Victoria's Environment Protection Act: Five Years On
A Framework Built for Prevention
When the Environment Protection Act 2017 (incorporating the 2018 amendments) came into force on 1 July 2021, it fundamentally changed how environmental risk, contaminated land and waste are regulated in Victoria. Five years on, the new framework is fully embedded, and the EPA's enforcement posture has moved well beyond the initial 'compliance support' phase that characterised the Act's early implementation.
The central innovation of the 2021 framework was its shift from a permission-based, retrospective model to one built around positive, proactive duties. Where the old Act primarily regulated specific activities through licensing, the new Act imposes obligations on any person whose activities create risk; regardless of whether they hold a licence. The General Environmental Duty, the duty to manage contaminated land, and the duty to notify are now the operating framework within which Victorian businesses must understand their obligations.
The General Environmental Duty and How It Has Bedded In
The General Environmental Duty (GED) requires anyone conducting an activity that poses a risk of harm to human health or the environment from pollution or waste to minimise that risk, so far as reasonably practicable. The GED is analogous to the general duty of care under occupational health and safety legislation, and, like that duty, it scales with the nature and magnitude of the risk.
In the five years since commencement, the EPA has used the GED as the foundation for a range of compliance and enforcement actions. Critically, the GED applies whether an activity is licensed, meaning that businesses which historically operated below the licensing threshold are not exempt. The EPA has made clear that it expects businesses to actively identify hazards, assess risks, implement controls, and review those controls on an ongoing basis. A reactive approach, waiting for a pollution incident before acting, is not consistent with the GED and exposes duty holders to significant enforcement risk.
Breaching the GED can attract civil penalties of up to approximately $322,000 for an individual and $1.6 million for a corporation, along with the potential for criminal prosecution in serious cases. The EPA's enforcement activity since 2021 has demonstrated that these are not merely theoretical numbers.
Contaminated Land: The Duty to Manage and Duty to Notify
The contaminated land duties introduced in 2021 have had the most significant practical impact on businesses involved in site management, property transactions and industrial operations. The duty to manage requires persons in management or control of contaminated land to minimise risks of harm, so far as reasonably practicable, including by identifying contamination they know of, or reasonably ought to know of. The duty to notify requires notification to the EPA as soon as practicable after becoming aware of notifiable contamination.
EPA Victoria's guidance and enforcement activity since 2021 have begun to define this standard. Passive ignorance is not a defence; where the nature of historic site use would put a reasonable person on notice of likely contamination, an obligation to investigate arises. This has significant implications for property owners, managers and occupiers of sites with industrial heritage.
Preliminary Risk Screen Assessments (PRSAs) and environmental audits are now standard requirements for planning permit applications involving industrial land redevelopment. Proponents who arrive at the planning stage without a clear understanding of their contamination position, and a credible management or remediation pathway, face delays, additional conditions and, in some cases, refusals.
Permissions, Licences and the Waste Framework
The 2021 Act introduced a tiered permissions framework, licences for high-risk activities, permits for medium-risk, and registrations for low-risk. Five years on, some businesses are still discovering that activities not previously requiring a licence under the 1970 Act now require a permission under the 2021 framework. EPA Victoria has been active in identifying unlicensed operators and pursuing compliance.
The waste classification and tracking framework has also matured. The Category A through D priority waste classifications have become the standard language for waste management decisions, and EPA's waste tracking system is now fully operational. The introduction of Category D intended to support limited on-site containment of soils with lower levels of contamination) has provided some flexibility for remediation projects but requires a permit and a robust justification of the containment approach.
Where the Pressure Points Are in 2026
With five years of operation behind it, the 2021 framework is no longer new, but the compliance landscape continues to evolve. The key pressure points in 2026 are:
- PFAS and the contaminated land duties: The updated NEMP 3.0 guideline values and the expanded IChEMS regulatory framework mean that PFAS contamination is increasingly triggering duty to manage and duty to notify obligations at sites where it was previously not considered a priority. Site managers need to assess whether their PFAS position has changed under the new standards.
- Vapour intrusion: EPA Victoria has sharpened its focus on the vapour intrusion pathway, particularly for sites near sensitive land uses. Investigations that did not explicitly characterise vapour risk may need revisiting.
- Planning-environment interface: The intersection of the EP Act duties with the Planning and Environment Act — now also being reformed — continues to generate complexity for development proponents. Early engagement with both frameworks is essential.
- Enforcement activity: The EPA's compliance and enforcement posture has become more assertive. Businesses that have been managing contamination under informal arrangements, without formal investigation or risk assessment, are increasingly at risk of regulatory attention.
PJRA's Role in the Data Centre Sector
PJRA has been supporting clients through the transition to the 2021 framework since before its commencement and continues to provide advice on GED compliance, contaminated land management, environmental audits, waste classification and regulatory engagement. If your site's compliance position has not been reviewed recently, particularly in light of the new PFAS standards, now is the time to act.