Comment on development licence applications

As Victoria’s environmental regulator, we make decisions about how to protect human health and the environment from pollution and waste. These decisions impact our community. We provide opportunities to involve the community in these decisions.

Our engagement process is designed to identify and resolve community concerns early in the process.

You must apply for a permission from us to conduct activities that have risk of harm to human health and the environment. These permissions include development licences.

When we receive an application for a development licence, we publish a notification. You can make a submission about the application within at least 15 days after this notification.

Make a submission on an application

Development licence applications are published on Engage Victoria(opens in a new window) and in a local newspaper. The published notification does not include any information marked as commercial-in-confidence.

If your interests are affected by the application, you can comment by making a submission during the submission period. We receive submissions for at least 15 days after the notification is published.

We may also hold a conference to discuss an application. An independent moderator chairs this conference. Everyone who makes a submission is invited. The conference is public, and anyone can attend.

We consider all submissions in our decision-making process.

How to make a submission on an application

Visit EPA Development Licence Applications(opens in a new window) at Engage Victoria. Each application has a dedicated page.

During our assessment of the application, we request that the applicant responds to submissions. We publish the applicant's responses on the application page.

When we've made a decision, we provide a summary of our decision on the application page.

By law, we must take all reasonable measures to inform everyone who made a submission about our decision within 5 business days.

You can register to be notified about upcoming consultations on Engage Victoria(opens in a new window)

Appeal a licence decision

As a third party, you can apply for review to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) if your interests are affected by our decision to:

• issue a development licence
• remove the suspension of an operating licence.
  

If you're the permission applicant, visit Appeal our decision to apply to have our decision on your application reviewed.

Grounds for review

To apply to VCAT, you need to have a reason why you believe the decision should be reviewed. These are called the 'grounds for review':

• the decision unreasonably and adversely affects your financial, physical or personal interests
• the licence authorises an activity that would breach the general environmental duty
• the licence authorises an activity that would pose an unacceptable risk of harm to human health or the environment
• any licence condition that specifies how the licence holder must comply with the general environmental duty is not sufficient to minimise the risks of harm to human health or the environment so far as reasonably practicable.

These grounds are set out in section 434(3) of the Environment Protection Act 2017(opens in a new window).

For more information, visit Applications about protecting the environment(opens in a new window) on the VCAT website.

Apply for a review

Visit our Public register to see our licence decisions.

To apply for review of a decision, complete the Statement of Grounds (Environment and Resources)(opens in a new window) form on the VCAT website. You need to briefly explain why you're applying. Refer to the grounds for review above.

You must apply within 15 business days of the day on which we made the decision. A fee may apply.

You must also mail us a copy of your VCAT application within 7 business days of applying. Mail the copy to:

Manager, Permissioning Licensing
EPA Victoria
GPO Box 4395
Melbourne VIC 3001

Applications