor.
27. Water for offsite disposal shall be tested to ensure discharge meets ANZECC
2000 Guidelines biannually or other appropriate frequency to maintain safety or
environmental values of receiving waters.
28. Auditing and monitoring and analysis reports must be performed annually by a
Defence accredited auditor.
Reporting
29. Reporting is to be against the minimum performance levels contained above.
Reporting is to be brief and factual and to consist of the following:
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a. A qualitative estimate of per cent compliance with each Minimum
Performance Requirement
b. Actions outstanding per performance requirement that are needed to
reach 100% compliance
c. A short summary of any pollution incidents and their causes.
30. Reporting should be in accordance with existing periodic environmental
reporting practices
31. General reporting requirements under the Defence EMS are addressed in other
DNES – refer to the Defence Environmental Standards Register (published on
EMS Intranet Site).
User feedback
32. Personnel are encouraged to provide feedback on this DNES. Feedback will be
used to inform future versions of this document, which is reviewed at regular
intervals as part of the Defence EMS continual improvement process.
33. Provide
any
feedback
on
this
DNES
via
email
to
environmentandheritage@defence.gov.au. Please include the DNES title in the
subject line of email/feedback.
Useful references
A selection of useful references is provided below. This is not an exhaustive list.
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/stormwater/publications.htm
[Best practice guidelines]
http://waterbydesign.com.au/TechGuide/ [guidelines for SE QLD]
http://w3.unisa.edu.au/water/uwrg/publication/downloads/wsud/
[Best practice guidelines]
http://www.ehp.qld.gov.au/water/policy/pdf/urban-water-web_6.pdf
[Best practice guidelines]
http://www.ewater.com.au/products/ewater-toolkit/urban-tools/music/
[Tools to model stormwater quality and WSUD]
http://www.ncwe.org.au/arr/index.html [Australian Rainfall and Runoff website]
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