EPA Victoria is a statutory authority that reports to the Victorian Parliament through the Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Innovation. Its purpose is to protect, care for and improve the environment for the benefit of the Victorian community.

Overview

EPA Victoria’s mandate is to establish environmental standards, regulate these standards and work with organisations to meet and go beyond the standards.

EPA Victoria employs around 450 people, based at seven locations across Victoria. Offices are located at:

• Melbourne CBD (Carlton)
• Macleod
• Dandenong
• Traralgon
• Wangaratta
• Bendigo
• Geelong

History

Established under the Environment Protection Act 1970 , EPA Victoria is the second oldest environmental regulatory agency in the world. It was established to deal with growing environmental problems across the state in a systematic and integrated way.

Stevensons Road closed landfill

On 15 October 2009, the Victorian Ombudsman tabled a report in State Parliament regarding methane

Methane

Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...

, a component of landfill gas

Landfill gas

Landfill gas is a complex mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill.-Production:Landfill gas production results from chemical reactions and microbes acting upon the waste as the putrescible materials begins to break down in the landfill...

, leaking from the site of the closed Stevensons Road landfill in Cranbourne, adjacent to the Brookland Greens estate, and which had been detected at dangerous levels in a number of locations, including homes in the estate.

The key findings of the report were that:

• EPA Victoria should strengthen works approval, compliance, enforcement and knowledge management capabilities,
• a number of agencies, including EPA, missed opportunities to prevent gas migration and
• EPA Victoria took appropriate action in response to high gas readings.

EPA Victoria acting chief executive Terry A’Hearn said the report was important for the EPA. “We accept all of the recommendations. ... We have already, or are in the process of, implementing two-thirds of those relevant to EPA with the remainder to be complete by June 2010,” Mr A’Hearn said.

Management of hazardous waste

On 9 June 2010, the Victorian Auditor-General tabled a scathing report in
State Parliament about EPA Victoria which found that the environmental watchdog had
inadequately regulated the management of hazardous waste. The report was widely
reported in state and national media.

EPA Victoria chief executive officer, John Merritt, accepted the Auditor-General's nine
recommendations and said seven were already being implemented. "We will be a
stronger, more energetic, more active environmental regulator for Victoria," he said. "We
have already told industry that will happen."