Environment Protection Legislation and Policies
Environment Protection Act 1997
The Environment Protection Act 1997 (the Act) provides the regulatory framework to help reduce and eliminate the discharge of pollutants into the air, land and water.
Environment Protection Policies
Environment Protection Policies help to explain and apply the Environment Protection Act 1997 and the Environment Protection Regulation 2005. The following policies provide information relating to particular areas of environment protection.
- General
(246 Kb) - Waste Water Reuse (223 Kb)
- Air (72 Kb)
- Contaminated Sites (1.9 Mb)
- Hazardous Materials (315 Kb)
- Motor Sport Noise (114 Kb)
- Noise (2.4 Mb)
- Outdoor Concert Noise (53 Kb)
- Water quality (211 Kb)
National Environment Protection Measures (NEPMs)
The National Environment Protection Council (NEPC) comprises one minister from each participating jurisdiction (the Commonwealth, States and Territories). Complementary legislation in each jurisdiction establishes NEPC and gives it the power to make National Environment Protection Measures (NEPMs).
NEPMs are designed to provide equivalent protection from pollution to all Australians and to ensure that decisions by businesses are not distorted and markets are not fragmented by variations in environmental standards between jurisdictions. The decision to develop a NEPM is advertised nationally and members of the public are invited to register an interest in the NEPM. Draft NEPMs are released for public comment before being finalised for consideration by NEPC. If approved by NEPC, the NEPM is tabled in the Commonwealth Parliament and, if passed, it becomes law in participating jurisdictions.
The ACT Environment Protection Authority implements the following NEPMs:
