Robust regulation and guidance relies on Have Your Say

Here is a snapshot of some of our recent co-design projects that will help lead to better outcomes for the environment and human health.

Model licence for transport infrastructure construction arrives

New model transport and infrastructure to help industry and community

We released a model licence for transport infrastructure construction projects in mid-March. This is relevant to industry and government stakeholders. The model licence package includes a set of licence conditions, guidance notes and a consultation report.

The new model licence improves the consistency and transparency around expectations for environmental performance of the projects. It also ensures that the environment and community are adequately protected during the construction of major transport infrastructure.

Access the model licence and associated documentation

Open for feedback 

Dangerous Goods Regulation remake

The EPA regulates the transport of dangerous goods

We are reviewing the rules and requirements for transporting dangerous goods by road and rail, to manage risks to human health and the environment. We aim to ensure the Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Regulation remains effective, is consistent with national legislation and represents best practice regulation.

Consistent requirements across all states reduce the risks from the transport of dangerous goods for drivers, road users and the environment.

Have your say. Submissions close on 13 May 2022

Feedback sought on national industrial chemicals standard

The Australian Government has published a national roadmap to deliver Australia’s new Industrial Chemicals Environmental Managed Standard. The roadmap builds on Australia’s partnership approach to chemicals management and recognises that scientists, governments, industry and communities all have a role to play in better management. It is available here

The Australian Government is also seeking public feedback on the draft principles to guide scheduling decisions for chemicals under the Standard.

Find out more and have your say

Submissions close on Tuesday 24 May 2022. 

Prosecution guidelines updated

The EPA’s Prosecution Guidelines have been updated and are live on our website. The changes include new sections on improperly obtained evidence, the Prosecutor’s duty of disclosure and giving evidence via audio-visual link. View the guidelines

Recent regulatory action

The following is a snapshot of recent penalties and prosecutions for environmental breaches.

• Cleanaway Equipment Services Pty Ltd has been fined more than $600,000 in the Land and Environment Court in relation to two spill incidents at its premises in Queanbeyan, in May 2020. Cleanaway was convicted of two water pollution offences and one offence for failing to immediately notify the EPA of a pollution incident. On 14 May 2020, the solvent Vivasol 2046 leaked from the Queanbeyan premises into the stormwater system and flowed into the Molonglo River. Cleanaway took over four hours to report the incident to the EPA. The second water pollution offence occurred the following day when water containing Vivasol 2046 escaped from the premises and again entered the stormwater system.
• Former Director of SSADCO Contractors Pty Ltd, Mr Fayed Afram, must pay $460,000 in fines, costs and expenses after he pleaded guilty to supplying false and misleading information about waste and polluting land with asbestos waste. An investigation found SSADCO charged $4 million to remove 17,600 tonnes of soil from a Green Square site however none of this was taken to lawful landfill.  The investigation found that the waste was illegally dumped elsewhere, some of it on a privately owned semi-rural property in Kulnura, unknown to the landowners, who had contracted Mr Afram to build a road on their property.
• The University of Sydney was fined $61,000 for offences related to the disposal of a radioactive source at a scrap metal yard in Chipping Norton. Radiation from the source was detected after the medical scanner (containing the source) had been broken apart at the scrap yard and transported to another facility in Hexham. The University pleaded guilty to two offences, the first being the failure to ensure the radioactive source was not possessed by a person who was not the holder of an appropriate licence (as the company who transported the source to Chipping Norton was not licensed to do so), and the second for disposing of the source without first obtaining the consent of the Chairperson of the EPA. The University was convicted of the offences and ordered to pay the EPA’s legal costs as agreed or assessed, and to publicise a notice containing details of the offences in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Quarterly Newsletter as published by the Australasian Radiation Protection Society, on its news and opinion webpage and featured on its homepage, and on Facebook. The University also agreed to pay the costs for the lawful disposal of the radioactive source.