UPSS Record keeping
Sourced from www.epa.nsw.gov.au 14/11/2013
Part 5 of the UPSS Regulation prescribes who is responsible for records management, what needs to be retained and how long certain records must be held.
Where the person responsible for a UPSS has documents and reports required by the Regulation that were prepared prior to1 June 2008 these are included in the record keeping requirements and must be retained for the period specified in Part 5 of the Regulation.
Periods for retaining records
It is the responsibility of the person responsible for a UPSS to ensure that all the required documents specified in the relevant clause of the UPSS Regulation are kept in accordance with clauses 25 and 26.
Records must be retained by the person responsible for a UPSS for the periods specified
below.
Seven years from the date of document creation
Under clause 25 of the UPSS Regulation, the person responsible for a UPSS must retain the following required documents for a minimum of seven years from their date of creation (when they were finalised):
- all validation reports prepared under clause 13 and submitted to the relevant local authority
- all documents containing data produced by any measuring instrument in accordance with clause 20 (raw data from measuring devices, including groundwater monitoring wells, tank gauging and tank pit observation wells, only needs to be kept for two years once this data set has been incorporated into a final report)
- all documents containing details of action taken as a consequence of a loss detection investigation, in accordance with clause 22
- all notifications of a pollution incident involving a storage system that are given to the appropriate regulatory authority (ARA), including copies of the formal notifications, such as the UPSS Regulation leak notification form (Appendix F).
Seven years from the date of decommissioning of a UPSS
Under clause 26 of the UPSS Regulation, the person responsible for a UPSS must retain
the following required documents for a minimum of seven years from the date on which
the system is decommissioned:13
- each certificate (and associated documentation) relating to equipment integrity testing issued for the system under clauses 8, 12 or 14
- all validation reports associated with decommissioning of the system, prepared in accordance with the requirements of clause 15 and submitted to the relevant local authority
- a groundwater monitoring well report prepared in accordance with the requirements of clause 18
- each version of the EPP prepared (and updated) in accordance with clause 19
- all records of significant modifications made in accordance with the requirements of clause 23, including the as-built drawings current at that timethe incident log kept for the system under clause 24
- all reports made as a consequence of action taken under Part 5.7 of the POEO Act in connection with a pollution incident involving the system.
Changes in responsibility
Clause 27 of the UPSS Regulation requires that, within 30 days of a change in responsibility for a UPSS, the person formerly responsible for the system must deliver to the newly responsible person all the documents they have for the system that are required to be retained.
Access to records
Access to the EPP or other information must be provided to an officer authorised under the POEO Act upon request.
If necessary, further information and records can be requested via a notice issued under the Act. This information and/or records must be produced within the timeframe specified in the notice.
