EPA regulatory tools

• Inform and educate

  We raise awareness of environmental duties, the human health and environmental risks and impacts of activities, the importance of environmental quality, and our role and jurisdiction.

  We welcome conversations with people about their local environment. We start with the assumption that most individuals and businesses accept their responsibility for protecting the environment and want to comply with their legal obligations. We raise awareness and understanding of the condition of the environment and the impact our daily activities can have on the quality and aspects of the environment we value. We also play an important role as a technical support agency, providing technical, scientific, and public health information and advice during emergency events.

  We promote understanding of environmental duties and legal obligations and emphasise education as effective ways of encouraging people to comply. Sharing our science, knowledge of the environment and regulatory approach helps to increase compliance and provides a common understanding for us to enforce the law. 

  We engage early, often, and respectfully with those affected by our decisions, seeking to understand their aspirations and concerns.
  Our Charter of Consultation outlines tools we use for consultation and how we engage with business and community, including when developing standards or issuing a permission.

  To improve understanding of the state of our environment and our shared responsibilities, we use:

  • awareness and education campaigns we work with people to help them understand environmental harm or public health risk arising from pollution incidents, emerging environmental problems, or long-term legacy matters that may affect them and what they can do to respond to and minimise risks.
  • information sessions and community meetings provide information during emergency events or about aspects of a proposed standard or permission and allow interested parties to ask questions and better understand an incident or proposal.
  • conferences of interested persons empower discussion, resolution and problem solving on any matter or decision under consideration.
  • environment reporting supports people to understand the condition of their environment. We share information and communicate the state of the environment, environmental risks and how to respond to them, including during emergency events.
  • working with volunteers helps the community and EPA build a shared understanding of environmental issues. For example, our citizen science program sees community volunteers working with EPA on projects around Victoria to collect and study scientific data on the health of our communities and environment. 
  • reference groups help us learn about community and industry’s environmental concerns. The advice and input help shape our policies.

• Set standards

  We set clear and authoritative public health and environmental standards based on science, an understanding of community aspirations and industry best practice.

  EPA and Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP), in consultation with relevant government, business and community stakeholders and Traditional Owners, set environmental standards and expectations for activities through regulations, compliance codes, environment reference standards and permissions. These are based on science, an understanding of the state of the environment, current and future risks, and the aspirations of Traditional Owners and the community.

  As standards evolve over time with changing environmental conditions and advances in knowledge and technology, we work to develop and promote continuous improvement and good practice.

  We set standards in line with our General Standards Policy. Our tools for developing and promoting continuous improvement and good practice include:

  • Legislative requirements and duties set out in the Act inform how we work with community and industry to minimise risks to human health and the environment from pollution and waste.   
  • Regulations set minimum standards of conduct, for specific activities or risks of harm.
  • Rulings and determinations can modify requirements under a permission or Regulation, providing flexibility and responsiveness in the way issues are regulated.
  • Compliance codes provide practical guidance on how to meet duties under the Act or other obligations under subordinate legislation.
  • Environment reference standards define the environmental values of Victoria and inform government decision-making, permissioning decisions, and reporting on the state of our environment.
  • Permissions ensure performance standards and conditions are met across a range of activities. We administer permissions, including licences, permits and registrations, in line with our Permissions Scheme Policy.
  • Financial assurance prevents the Victorian community bearing the financial cost of cleaning up a site by requiring a business to provide security for the costs of remediation and clean-up.  A financial assurance works like a security deposit. By providing it, a business assures EPA that if a site needs to be cleaned-up, funds are available. This is described further in our guide for financial assurance.
  • Land use and development advice supports planning authorities and other agencies prior to approval of activities and development, especially on high-risk applications, as well as in cases of encroachment of sensitive developments onto industrial facilities.

• Support to comply

  We provide advice and guidance, strengthened through partnerships to support individuals and businesses to comply and improve their capability in identifying and managing their risks.

  We expect those who have a duty or obligation under the law to seek out relevant information and stay up to date with changing industry practices. However, we will also listen to businesses about the issues that affect compliance and collaborate on the development of fit for purpose guidance materials (e.g. ‘reasonably practicable’ actions to manage risks) and make them widely available.

  We understand that industry associations are often a preferred source of advice for businesses, and we will work with them to get information to you. We also work with other regulators to make it easier for you to be clear about your full suite of obligations, particularly where those obligations can overlap.

  Tools and actions we may use to improve businesses’ capability in identifying and managing their risks are:

  • Compliance advice EPA and its authorised officers provide practical and constructive advice to support compliance, and, where necessary, provide support on how to remedy any non-compliance. Compliance advice may include referring to applicable compliance codes, EPA guidance, other national and international standards, or guidance from other relevant sources.
  • Industry guidance contributes to the state of knowledge and provides practical support to industry to assist in discharging their obligations.
  • Industry partnerships and programs create opportunities for Victorian businesses to partner or collaborate with us in support programs. These can include learning resources, guidance materials and funding to deliver training programs.

• Monitor compliance

  We determine the level of compliance with duties and standards and maintain a credible risk of detecting non-compliance.
  A core function of EPA is to monitor businesses and their activities to determine levels of compliance. Our primary focus is on prevention; wherever possible, we want to ensure that incidents of non-compliance and their impacts are avoided, and we work to constantly improve our capacity to detect and respond to non-compliance.

  In cases where we identify or become aware of a problem or a risk, we seek to resolve the problem before it leads to an impact on the environment or the health of Victorians.

  To prevent non-compliance, we monitor activities using these tools and powers:

  • Litter and pollution reporting by the community helps us protect our environment and investigate potential non-compliance. This includes reports of smoky vehicles, illegal dumping, industry pollution and litter from cars.
  • Reporting of notifiable incidents and contamination is required in certain circumstances and assists us to respond to harm, monitor the management of risks, and support business and community to prevent harm in the future. 
  • Compliance and performance reporting by EPA permission holders helps us monitor a business’s compliance with their conditions and identify broader compliance trends across permission activities. This includes the requirement for businesses to report to EPA a breach of their permission conditions. It may also include the submission of a performance statement to demonstrate compliance with their permission.
  • Inspections and surveillance: Our authorised officers visit businesses to conduct inspections and assess compliance. In our assessments, we also seek out and use the insights and intelligence from partner agencies. Our Guide to inspection and inquiry powers has further information on how authorised officers use their powers of inspection and inquiry under the Act.
  • Environmental audit system: We oversee the environmental audit system, including the appointment of environmental auditors. Planning authorities, government agencies, community members and industry use environmental audits to help them understand the condition of a site and its suitability for use. EPA has a quality assurance program to monitor the performance of auditors.

• Enforce the law

  We address non-compliance with the law by requiring parties to remedy non-compliance, seek redress for harms, and where appropriate, pursue a penalty or punishment.

  Under the Act, responsibility for preventing harm rests with anyone in management or control of an activity that may give rise to risks of harm. This empowers us to address non-compliance, even if harm has not yet occurred, by objectively and assertively requiring remedial action.

  Where appropriate, sanctions will be applied to redress harms and deter future offending by the individual and others. We support responsive and restorative sanctioning, which means the use of sanctions to improve outcomes and redress harmful impacts to the environment and community.

  Before taking action, we will seek to understand your perspective and act in accordance with our Compliance and enforcement policy. This policy sets out how we enforce the law, including issuing of remedial notices, directions, and orders, and the application of an escalating range of sanctions.

  • A remedial notice, direction or order is issued to bring an individual or business into compliance or set out the steps to deal with the harm, waste, or contamination. To find out more, see our Remedial powers policy, which sets out the range of remedial tools under the Act.
  • A sanction is a punishment or consequence if you don’t comply with the law. We can pursue different types of sanctions. To find out more, see our Sanction powers policy, which sets out the range of sanctions under the Act.
  • Third-party civil remedies are an important tool that gives the community broader access to justice. Third-party civil remedies are orders granted by the courts. They’re available to a person who is harmed, or could be harmed, by another person’s failure to meet their legal obligations.

• Encourage higher performance

  We work with leaders and partners to encourage higher performance, improve industry practices and inform future standards.
  We work in partnership with leaders in business and community to encourage higher performance, building the case for improving practices and influencing future standards. We will seek partnerships that promote improved practice and performance, aligned to our priorities, and focused on driving the future standards at specific sites, industry or business sectors, or geographic areas. 

  Tools and actions we may use to improve practices and performance include:

  • Better Environment Plans offers businesses an opportunity to identify innovative solutions to environmental issues or exceed their environmental obligations.
  • Promote positive examples of improved practice and environmental performance to encourage and support those who do the right thing and go beyond minimum standards.
  • Strategic stakeholder engagement with people in priority industry or business sectors, or in specific geographic areas in the design of solutions and approaches to continually ‘raise the bar’ of environmental performance.
  • Liaise and collaborate with government to promote the prevention of harm and raise the profile of emerging issues of environmental concern.
  • Rewards and incentives that recognise the opportunity to reduce the regulatory burden on high performers.