Draft conditions for Oyster shell meal Order and Exemption
What is an Order and Exemption
NSW EPA process provides a framework for some wastes to be beneficially and safely re-used independent of the usual NSW laws that control applying waste to land.
Orders and exemptions are only appropriate if the re-use:
- is genuine, rather than a means of waste disposal
- is beneficial or fit-for-purpose, and
- will not cause harm to human health or the environment
Exemptions contain conditions such as reporting and record-keeping requirements which consumers must meet to re-use a resource recovery waste. Exemptions list the regulatory requirements each consumer is exempt from.
Oyster shell as a soil amendment and fertiliser- draft conditions
The NSW EPA has drafted the Proposed oyster shell order 2024 (PDF, 1375.13 KB) and the Proposed oyster shell exemption 2024 (PDF, 778.26 KB), to allow for crushed oyster shells to be used as a soil amendment and fertiliser.
Please review the draft order and exemption carefully, as the EPA has drafted requirements specifically to the reuse proposal, and provide any comments you may have by Monday the 4th of November
Please note that the draft order and exemption does not constitute approval for the reuse of processed oyster shells. Reuse of processed oyster shells under the processed oyster shell order and the exemption 2024 will only be lawful once the EPA grants a final order and exemption.
Review of draft copies by representatives of Processor 1 and Processor 2
The draft copies impose requirements on:
- Processor 1 (a person who processes oyster shell via desiccation prior to supply to Processor 2);
- Processor 2 (a person who processes desiccated oyster shells via size reduction, and supplies it to a consumer); and the
- Consumer (a person who land applies the processed oyster shell as described by the exemption).
Current proposed changes
Currently, the key DPIRD recommendation is to remove any reference to 'tar posts', which will be replaced with 'stick culture', with the new terms defined as;
Single seed oyster: An individual unattached oyster that is grown from small spat produced by removing wild oysters at a very early age from plastic collectors or produced as single oysters in a shellfish hatchery.
Stick culture: Traditional growing of wild-caught oysters on the sticks that they are caught on. ‘Stick oysters’ may be removed from sticks and fattened on trays or in baskets prior to harvest.
Additionally, you will note that one of the conditions proposed by the EPA includes routine testing of shell meal (Pages 3-5 of Draft general RRO).
This has been clarified to only be intended to occur for a temporary period until the EPA has sufficient data that supports the assumption that there is not a significant variation in shell meal chemical and physical characteristics (salinity-sodicity especially) that could have the potential to cause harm to the environment.
Please send any comments to aquaculture.management@dpird.nsw.gov.au by 4pm on 4 November 2024 for your feedback to be incorporated