As part of our waste levy program, we audit landfill sites operating under EPA permissions every year to verify that the correct waste levies have been paid.

Each year, we select a number of sites across Victoria, after risk-based analysis, to undergo a detailed audit of their waste levy statements and supporting information. Every site will ultimately be subject to audit.

These audits aim to verify that permission holders have maintained adequate supporting evidence and procedures to accurately calculate their levy obligations under Section 145 of the Environment Protection Act 2017.

We want permission holders to be aware of the types of matters that may be identified during the audit process so they can better ensure that their levy statements are correct and supported by appropriate evidence. Future audits will continue to pay attention to these matters, to ensure permission holders comply with their levy obligations.

The main audit findings to date are:

• insufficient evidence to support allowable rebate claims; specifically, to demonstrate the type and quantity of material removed from the landfill premises for recycling, as well as date of deposit and removal to demonstrate compliance with legislative requirements
• inadequate documentation for verifying levy statements when paper-based records are used for some transactions instead of a weighbridge system
• lack of standard procedures or acceptable methods of determining the weight of waste in the event of weighbridge failure
• internal adjustments made to the weighbridge data for the purpose of levy calculation but not apparent from data provided for audit
• inadequate tracking and management of waste materials used for the construction of roads inside the permissioned area
• inadequate practices in classifying waste types
• inappropriate procedures for accepting priority waste that makes it difficult to correlate waste transport records, weighbridge records and supporting classification reports
• inaccurate records on the original source (whether municipal or industrial) of transfer station waste
• missing and/or duplicated transaction docket numbers.

Calculating the landfill levy and recycling rebates (publication 332) provides further detail on:

• waste acceptance for calculating levy
• methods that permissioned landfills must use to calculate waste levy payments
• statement submission and payment of the levy
• using a weighbridge to measure quantity of waste received
• waste mass balance flow
• requirements for document retention for waste levy statement submissions and allowable rebate claims
• examples of industrial waste to assist categorisation of waste types.

If a permission holder provides insufficient evidence to support their claim for an allowable rebate, it will be rejected by EPA.

Where we identify levy payment discrepancies, EPA will pursue any underpaid levy following our Compliance and enforcement policy (publication 1798).

For more information call 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC) or email waste.levy@epa.vic.gov.au

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