New Environment Protection Act

DR ELIZABTH GIBSON, General Manager of the CMPA provides a report on the new Environment Protection Act 2017 and the Environment Protection Regulations 2020 which take effect from 1 July 2021 (see www.epa.vic.gov.au).

General Environmental Duty

The centerpiece of the new laws is the General Environmental
Duty (GED) which applies to ALL Victorians. You must reduce
the risk of harm from your activities:
• to human health and the environment
• from pollution or waste

This means the approach to protection of human health and the environment has changed. The expectation is that you will manage your activities to avoid the risk of environmental damage. You must also respond if pollution does occur.

If you conduct activities that pose a risk to human health and the environment, you must understand those risks. You must also take reasonably practicable steps to eliminate or minimise them. In an Australian first, the GED is criminally enforceable.

More specifically, EPA has produced the following guide:

Mining and quarrying – Guide to preventing harm to people
and the environment.

https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-epa/publications/1823

Note: EPA is the primary regulator of water discharges from mining and quarrying industries. EPA is also responsible for advising on monitoring of air quality and noise emissions and has responsibilities when responding to referrals for mining from other government agencies. Earth Resources Regulation (ERR) is the primary regulator for mining and quarrying, delivering regulatory functions under the Mineral Resources (Sustainable
Development) Act 1990.

How to manage your risks

As a business owner or sole trader, it is your responsibility to understand and manage the risks of harm from pollution and waste to people and the environment from any work you do.

In straightforward situations, managing risks will involve thinking through your activities and taking simple steps to avoid harm. For example, making sure your rubbish goes in the right bin, and chemicals do not go down stormwater drains and into our waterways.

In larger businesses or those that carry out a lot of different activities with greater risks of harm, more complex systems, procedures and documentation may be required.

You should follow any required risk assessment processes where there are co-regulators involved – for example, ERR’s risk assessment process identified in work plans and work plan variations for mining and quarrying. EPA does not require a separate risk assessment process to be undertaken when you have followed requirements of another co-regulator. EPA’s expectation is that you can demonstrate you have identified and assessed risk.

Summary of environmental duties (in the Environment Protection Act 2017)3
This legal requirement
General environmental duty (s25-27)
Means I have to …
Understand how my business activities may give rise to risks of harm to people or the environment from pollution and waste . Put in place reasonably practicable measures to eliminate or reduce identified risks of harm from pollution or waste.
Use and maintain:
• plant, equipment, processes and systems in a way that
minimises risks (e.g. maintain my machinery and equipment
in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications)
• systems for identifying, assessing and controlling risks
• adequate systems to ensure that if risk eventuates,
harmful effects are minimised.
Ensure all substances are handled, stored, used and/or transported in a way that minimises risks. Provide information, instruction, supervision and training to people engaged in activities to ensure they comply with above (e.g. undertake toolbox sessions where practicable). It doesn’t matter whether an adverse impact on people and/ or the environment has or has not occurred. The general environmental duty is breached whenever there is a risk of harm not being proportionally managed.

If you engage in an activity that involves the design, manufacture, installation or supply of a substance, plant, equipment or structure you must, so far as is reasonably practicable:
• Minimise risks of harm to people or the
environment from pollution and waste arising from
the design, manufacture, installation or supply
of the substance, plant, equipment or structure
when used for the purpose it was intended.

• Where a risk of harm cannot be eliminated, provide information to each person about the purpose of the substance, plant, equipment or structure and any conditions necessary to ensure it can be used in a way that reduces the risks of harm.

This legal requirement
Duty to respond to harm (s31)
Means I have to …
Take reasonably practicable measures to restore the environment if a pollution incident occurs as a result of a leak, spill or other unintended deposit or escape of a substance. The person engaging in the activity that results in the pollution incident must clean it up. They must also restore the affected area to the state it was in before the pollution incident, as far as
reasonably practicable. This duty applies regardless of fault.

This legal requirement
Duty to notify of an event (s32-33)
Means I have to …
Contact EPA on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC) as soon as practicable if a pollution incident happens that causes or threatens material harm4 to human health or the environment. Provide information about the nature of the incident, its location, the harm or threatened harm, the circumstances
in which it occurred, and 1Proposed action to deal with the incident. EPA will provide further instructions on completing my notification.

This legal requirement
Duty to manage contamination (s39)
Means I have to …
If I manage or control contaminated land (vacant or occupied), including groundwater, minimise risks of harm to human health and the environment arising from the contamination. This may include mitigating pathways for exposure to the contamination. If I suspect contamination, investigate further to understand the risks. This duty applies regardless of who caused the land or groundwater to be contaminated or when contamination took place. It also applies regardless of whether EPA is aware of the contamination or has issued any notices.

This legal requirement
Duty to notify of certain contamination (s40)
Means I have to …
Contact EPA on 1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC) as soon as practicable if the land I manage or control is contaminated in any of the circumstances set out in the regulations. This includes contamination to groundwater. See EPA’s guidance on the thresholds. This duty applies regardless of fault or when the contamination took place. It applies as soon as I become aware (or ought to have been aware) of the contamination. The duty is intended to expand EPA’s knowledge about contaminated sites in Victoria.

This legal requirement
Duties relating to industrial waste (s133-137)
Means I have to …
Only deposit industrial waste at a ‘lawful place’ – this means a place or premises that is authorised and agrees to receive the industrial waste.
Before handing over industrial waste to another person:
• identify and classify the type of industrial waste
• describe the industrial waste to the person collecting,
consigning, transferring or transporting the industrial waste
• check that the place the transporter is planning to take
the industrial waste can lawfully receive that waste.

This legal requirement
Duties and controls relating to priority waste (s138-141)
Means I have to …
If I manage or control priority waste (any waste, including municipal and industrial waste, classified as priority waste in accordance with the regulations, see note below), take all reasonable steps to ensure it is contained so it can’t escape and is isolated to ensure resource recovery remains practicable. Give the person who collects or consigns the priority waste information about its:
• nature and type
• any risks of harm
• any other relevant information necessary for them to
comply with the law.
Before deciding to dispose any priority waste to landfill, investigate if I can re-use or recycle the priority waste. Also investigate how I can avoid producing or generating similar waste in the future. Some ways I can investigate alternatives include:
• consider EPA guidelines or other relevant publications
• consider the availability of any relevant technology
• consult with someone with relevant expertise.

This legal requirement
Duties and controls relating to reportable priority waste
(s142-143)
Means I have to …
Record and notify transaction details relating to reportable priority waste in accordance with the proposed regulations This can be done via the EPA Interaction Portal. Note: reportable priority waste is a subset of priority waste and carries the highest level of controls. It is reserved for waste
types with the highest levels of risk. If I transport reportable priority waste, do so in accordance with a permission.

4Material harm means harm that is caused by pollution or waste that has an adverse effect on human health or the environment that is not insignificant; has an adverse effect on an area of high conservation value or of special significance; or results in, or is likely to result in, greater costs than what would have been incurred if action had been taken to prevent or minimise the harm in the first place.

See page 6-7 for further information on recycling construction and demolition waste.

You must be logged in to post a comment Login