The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is an independent statutory authority that sits in the Environment portfolio as part of the Planning and Environment cluster. It was established as an independent governing board in February 2012 separate from the Office of Environment & Heritage.[2] The EPA is the state’s primary environmental regulator, working with businesses, government, community and environment groups to manage and reduce pollution, waste and adverse impacts on the environment.
to protect, restore and enhance the quality of the environment in NSW, having regard to the need to maintain ecologically sustainable development;
to reduce the risks to human health and prevent the degradation of the environment.
History
The EPA was established originally in 1991 as an independent agency under the Protection of the Environment Administration Act.[3]
Between 2003 and 2012, the EPA was incorporated into the Department of Environment and Conservation. Following a significant pollution incident at Kooragang Island in Newcastle in August 2011,[4] an independent review recommended that an EPA be re-formed as an independent agency.[5]
The agency was subsequently re-established in February 2012 as a statutory authority with an independent governing board.
The object of the Act is to achieve the protection, restoration and enhancement of the quality of the NSW environment. The Act repealed and consolidated a number of existing Acts to rationalise, simplify and strengthen the regulatory framework for environmental protection in NSW.
