Regulatory controls
The consequences of deteriorated water environments are imminent, serious and costly. Improved management of catchment activities, including the control of waste discharges, can minimise impacts and improve the quality of water environments.
EPA uses measures provided under the Environment Protection Act 1970 to prevent pollution and protect the environment to the levels required by State environment protection policies. These include:
- works approval and licences
- Research Development & Demonstration (RD&D) Approvals
- notices
- enforcement.
Works approvals and licences
If not managed properly, major industries have the potential to harm the environment. The Environment Protection Act 1970 and regulations (see Scheduled premises information) explain which industries are required to have a works approval and licence.
These industries are subject to EPA's works approval and licensing controls, and need EPA approval before new works or major alterations can begin. This ensures that works with the potential to affect the environment are reviewed, to ensure that environmental quality will be protected. An important factor in EPA's assessment is encouraging industry to employ efficient industrial processes that minimise waste generation.
If approval is given and the works are constructed, an EPA licence is required before the works start to be used. The licence is a legally binding agreement that controls key operating conditions and the wastes that may be discharged. A licence also sets a monitoring program for the discharge and requires regular reporting to EPA.
Works approvals and licences are binding and enforcement action may follow if their requirements are not met.
Research Development and Demonstration Approvals
Companies may apply for a Research Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Approval when a new process is being piloted for a fixed term on a limited scale.
The works approval/licence process is designed to deal with full scale, long-term industrial operations. However, RD&D projects are often fixed in scale and duration and have limited potential to affect the environment.
These approvals have been established for genuine RD&D projects.
Notices
Smaller operations, as well as larger operations that may be covered by the works approval/licence system, need to avoid harming the environment. If pollution has occurred, or the danger of pollution exists, EPA can issue notices requiring environmental risks to be eliminated. These notices are binding and legally enforceable.
There are two sorts of notices EPA can serve. These are:
- pollution infringement notices (PINs) – a fine for breaching the Environment Protection Act, and
- Pollution abatement notices (PAN) – a PAN is used to give directions to rectify a pollution problem at industrial sites which are not subject to works approval or licensing.
Enforcement
At times EPA will need to take enforcement action regarding breaches of State environment protection policies, licences, works approvals, Research, Development and Demonstration Approvals and notices.
EPA appreciates the need for enforcement to be fair and consistent. Everyone should be clear how enforcement will be carried out. EPA has published its enforcement policy to provide clarity and certainty to everyone concerned with enforcement of the Environment Protection Act 1970.