As an independent statutory authority under the Environment Protection Act 2017, our regulatory role is to prevent and reduce harm from pollution and waste, including circumstances where pollution and waste has caused contamination of land and groundwater.

EPA’s Contaminated land policy supports our overarching Regulatory strategy 2020-2025 and Compliance and enforcement policy and sets out our approach to applying Victoria’s new legislative framework intended to commence on 1 July 2021.

This policy covers:

• the new contaminated land duties in the Act - a duty to manage contamination risks and a duty to notify EPA in certain circumstances
• the role of the duties in minimising contaminated land risks of harm
• how EPA will implement the duties, and how EPA expects duty holders to approach compliance.