News

The NEPC made a variation to the Diesel Vehicle Emissions NEPM on Friday 22 May, 2009 to enhance it's effectiveness.  The NEPM must now be registered with Federal Register of Legislative Instruments to facilitate disallowance procedures in the Commonwealth Parliament. The Variation, together with the NEPM as varied, will be placed on this website once the disallowance procedures have been completed.

Australian environment ministers made fundamental progress on the national management of waste, chemicals and water at the 18th meeting of the Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) in Hobart. Download the Communique for further information.

The NPI NEPM provides the framework for the development and establishment of the NPI which is an Internet database designed to provide publicly available information on the types and amounts of certain substances being emitted to the air, land, and water.

The NPI NEPM was varied in 2008 to remove reporting provisions for greenhouse gases. This version of the NEPM as varied is the most up-to-date version of the NEPM and includes all of the amendments made to the NEPM.

This document is also available at: www.frli.gov.au

Click here to access the NPI database.

This is the statutory instrument which amends the NPI NEPM.  This amendment was undertaken to remove the greenhouse gas reporting provisions in the NPI NEPM.

This document is also available at: www.frli.gov.au

Response to the issues raised in the Covec peer review of the beverage container investigation final report.

This report was considered by the EPHC at its meeting on 22 May 2009. The report presents the outcomes of an investigation of options for national measures to improve management of packaging wastes, with particular emphasis on beverage containers.The investigation was commissioned by the EPHC in order to: 

• clarify the scope and scale of problems arising from current approaches to managingpackaging wastes;
• consider the effectiveness of existing measures and the rationale for further government action, at a national level; and
• assess the merits of promising alternative approaches.

The Beverage Container Working Group (BCWG) would like to acknowledge the work undertaken by BDA Group (BDA) and Wright Corporate Strategy (WCS) in preparing the Beverage Container Investigation Final Report.Due to the highly divergent opinions around management options for packaging wastes and, in particular  beverage containers, and the potentially contentious nature of the work, the BCWG agreed to commission a peer review of the final report. In March 2009, Covec Limited was commissioned to undertake a peer review of the BDA/WCS Beverage Container Investigation Final Report.

This is the draft Tyres Product Stewardship Agreement - An Agreement between the EPHC and other signatories for the establishment of tyre product stewardship scheme in Australia. It was released for public consultation - May 2008

These Guidelines will promote a comprehensive and nationally consistent  approach to environmental assessment of carbon dioxide capture and storage in geological formations. They will assist states and territories to manage the environmental risks posed by this emerging technology, and will also assist the work of the newly launched Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.

This report is a peer review of the beverage container investigation report undertaken for the Beverage Container Working Group (BCWG) by the BDA Group and Wright Corporate Strategy (hereafter BDA/WCS). The BDA/WCS report analyses a number of options for a national measure to increase rates of packaging recovery and to reduce litter. It provides background data, an explanation of the problem being addressed, and an analysis of seven separate instruments using criteria that include cost-effectiveness, compatibility with existing systems and suitability as a national measure.

The purpose of this manual is to provide risk assessors with guidance on the environmental risk assessment of industrial chemicals. It may also provide other stakeholders with an illustration of the general process and considerations that risk assessors employ when assessing the potential risks that chemicals may pose to the environment. For a less technical illustration of the key areas that risk assessors consider, a separate overview document is available.The manual provides information and guidance on various methods available to undertake the different areas of an environmental risk assessment, which, broadly speaking, comprises exposure, effects and risk characterisation. It outlines how the assessor should carry out an assessment of a new or existing agvet chemical according to best practice, including what information, methods and tools to use in assessing chemicals. Veterinary chemicals are discussed separately (refer Chapter 9) to agricultural pesticides, as agreed international methodology is available for the assessment of veterinary medicines.   It is noted, however, that this information is provided as guidance rather than prescriptive metholodology as assessment needs to be tailored to fit the particular chemical being assessed.

The purpose of this manual is to provide risk assessors with guidance on the environmental risk assessment of industrial chemicals. It may also provide other stakeholders with an illustration of the general process and considerations that risk assessors employ when assessing the potential risks that chemicals may pose to the environment. For a less technical illustration of the key areas that risk assessors consider, a separate overview document is available.The manual establishes a starting point for best practice assessment. It is intended that improved assessment tools and methods will be incorporated into this manual as they become available.This manual outlines how the assessor should carry out an assessment of a new or existing industrial chemical according to best practice including what information, methods and tools to use in assessing chemicals. It is noted, however, that this information is provided as guidance rather than prescriptive methodology as each assessment needs to be tailored to fit the particular chemical being assessed. 

At the November 2008 meeting of EPHC, Ministers released a Statement on end of life televisions and computers. The Statement recognises the high level of concern in some parts of the community regarding the disposal of end of life televisions and computers, and acknowledges the extensive work by the television and computer industries to develop product stewardship schemes. Ministers reiterated their determination to achieve the best outcome for the community by accelerating the important remaining work to identify the best options to manage E-waste nationally.

This report sets out the wide range of activity being undertaken by the community and governments at all levels to reduce litter. Despite a growth in overall waste volumes driven by strong economic growth, an assessment of the National Litter Index since 2005–06 suggests that litter volumes may have been decoupled from waste generation, in that they are stable or in decline. While it is important to continue to work to reduce littering behaviour, the report demonstrates the value of the concerted efforts by a wide range of people and organisations and the need to work within current frameworks to ensure this progress continues.

This report seeks to identify impediments to environmentally and socially responsible wind farm development and how these impediments might be addressed. This report has been prepared in response to the EPHC's decision of 17 April 2008 requesting its Standing Committee to report to the Council on ways to address impediments to wind farm development.   The report focuses in particular on consistency and certainty about the planning and assessment process, including ongoing environmental monitoring of wind farms. The report also presents a suite of recommendations to EPHC including the development of a set of national guidelines.

The Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) in partnership with the Victorian Government wanted to conduct a trial project involving major supermarkets placing a voluntary charge on plastic bags at selected sites around Victoria.  KPMG worked with ANRA to form five hypotheses that were tested during the trial using quantitative and qualitative data. This is a report on the trial which ran for a four-week period: from 18 August 2008 to 14 September 2008.

Under a Memorandum of Understanding dated 1 August 2008, the Victorian Government and the Australian National Retailers Association (ANRA) agreed to work together to trial the application of a charge on single‐use plastic bags in supermarkets . The Steering Committee was established pursuant to that Memorandum of Understanding in order to oversee the design and implementation of the trial.The trial was led by the Victorian Government and ANRA, with the participation of retail supermarkets Coles, IGA and Woolworths. 

This Impact Statement examines the potential impact and the costs and benefits related to the introduction of a waste tyres NEPM and a tyres product stewardship scheme.

The NChEM Working Group has made significant progress since endorsement of the NChEM Ministerial Agreement and Action Plan in June 2007. The attachment below outlines the achievements of NChEM in its first year of operation.

At the 17th meeting of the Environment Protection and Heritage Council in Adelaide, Australian environment ministers agreed to the development of a national waste policy to provide a coherent, efficient and environmentally responsible approach to waste management in Australia. To help inform the development of this national waste policy, the Council also agreed to the compilation of a comprehensive report on waste. The national waste policy proposal was one of several initiatives embraced by the Council to address key environmental challenges relating to climate change, waste management and chemicals in a national context. 

The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, on behalf of the EPHC, commissioned McLennan Magasanik Associates to develop a cost benefit analysis of three policy options for reducing the impact of emissions from mobile sources of non-road engines on air quality and human health:(1) a voluntary agreement among outboard marine engine suppliers,(2) Commonwealth Government regulation, and(3) a NEPM implemented by the states and territories.

This Impact Statement examines the potential impact and the costs and benefits related to the introduction of a waste tyres NEPM and a tyres product stewardship scheme.

This is the draft Tyres Product Stewardship Agreement - An Agreement between the EPHC and other signatories for the establishment of tyre product stewardship scheme in Australia. It was released for public consultation - May 2008

The Draft National Environment Protection (Tyres) Measure was released for public consultation in May 2008.  The NEPM is part of a co-regulatory approach and allows the proposed tyres product stewardship agreement/scheme to be underpinned by a regulatory safety net to capture free-riders.

This report was commissioned by the National Water Commission and the Queensland Government to investigate scientifically justified human-based chemical quality guidelines for recycled water uses that lead to human exposure.  Data from this report has been incorporated into the Australina Guidelines on Water Recycling: Augmentation of Drinkling Water Supplies Module.

This is the statutory instrument which amends the NPI NEPM.  This amendment was undertaken to remove the greenhouse gas reporting provisions in the NPI NEPM.

This document is also available at: www.frli.gov.au

The NPI NEPM provides the framework for the development and establishment of the NPI which is an Internet database designed to provide publicly available information on the types and amounts of certain substances being emitted to the air, land, and water.

The NPI NEPM was varied in 2008 to remove reporting provisions for greenhouse gases. This version of the NEPM as varied is the most up-to-date version of the NEPM and includes all of the amendments made to the NEPM.

This document is also available at: www.frli.gov.au

Click here to access the NPI database.

This report was commissioned by the National Water Commission and the Queensland Government to investigate scientifically justified human-based chemical quality guidelines for recycled water uses that lead to human exposure.  Data from this report has been incorporated into the Australina Guidelines on Water Recycling: Augmentation of Drinkling Water Supplies Module.

Draft guidelines on Managed Aquifer Recharge released for public consultation in May 2008.  Comments closed in August 2008.

Draft guidelines on Managed Aquifer Recharge released for public consultation in May 2008.  Comments closed in August 2008.

Draft guidelines for Stormwater Harvesting and Re-use released in May 2008.  Comments closed August 2008.

Draft guidelines for Stormwater Harvesting and Re-use released in May 2008.  Comments closed August 2008.

Australian Guidelines for Water RecyclingAugmentation of Drinking Water SuppliesMay 2008 

This guide outlines how the different levels of heritage listing in Australia – world, national, state/territory and local are determined. At the highest level are places on the World Heritage List like Kakadu National Park and the Sydney Opera House, while on a local heritage list there might be a nature reserve or the local Post Office.While all of these places are important, the Australian, state and territory and local government heritage systems distinguish between these levels for legal and practical reasons.

The NEPC Service Corporation, on behalf of the Environment Protection and Heritage Standing Committee (EPH Standing Committee) is calling for tenders to undertake a consultancy to survey coating products in the Australian market, and provide advice on: the grouping of coating products into functional product categories; the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content and sales volumes of coating products and product categories; and potential reductions in VOC emissions that could be achieved for different categories of coating products through different policy actions

To protect the environment and heritage in Australia and New Zealand, in order toenhance social, human health, economic and environmental outcomes in asustainable manner for current and future generations

This is the explanatory statement released with the draft variation to the Diesel NEPM.  It sets out the reasons behind the variation.

This statement communicates to the NEPC the intent of the Executive Officer for the NEPC Service Corporation with respect to the performance of its functions.

The second review of the NEPC Act was undertaken in 2007.  This is the response of the NEPC to the recommendations of the review report.

Outline of a proposal by the Australian Tyre Industry Council for addressing the issue of end-of-life tyres.

This statement communicates the NEPC’s expectations of the NEPC Service Corporation with respect to performance of its functions and in line with policies of associated Governments.

This consultation Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) relates to the proposed product stewardship arrangements for end-of-life tyres.

The EPHC engaged a consultant to identify and assess economic instruments that might be complementary to the objectives of the Covenant and assist in achieving the performance targets established under the current Covenant, with such instruments to be available should the mid-term review show the Covenant will fail to deliver satisfactory outcomes.

The mechanisms identified through this work could also inform EPHC in the development of future Covenants, or in any review of the balance and relationships between the regulatory, economic and voluntary mechanisms for achieving packaging targets.

McLennan Magasanik Associates Pty Ltd, in conjunction with the BDA Group, identified potential mechanisms in the report National Packaging Covenant Complementary Economic Mechanisms . This is a peer review of the report, conducted by the UK firm Perchards.

The EPHC engaged a consultant to identify and assess economic instruments that might be complementary to the objectives of the Covenant and assist in achieving the performance targets established under the current Covenant, with such instruments to be available should the mid-term review show the Covenant will fail to deliver satisfactory outcomes.

The mechanisms identified through this work could also inform EPHC in the development of future Covenants, or in any review of the balance and relationships between the regulatory, economic and voluntary mechanisms for achieving packaging targets.

McLennan Magasanik Associates Pty Ltd, in conjunction with the BDA Group, have identified these potential mechanisms in this report.

The NEPC commissioned this study to assess a range of methods to set thresholds so that importers of small volumes of tyres would be exempt from a proposed product stewardship arrangement.

The Environment Protection and Heritage Council (EPHC) released the discussion paper Co-Regulatory Frameworks for Product Stewardship for public consultation on 3 December 2004. Submissions closed on 25 February 2005 and 66 submissions were received.

The primary purpose of this analysis is to provide an overview of the level of stakeholder support for co-regulation to inform EPHC Ministers as to next steps relating to governments’ role in supporting product stewardship.