Corporate Licence Update

East Gippsland Water, Western Water and Coliban Water launch world-leading licences

From left: Terry Larkins, Chairman Western Water, Mick Bourke, Chairman EPA and John Wilkinson, Managing Director, Western Water at the licence signing.

East Gippsland Water, Western Region Water Corporation and Coliban Water are the latest companies to sign EPA corporate licenses that serve to cut red tape, deliver savings to business and help protect the environment.

For each company the new corporate licences amalgamate multiple EPA licences for various wastewater management facilities and plants.  In the case of East Gippsland water this reduces the amount of licensing documentation from 113 pages to nine.  Western Water’s documentation has been reduced from 82 pages to 10 and Coliban Waters from 118 pages to nine.

EPA Chairman Mick Bourke said the new licences maintain the rigour of EPA’s licensing requirements, while also freeing the companies to increase their focus on long-term initiatives designed to help reduce overall environmental impact.

“These initiatives include, for example, cutting energy use, working with customers and partners to minimise waste and improving resource efficiency,” Mr Bourke said.

East Gippsland Water Managing Director Les Mathieson said the corporate licence means a major cut in red tape.

“It enables us to expand our focus from environmental compliance at licence sites to reducing our organisation’s overall environmental footprint across all our activities,” Mr Mathieson said.

Mr John Wilkinson, Managing Director Western Water, said, “The licence reflects Western Water’s pro-active approach to sustainability and how we efficiently use our resources. It will assist us in our goal to ultimately achieve 100% recycling of all water over time, reflecting our overall commitment to sustainability.

“Our objective is for Western Water to meet the needs of our customers today without compromising the needs of future generations.”

Coliban Water Managing Director Geoff Michell said, “The corporate licence provides a much more efficient process and enables Coliban Water to address environmental performance in a more strategic way.”

The corporate licensing program is expected to save Victorian businesses $3 million annually through administrative savings and at least $12 million through compliance savings. The initiative is expected to reduce the total number of EPA licences by 30 per cent.

Through recent changes to the Environment Protection Act (1970), companies holding two or more EPA licences can now voluntarily amalgamate these into a single corporate licence.

“EPA is addressing current environmental issues through smarter initiatives and contemporary licensing,” Mr Bourke said.

Mick Bourke said that EPA will continue to use its regulatory powers where required and appropriate, however it was now better equipped to support business innovation.

“Corporate licensing is about identifying opportunities where EPA can work with industry to achieve better environmental outcomes with less regulation and at less cost.

“It is about transforming the environment from a business cost into a business opportunity,” he said.

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