About EPA’s responsibilities

We oversee the appointment of environmental auditors under the Environment Protection Act 1970. An auditor’s initial appointment period is generally two years. After that, appointments can be for up to five years.  

On completing an environmental audit, the auditor must provide a copy of the report to:  

• EPA  
• the party that requests the audit.  

For 53X audits, this includes the certificate or statement of environmental audit.  

EPA has a quality assurance program to monitor auditor’s performance. It includes how we: 

• regulate their conduct, with suspension or revocation of appointment if breached  
• issue major penalties for providing false or misleading information  
• require auditors to conduct audits only within their field of expertise and that of their expert support team  
• select reviews of completed audit reports.  

What EPA isn’t responsible for

EPA does not:  

• control the timing of audit processes  
• manage compliance with the conditions of a statement of environmental audit. This is the responsibility of local government.  

Learn about EPA’s responsibilities under the new Act  

New laws are intended to come into effect on 1 July 2021. We’ll continue to oversee the environmental audit system under the new Environment Protection Act 2017. EPA may also have a role in the enforcement of audit recommendations relating to long-term management measures. In this case, it will be through our site management orders.  

EPA will be the main regulator of contaminated land under the new Environment Protection Act 2017. This includes the duty to manage contaminated land and the duty to notify of contamination above a certain threshold. An environmental audit is an important tool we may use to investigate compliance with these duties.