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Licensing Reform
We’ve been reforming our licensing system. We need to adapt our systems to better meet changes in the environment and the needs and expectations of the community, industry and ourselves.
We’re progressing. To date, we’ve created an online licensing system that’s easy to use and access. We’ve reformed over 90% of our licences so that they’re clearer and more consistent. We’ve developed guidelines to support licence-holders. And we’ve released the new reporting mechanism – the annual performance statement (APS).
Online access to licences and APS:
- Licence-holders can access their licence & APS online here
- Public access to all reformed licences and APS here.
Frequently asked questions
- What is ‘Licensing Reform’?
- When is it happening?
- Which licences will be reformed first and why?
- How does EPA’s licensing system work?
- Why is EPA’s licensing system being reformed?
- What will change?
- What won’t change?
- How will a reformed licence look?
- How will the new licences be accessed?
- What information will be publicly available?
- When will licences be available to view online?
- How will Licensing Reform impact accredited licences?
- What is an annual performance statement (APS)? What is contained in it? Who signs it?
- Can a consultant prepare an annual performance statement (APS)?
- Who is the highest person that needs to sign-off an annual performance statement (APS)?
- Is the annual performance statement(APS) a publicly available document?
- When do annual performance statements (APS) need to be submitted by?
- Will licence-holders still be required to submit Environment Improvement Plans (EIPs)?
- If Environment Improvement Plans (EIPs)* are not required to be submitted, how can licence-holders demonstrate they are committed to ongoing environmental improvement?
- Has EPA taken a risk-based approach when developing the new licences?
- How does EPA assess an APS?
- What happens if a business reports a non-compliance in an APS?
- What will EPA do with the data it collects from APS?
- Are all APSs publicly available?
- What information is not publicly available in an APS?
- Will an annual performance statement (APS) need to be signed off by an environmental auditor as well as the company’s CEO?
- How will Licensing Reform benefit the environment?
- How will Licensing Reform benefit the community?
- How will Licensing Reform benefit business?
- How will Licensing Reform facilitate improved resource efficiency and reduced climate change impacts?
- Can the community influence what goes in a licence?
- Will draft licences be available to the public?
- If EPA is streamlining and simplifying the licensing system, does that mean less monitoring will be required by businesses?
- Does reducing ‘red tape’ mean businesses won’t need to care as much about the environment?
- How will EPA know if businesses are complying with their licence?
- What happens if licence conditions are not met?
- Will the community be able to check how a licence-holder is performing against their conditions?
- How can community stay informed?
- How can the community help?
- What is EPA’s approach to compliance?
- Will EPA check compliance against licence conditions?
- Are there opportunities for licence-holders that go beyond compliance?
- What if a licence-holder has two or more EPA licences?
- Will there be any changes to discharge limits when licences are reformed?
- If licences are simplified, will they be cheaper?
- What is a financial assurance?
- How are financial assurances changing under Licensing Reform?
- What will licence-holders now be required to do in relation to financial assurances?
- How do I access the Licensing Reform guidance documents?
- Does EPA have a list of approved auditors?
- How often does a landfill operator require an audit?
- What is the process for new cell construction?
- What happens if there are variations during cell construction?
- Will there be increases to landfill levies?
- Are further costs likely to be incurred by landfill operators as a result of these changes?
- Will reporting take into account the fact that some of the impacts from landfills are not noticed immediately?
- Why do small landfill operators need these new requirements?
- Will Licensing Reform impact monitoring requirements and discharge limits?
- How is the monitoring program implemented?
- Will EPA approve monitoring programs?
- Will an existing monitoring program still be acceptable?
- How long do we have to get our monitoring program in place?
- What is a notice?
- Will businesses receive a ‘notice’ in addition to their new licence as a result of Licensing Reform?
- Is the notice enforceable?
- Will licence-holders have to pay an extra fee if they are issued with a notice as well as a licence?
- How should a licence-holder comply with a notice?
- Will notices be available to the public?
- How will EPA assess a business’ compliance with a notice?
- Will businesses have input into the notice before it is issued?
- Can the community influence what goes in a notice?
- What support is available?
- Will a licence-holder have input into the conditions their reformed licence comprises?
- What if a licence-holder is not happy with their draft or final licence?
- How can licence-holders stay informed?
- How will Licensing Reform affect works approvals?
Licensing Reform is a program aimed at improving EPA’s licensing system, one of the key services that EPA uses to minimise the impact businesses have on our environment. It will transform how EPA interacts with business to ensure improved compliance. It will result in environmental licences that are more accessible, will look different, and are easier to manage. Ultimately, the environment will benefit from a more streamlined, consistent, and efficient licensing system.
Licensing Reform is happening now. To date, 76% of EPA licences have been reformed to be clearer and more consistent. We are aiming to complete this reform by end December 2010.
Licensing Reform is a staged process. With over 600 licences, it is impossible to reform all licences at once. We’re currently working through the final 60 licences, with a view to finalise them by end December 2010.
EPA is responsible for preventing or controlling pollution (including noise) and improving the quality of the environment. One of the tools available to EPA is the licensing of certain, scheduled premises that might present such a risk to the environment. Section 20 of the Environment Protection Act 1970 requires occupiers of scheduled premises to be licensed to discharge, handle, treat or disposal of waste. These premises are defined in the Environment Protection (Scheduled Premises and Exemptions) Regulations 2007.
EPA’s licensing system is over 30 years old. Environmental challenges have changed, communities are more aware and have higher expectations, and businesses are more responsive to environmental needs. EPA, and the systems administered by EPA, need to adapt to these changes.
- Responsibilities will be clearer, so that both licence-holders’ and EPA’s obligations are easier to understand and fulfill.
- Annual reporting will be more straightforward: Licence-holders will submit an annual performance statement (APS) via our online system every financial year. This will lead to reduced administrative costs. And it will mean performance against obligations is easier to demonstrate, interpret and take action against where necessary.
- Licence conditions are more standardised: Conditions have been modified to be more consistent in language and intent. This ensures greater consistency across sectors and makes licences easier to read, understand and comply with.
- Licences will be more accessible: Reformed licences are now available online and free to access. For a generic version of a reformed licence, click here: reformed licence.
- Licence conditions are more ‘outcome-focused’: Licence-holders themselves are now able to work out how to achieve the outcomes specified by the conditions in their licences, with the support and guidance provided by EPA. This new accountability will lead to improved compliance across businesses and will create more opportunities to adapt to today’s environmental challenges.
- Monitoring program will no longer be reviewed or approved by EPA.However, it is still the responsibility of each licence-holder to build a monitoring program that will enable them and EPA to determine compliance with their licence. EPA will inspect and audit premises to ensure limits are complied with and appropriately monitored. They must still be developed, however, and will be auditable documents.
- Environment improvement plans (EIPs) will no longer be submitted to EPA 1. But EPA encourages licence-holders to retain existing EIPs as a way of driving continuous improvement.
1 EIPs submitted as a response to another mechanism (such as a State environment protection policy, notifiable chemical order or accredited licence requirement) will still be required. Similarly EIPs that are the basis for a works approval or licence exemption will also be required.
- EPA will continue to fulfil its regulatory role: Non-compliance will be dealt with consistently and transparently.
- Type of business requiring a licence: Businesses listed in the Environment Protection (Scheduled Premises and Exemptions) Regulations 2007 will still require a licence.
- Compliance with licence conditions is still required: Licence-holders must still comply with their licence requirements and the Environment Protection Act. With clearer and more consistent conditions, EPA will be in a better position to prevent non-compliance, and use existing enforcement tools where required. The Environment Protection Act specifies penalties for breach of licence conditions or for operating a site without a licence.
- Licences will still contain discharge limits: Unless lower limits are requested, existing discharge limits will transfer over to the reformed licence.
- EPA will continue to provide support to improve environmental performance through guidance materials, personal site visits, performance audits, meetings, and other sustainability services.
A reformed licence will look a bit different.
- The language has been simplified and standardised to make the licence easier to read, understand and therefore comply with.
- The licence can be accessed via our licensing portal, and publicly viewed via our website.
- Conditions are more consistent in language and intent, ensuring relevance and consistency across sectors.
- Conditions are more ‘outcome-focused’. Each licence will clearly state the required outcomes but will not state how a site will meet those outcomes. A licence-holder will now be able to determine how to achieve the outcomes specified by the conditions in their licences, with support and guidance provided by EPA.
See what a new licence look like.
Licence-holders can access their licence using our new online portal. Access to the portal will be made available through the use of a secure login that will be sent to licence-holders once their draft licence has been issued. Final licences will be made publicly accessible on the web at a later date.
Reformed licences are now searchable via our EPA website. Completed annual performance statement documents will also be available for the public online. This allows the community and other stakeholders to understand the environmental performance of licence-holders.
Licensing reform is a staged process. With over 600 licences, it is impossible to reform all licences at once. We’re currently working through the final 60 licences, with a view to finalise them by end December 2010.
Accredited licences will remain under the Licensing Reform program. The accredited licence system is designed to enable companies with sound technical and environmental management systems, and the commitment to good environmental performance, to fee reductions and works approval exemptions for non-significant works.
An APS is the mechanism by which licence-holders report on their annual environmental performance. It lists performance against each licence condition and must be signed off by the most senior executive in the company. While any non-compliance incident is required to be reported immediately to EPA, they must also be explained and addressed in the APS. EPA will check APSs to ensure they are complete and all relevant information has been provided. Significant penalties exist for providing false or misleading information in an APS, or concealing relevant information and are specified in the Environment Protection Act 1970.
We’ve developed the Annual performance statement guidelines to help licence-holders prepare their APS.
Yes. A licence-holder may choose to use an independent specialist to help with the preparation of their APS. Regardless of the assistance provided, the accuracy and veracity of the APS remains the responsibility of the person who signs the statement. The person who signs the APS testifies to its reliability and therefore must be satisfied that the information provided is accurate, complete and verifiable.
The annual performance statement is a legal document that must be signed by the most senior officer of the Australian-registered company to which the licence has been issued; for example, the chief executive officer, managing director or president.
Yes, annual performance statements submitted in October 2010 will be available online once the initial assessment process is complete (mid-December 2010). This initial assessment ensures that APS have been fully completed and correctly submitted. APS will be available to view via the online licence portal. Making APSs publicly available allows the community and other stakeholders to understand the environmental performance of licence-holders.
The APS will apply to the standard financial year reporting period (1 July to 30 June). The due date for APS will be 30 September each year. Regardless of this requirement, any licence non-compliance must be immediately reported to EPA. This reporting is independent of any APS requirement.
Most EIPs are being removed from licence requirements1. This is because EPA acknowledges that most businesses have adequate environment management systems and processes in place to manage the risk that their operations present to the environment.
As such, licence-holders will no longer be required to submit them, but those that already have EIPs or other environmental management systems are encouraged to continue to use and develop them as ongoing management tools. They can act as effective drivers for continuous improvement and/or as community engagement mechanisms.
1 EIPs submitted as a response to another mechanism (such as a State environment protection policy, notifiable chemical order or accredited licence requirement) will still be required. Similarly EIPs that are the basis for a works approval or licence exemption will also be required.
Today, businesses have better systems and processes to manage their environmental risk without the extra task of submitting an EIP to EPA. This is often unnecessary and duplicative ‘red tape’. Licence-holders are still expected to have appropriate management systems in place, and use them. EIPs can act as effective drivers for continuous improvement and/or as community engagement mechanisms. By reducing reliance on EPA approval of EIPs, licence-holders will need to take a greater ownership for how they ensure ongoing environmental improvement. Removing this requirement will not affect the operation of any voluntary EIP a client may have developed with the community as this has never been a licence requirement. It is EPA’s expectation that engagement driven by these EIPs will continue. Regular contact with EPA will also mean licence-holders will be more aware of the range of business development and sustainability services EPA provides, and they’ll be encouraged to take advantage of them. Utilising such services will result in much broader outcomes for the environment, such as reduced waste generation, more efficient use of energy and water, and reduced carbon footprint.
1 EIPs submitted as a response to another mechanism (such as a State Environment Protection Policy, notifiable chemical order or accredited licence requirement) will still be required. Similarly EIPs that are the basis for a works approval or licence exemption will also be required.
EPA has applied a risk-based approach during the development of licences to ensure that licence conditions relate specifically to the particular risks posed by each site.
Conditions have been standardised to ensure consistency across industry sectors and to ensure that they are easier to understand and comply with. A comprehensive mapping process has been performed to determine the particular requirements of each site, which conditions apply to each licence and whether more specific requirements are needed in certain circumstances.
Licence-holders will not be required to obtain an environmental auditor’s approval of an APS, and there have been no changes to the provisions relating to environmental auditors under the Environment Protection Act 1970.
The reformed licensing system aims to improve compliance rates (and therefore reduce pollution incidents) and to increase the likelihood of businesses implementing changes that will reduce their environmental impact.
Increased efficiency means more time for:
- EPA to focus on preventing non-compliance and ensuring emissions are better controlled.
- Licence-holders to focus on reducing their carbon impact, improving resource efficiency and investigating new and more efficient practices.
- EPA to assist licence-holders that want to move beyond simply complying with their licence to achieve a much broader reduction in environmental impacts.
Less prescriptive conditions will:
- Enable licence-holders to adapt more easily to improvements in technology and operational efficiencies that will ultimately reduce their environmental impact.
- Require licence-holders to be responsible for having a better understanding of their operations and environmental impacts in order to fully assess and manage those impacts.
Significant penalties for providing false or misleading information in an annual performance statement (APS), or concealing relevant information, will:
- Ensure licence-holders’ senior executives are more accountable for the risks their business activity presents to the environment.
- Drive continuous improvement from the top level so that a business’ environmental management system remains equipped to comply with licence conditions.
- Encourage a greater understanding and ownership of an EPA licence at executive level of each business, so that other environmental challenges (e.g. climate change) are considered and responded to more rapidly and appropriately.
EPA’s reformed licensing system means that the community can be assured businesses have a greater understanding of the impacts their operations have on the environment. These impacts can then be more appropriately controlled and mitigated. The community will also have easier access to more current information.
Increased transparency:
- All licences and annual performance statements (APS) will be accessible online. Anyone will be able to read about the environmental conditions a business is required to comply with, and how they’ve performed against them on a yearly basis.
Improved efficiency means:
- Less EPA time required to administer licences, and more time available for EPA to respond to community pollution reports, to ensure businesses are complying with their requirements, and to taking enforcement action where required.
Increased accountability means:
- Businesses will be required to understand the risks their operations present to the environment and community, and therefore will be better equipped to anticipate and respond to these risks.
- Businesses will need to prioritise the protection of the environment in their systems and take more responsibility for their business’ environmental performance.
- Community can be more confident that information provided is current, relevant and accurate given significant penalties are associated with providing false, misleading or inadequate information in an APS.
Businesses will have a good understanding of the environmental risks their operations present. This will enable improved management of these risks so that pollution incidents are minimised and are more efficiently dealt with.
More standardised conditions will:
- Make a licence-holder’s environmental obligations easier to understand and comply with.
- Enable licence-holders to change the way they work so that risks of non-compliance are prevented and other environmental challenges (e.g. climate change) can be adapted to more rapidly.
- Ensure consistency across industry sectors so that environmental conditions, standards and expectations are better understood by EPA and the industry.
Risk-based approach to licence management will:
- Drive licence-holders to better understand their operations, ensuring risks to the environment are better anticipated and addressed in a more timely manner.
- Allow the level of administration and detail required to manage a licence to reflect the risk presented by the business.
Reporting via annual performance statement (APS) will:
- Reduce time required to report annually, enabling more time to focus on environmental responsibilities.
- Ensure environmental requirements and performance are better understood at an executive level.
- Ensure better ownership and accountability for environmental management within each licensed business, particularly given the requirement for chief executive sign-off of each APS.
One of the aims of the reform is to enable business to tackle other environmental challenges, such as climate change. The time and money saved through a more efficient licensing system will help this to occur. EPA will provide guidance and support to businesses to do this.
Licences are developed by EPA staff with relevant experience and expertise in each industry. During this reform, the licence-holder will have an opportunity to provide feedback on their draft licence.
Draft licences are generally not available for community comment, however some businesses do choose to consult with their local community. This decision is made at the discretion of the licence-holder. Some licence-holders have ‘liaison committees’ which are open to their local community. These groups can be an effective way of learning about the business. The licence-holder is in a better position to respond to community concerns, and the community has a better understanding of the business’ restrictions and drivers.
Draft licences will not be public documents. However, there may be some situations where there is a need to consult with community groups.
Finalised reformed licences are now available online and free to access.
EPA will still require each licence-holder to undertake a level of monitoring that is proportional to the risk that the business presents to the environment. Each licence-holder will need to:
- assess the environmental risks associated with their site activity,
- determine how best to minimise those risks,
- develop a monitoring plan that adequately records any variation in those risks, and
- report environmental performance each year through an annual performance statement (APS).
While these monitoring plans and other relevant documentation will not be submitted to EPA, they can be requested by EPA at any time and are auditable documents that a business must retain on the premises for seven years.
EPA has developed the Licence assessment guidelines to help licence-holders perform a risk assessment, develop a monitoring program and interpret and use the data.
Streamlining and simplifying the system will result in licences that:
- are easier to read, understand, comply with and enforce where required,
- are more consistent across industry sectors,
- are more accessible, and
- allow licence-holders to more easily demonstrate and interpret performance against obligations.
The reformed licensing system will make it easier for licence-holders to prioritise the environment. Less ‘red tape’ or regulatory burden means less administrative resources required to comply with a licence. Businesses will have more responsibility to focus on their site activities and minimise the risks they present to the environment.
- Annual performance statements (APS) must be submitted by every licence-holder. They list their performance against each licence condition and must be signed off by the companies most senior executive. While any non-compliance incident is required to be reported immediately to EPA, they must also be explained and addressed in the APS. EPA will check APSs to ensure they are complete and all relevant information has been provided. Significant penalties exist for providing false or misleading information in an APS, or concealing relevant information and are specified in the Environment Protection Act 1970.
- Monitoring programs must be developed by each licence-holder to ensure they, and EPA, can determine licence compliance. To do this, licence-holders will use a risk-based approach to determine the level of monitoring required. They’ll be familiar with how their site interacts with the environment and community, and as such, will be in a good position to develop an adequate monitoring program. These monitoring plans will be auditable documents that a licence-holder must retain on premises.
- Ongoing contact with EPA through meetings, random and targeted audits, site visits and inspections will continue as part of EPA’s new business model.
EPA will continue to take enforcement action against businesses for non-compliance where appropriate. The Environment Protection Act 1970 specifies penalties and other enforcement tools that can be used in the event of a breach of licence, or if a business is operating a site without a licence.
EPA has developed the Licence management guidelines to assist licence-holders to understand the content of their licence, what is needed to comply, and how EPA expects licence-holders to perform and respond to non-compliance incidences.
All licences and annual performance statements (APS) will be made available to the public via EPA’s website. Every year, licence-holders will be required to submit an APS, which will clearly reflect the site’s environmental performance.
Over the next few months, EPA will ensure that business and community are kept up to date about Licensing Reform. Please visit the Licensing Reform page to read about any new stages.
Everyone has a vital role to play in protecting our environment. Pollution can occur at any time of the day or night, at any time of the year and in both metropolitan and country areas. EPA relies on you to be its eyes and ears in your neighbourhood.
Call the 24 hour EPA Pollution Watch Line when you notice:
- smoke or odours from an industry or business,
- spills or slicks in waterways,
- illegal dumping of wastes,
- noise from a factory or industrial complex.
Melbourne Metropolitan Area |
9695 2777 |
Outside Metropolitan Melbourne |
1800 444 004 |
Regional |
Phone your nearest EPA regional office |
We have a responsibility to the community to ensure that everyone complies with their licence obligations to protect and care for the environment.
EPA generally adopts a risk-based regulatory approach, where compliance and enforcement activities are targeted based on an assessment of the likelihood of non-compliance and environmental risk posed by the licence-holder.
EPA assumes that the most licence-holders want to comply, knowing, however, that some will not meet their legal environmental obligations. A smaller number may deliberately engage in criminal behaviour to evade their environmental obligations and use the licensing system to obtain an improper financial benefit. In these instances, EPA has a responsibility to the Victorian community to detect non-compliance and act swiftly and appropriately.
EPA will continue to check compliance against licence conditions. This might include random targeted audits, inspections, blitz campaigns and other compliance programs.
EPA encourages business to go beyond their minimum compliance requirements. There are many services and opportunities available to facilitate this. Licence-holders should discuss this with their Client Relationship Manager.
A licence-holder that manages two or more licensed sites may be a candidate to have these licences amalgamated into one streamlined licence. Our Client Relationship Managers will contact these licence-holders over the next couple of months to talk about the benefits an amalgamated licence, (or ‘corporate licence’), can bring to a multi-licensed business. In the meantime, go to our corporate licensing page to find more information.
Discharge limits will not change unless the licence-holder requests a reduction. In most cases, they will be directly transferred to the new, reformed licence. EPA reviews discharge limits regularly to ensure they continue to achieve the best outcome for the environment.
There will be no immediate change to licence fees. The current licence fee regulations sunset in 2011 and prior to this date, the regulations will be reviewed by Government to consider the impact of Licensing Reform on licence fees.
Financial assurance (FA) is required of some premises, as identified in the Environment Protection (Scheduled Premises and Exemptions) Regulations. An FA ensures that money is available for clean-up at a licensed premises in the event of insolvency or insufficient resources. The most common form of FA is a bank guarantee. The FA amount a licence-holder requires is based on the activities occurring at the licensed premises and the quantity and type of wastes stored, treated or disposed.
EPA publications 777 and 456 outline the EPA method to calculate financial assurance. These methods are being revised, with new publications due for release as draft in February 2011. These will enable a licence-holder to recalculate and submit their financial assurance.
Financial assurances must be kept up to date and maintained in line with the EPA method, particularly following any changes to the activities at a licensed site.
Under Licensing Reform, all licence conditions have been standardised to be more consistent in language and intent and to ensure relevance and consistency across sectors. Under this process, existing conditions relating to financial assurances have also been simplified and clarified. In 2007, EPA reviewed the types of premises which require financial assurances. Reformed licences will ensure that all licence-holders within industry sectors that require financial assurances are subject to the same requirements.
Some licence-holders will now be required to provide and maintain a financial assurance when previously this was not a requirement of their licence. EPA will require these licence-holders to submit a financial assurance by 30 June 2011.
Other licence-holders that have pre-existing conditions regarding financial assurances in their licence may be contacted regarding the adequacy of their assurance, and may be asked to modify the amount or form.
EPA publications 777 and 456 outline the EPA method to calculate financial assurance. These methods are being revised, with new publications due for release in February 2011. These will enable a licence-holder to recalculate and submit their financial assurance. Licence-holders should contact their EPA Client Relationship Manager for further information on how to provide, update and maintain their financial assurance.
EPA’s guidance documents can be accessed via our website.
EPA appoints environmental auditors pursuant to section 53S of the Act.
- Contaminated land
- Industrial facilities
- Natural resources
The required frequency of the audits will have been initially specified in the monitoring program prepared by the licence-holder and verified by an environmental auditor. As part of the audit process, the auditor will review the monitoring program and recommend a frequency for subsequent audits based on site risks and characteristics. The default frequency is annual.
A licence-holder must not commence construction of a new cell without written EPA approval. Please refer to the Landfill Licensing Guidelines for a full description of the EPA approval process for new cell design and construction.
Variations during cell construction may arise due to unforeseen events, such as accessibility of certain construction materials, improvement in available technology or unforeseen geotechnical difficulties. Please refer to the Landfill Licensing Guidelines for full description of the procedure required for cell variations during construction.
Changes to landfill levies are separate to the licensing reform program, but more information can be found under the waste section of our website.
For some landfill operators, demonstrating that their operation is in compliance with their licence may require additional costs and effort. While the requirement to engage third parties to review compliance will make it easier for a CEO to sign-off on the annual performance statement, it may also increase costs. The use of a third party to review monitoring and undertake audits will result in higher levels of scrutiny for landfill operators.
This may translate to additional work, equipment or monitoring to confirm that a site is operating in accordance with the licence. For sites that already have third party involvement and have been exposed to audit or assessment, costs in the medium to long term are unlikely to change.
The auditor-endorsed monitoring program and annual site audits are designed to address long-term non-compliances that are not readily identifiable. To best manage the long-term risks to landfill sites, the monitoring program should set out an appropriate set of actions to identify and minimise potential risks. This will ensure long-term environmental impacts are identified early and are continually monitored.
The risk posed by a facility will need to be evaluated so a licence-holder can develop a suitable monitoring program to attest to compliance. Smaller landfills may present a small or negligible environmental risk. If the site is low risk, then it is likely that the audit frequency set by the auditor will be >3 years. If the site bears a risk, it is likely the licence-holder will need to undertake more work to ensure that those risks are managed appropriately.
EPA will still require each licence-holder to undertake a level of monitoring that is proportional to the risk the business presents to the environment.
Each business will need to:
- assess the environmental risks associated with their site activity,
- determine how best to minimise those risks,
- develop a monitoring plan that adequately records any variation in those risks, and
- report environmental performance each year through an annual performance statement (APS).
EPA has developed the Licence assessment guidelines to help licence-holders perform a risk assessment, develop a monitoring program and interpret and use the data.
Similarly, discharge limits will not change unless a business requests a reduction. Pre-existing limits will otherwise remain the same, and will directly transfer to the reformed licence.
All licence-holders are required to have a monitoring program capable of assessing compliance with licence conditions. The Licence Assessment Guidelines help a licence-holder develop a monitoring program to demonstrate compliance.
EPA has developed guidelines which are designed to provide adequate guidance for licence-holders to establish an appropriate monitoring program on their own. However, a licence-holder may consider having their monitoring plan endorsed by an environmental auditor to assess its adequacy. Such endorsement is currently a requirement for landfills only, but other businesses may consider this option.
At some premises, licence-holders with robust, risk-based environmental management systems and monitoring programs may simply need to review and update their current monitoring program based on the Licence Assessment Guidelines
Licence-holders are required to have a monitoring program in place by 30 June 2011.
Under section 31A of the Environment Protection Act 1970 (“the Act”), EPA may serve a pollution abatement notice (“notice”) on a licence-holder to control its activities in order to stop or prevent pollution or unreasonable noise from occurring.
Under section 31B of the Act, EPA may issue a minor works pollution abatement notice when urgent action is required and the cost of compliance with the notice will not exceed $50,000. For more information go to our notices page.
As part of the reform, licence conditions with time restrictions relating to specific actions that need to be taken within the next 12 to 24 months have been removed from licences and replaced with a pollution abatement notice (“notice”). Most of these notices require licence-holder to take a specific measure or action. This may include conducting an environmental audit, modifying a specific activity, or operating in a particular way and by a particular time.
This has been done to ensure that licences remain relevant and do not require regular amendment, saving businesses time and money. Separating the time restricted conditions from licences also means that businesses can better focus on the particular issues that need to be addressed, and can comply more efficiently and effectively.
Yes. EPA will continue to take enforcement action against businesses for non-compliance with a notice where appropriate.
For example, failure to comply with a pollution abatement notice may result in a fine of up to $280,368 and up to $140,184 per day for a continuing offence. The corresponding maximum fines for failure to comply with a minor works pollution abatement notice are $35,046 and $5,841 per day.
A service fee is normally imposed when EPA issues a pollution abatement notice. However, if a licence-holder is issued a notice at the same time as their new licence under EPA’s Licensing Reform, this service fee will be waived. This is because this notice replaces a pre-existing time restricted condition in their previous licence.
Each notice will set out how the business must comply with its requirements and by when compliance must be achieved. For any queries, licence-holders should contact their EPA client relationship managers for further information.
Notices will be available to the public along with the new licences in early 2011.
Each notice will specify how businesses will need to report on compliance with their notice. Businesses may also be required to develop a monitoring plan to ensure that they can demonstrate compliance with their notice.
Further, the relationship that EPA’s business model facilitates between EPA and a licence-holder will result in regular and constructive contact. As such, the environmental performance of a business will continue to be monitored through meetings, random and targeted audits, site visits and inspections. This process will be defined through further development of EPA’s new compliance framework.
Businesses will have 21 days to review their draft notice along with their draft licences prior to both being finalised.
Draft notices and licences will not be public documents. However, there may be some situations where there is a need to consult with community groups.
We acknowledge that many licence-holders have been guided by the prescriptive nature of the conditions in their licence. These conditions have been changed because they left businesses with little flexibility to decide how to operate. A streamlined licence will enable businesses to tailor their operations to better prevent non-compliance and to have more scope for adapting to other environmental challenges such as climate change.
EPA has developed guidance materials to help licence-holders to interpret conditions, develop an adequate monitoring plan and report to EPA. They are listed below:
- Licence management guidelines help licence-holders to understand the content of their licence, what they need to do to comply, and how EPA expects them to perform and respond to non-compliance incidents.
- Licence assessment guidelines help licence-holders with their risk assessment, the development of their monitoring program as well as interpreting and using their data.
- Annual performance statement guidelines help licence-holders prepare their annual performance statements (APS).
- Landfill licensing guidelines help landfill operators understand specific landfill licensing requirements.
Reformed licences will be provided in draft form to licence-holders before they are finalised. Each licence-holder will have 21 days to review their draft licence. This will be an opportunity to ensure all company details are checked, conditions are still relevant to the site’s activities, and specific comments can be made. Draft licences will be issued anytime from March 2010 to December 2010.
Licence-holders can contact their EPA client relationship manager with any specific concerns they have about reform or the limitations or restrictions placed on them by their licence. Licence-holders have the option of appealing the final issued licence to the Victorian Civil Appeals Tribunal (VCAT).
Over the next few months, EPA will ensure that business and community are kept up to date about Licensing Reform. Client Relationship Managers will be contacting licence-holders directly. Other forms of communication, including letters, emails and faxes will be used, and the Licensing Reform page will be updated regularly to reflect any new stages of the reform.
To help us keep you informed, please ensure EPA has your most current contact details, either by contacting your client relationship manager, or emailing us on licensing.reform@epa.vic.gov.au.
There will be no changes to works approvals at this time. In November 2009 the works approval guidelines were updated to make applying for works clearer and easier. To view a copy of the guidelines please click here.
All APS will undergo an initial assessment by EPA to make sure they have been completed correctly, after which they will be published on the EPA website.
Some APS submissions will also be subject to random and targeted audits that compare the information provided with the information that we already have. This information includes public reports of pollution, records of compliance inspections, enforcement actions and records of payments of EPA fees and levies. This comparison helps us detect those that may not be correctly disclosing their compliance status. Significant penalties exist for providing false or misleading information in an APS, or concealing relevant information, and are specified in the Environment Protection Act 1970 .
Licence-holders must report any licence non-compliance to EPA immediately; they must also explain any non-compliance in their APS including what actions have since been taken to address the issue.
EPA will compare the non-compliance reported in the APS with our internal information. Any discrepancies or issues that are identified will be investigated further.
We compare the information provided by the licence holder in the APS with information that we already hold. If we find discrepancies we will take follow-up action.
The data is also used to check trends across all licences and within industries. It will help us to focus on future compliance risks and select sites for higher levels of compliance monitoring by EPA.
Licence-holders who did not receive a reformed licence before July 1 2010 are not required to submit an APS in 2010. All reformed licences will be delivered in time for APS submission in 2011.
If EPA identifies an APS that has been submitted in an incorrect or unclear format, we will work with the company to ensure the APS is publicly available as soon as possible.
Some information that we require from licence holders to support the submission of APS has been deemed commercially sensitive and will not be made publicly available. This information includes:
Licence holders that discharge to air
- Quarterly production rate
Schedule category A01 (Prescribed Industrial waste management)
- Total prescribed industrial waste (PIW) received
- Total PIW recycled
- Total amount of each waste (by waste code) received
Schedule category A05 (Landfills) only
- For each cell, the total and current capacity
- Total volume of waste received
Schedule category A01 and A05
- As above for schedule category A05
- Total volume of hazardous category C and category B waste received.
All licence-holders
- Details of any enforcement action taken against the licence holder by another organisation
This approach is consistent with section 60 of the Environment Act 1970, which prohibits EPA from disclosing commercially sensitive information without consent. It is important that EPA receives this information as it enables EPA to aggregate data, map trends and target our compliance efforts accordingly.
Anyone wishing to obtain documents in the possession of EPA is entitled to make an application under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 1982. If an application made under that Act and the documents concerned were supplied to EPA by a business, EPA will ask that business if it objects to the release of any commercially sensitive documents. If there is then a dispute on this issue, an impartial body – the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) – has the jurisdiction to adjudicate on their release or non-release.
Please note that in 2011, the APS will be upgraded to include the following additional information from licence holders who discharge wastewater to land:
- Daily discharge of wastewater to land
- Number of irrigation days
- Net irrigation area
- Information regarding any supply agreements
The above information will be made publicly available in 2011.
Fee changes
View the fees 1 July 2011 More »