On-the-spot littering fines and penalties for asbestos-related crimes will double under the biggest change to NSW’s environment laws in more than three decades.

Maximum penalties for the most serious offences will double to $10 million for companies, while a new specific fine will apply to dumping on schools, beaches and other sensitive land.

The crackdown comes after fragments of bonded asbestos were detected in mulch at the recently-opened inner city Rozelle Parklands in January.

Similar asbestos-tainted mulch has since been found at 75 other sites, including parks and schools.

“The events of the past two months have shown the urgent need to reform environment protection laws and increase penalties,” Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said on Thursday.

“These sweeping reforms will directly improve the protection of human health, the environment and the community.”

Most environmental penalties in NSW have not increased since 2005, including for serious offences.

Maximum penalties for wilful waste disposal that harms the environment will double to $10 million for companies and $2 million for individuals.

Asbestos-related penalties will jump to $4 million for companies and $1 million for individuals.

On-the-spot fines for general littering will increase to $160, while illegal dumping will attract $50,000 fines for companies and $25,000 for individuals.

The laws will also establish a “name and shame” process relating to poor environmental practices and introduce product recall powers for materials that might be contaminated with harmful substances.

Sharpe said the crackdown would be the biggest boost to environmental regulation since the Environmental Protection Authority was created in 1991.

Greens MP Sue Higginson said NSW had a low bar when it came to what polluters could currently get away with and doubling fines was a good place to start.

She also welcomed new powers for the regulator clearing the way for effective compliance action consistent with “managing pollution and punishing perpetrators.

“There is still a long way to go before environmental vandalism is properly policed in NSW,” Higginson said.

“This cannot be the end, it must be the beginning.”

The offshore environment is also set to be protected under Australian-first laws to ban seabed petroleum and mining in NSW waters.

A government bill, resembling one introduced earlier by the state opposition, would effectively thwart projects in the PEP-11 zone in the deep sea commonwealth waters off Sydney and Newcastle.

It bans onshore developments capable of receiving undersea resources.

“There is no place for harmful sea-bed mining in our state,” Ms Sharpe told parliament.

Opposition MP Scott Farlow said residents overwhelmingly did not want to see offshore drilling in state waters.

Meanwhile, attempts to exorcise the ghost of former state Nationals leader John Barilaro were made by protesters outside parliament on Thursday.

A Ghostbusters-themed flash mob urged the Minns government to ditch a Barilaro-era coal strategic statement that guides how new coal projects are assessed in NSW.

Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos indicated during the previous week that there were no immediate plans to remove the policy.

– AAP