The
Environmental Management and Pollution Control Act 1994 (the Act) has been amended to include among other things a new section 23AA that provides the Director, EPA with the discretion to publish, provide or make available environmental monitoring information.
Environmental monitoring information is defined as information that:
results from, or relates to, monitoring of the environmental effects of an activity;
is required to be collected under an environmental licence, environment protection notice, permit, environmental protection policy or under environmental standards; and
is provided under the Act, or another prescribed Act to the Board or the Director otherwise than in accordance with a requirement imposed on a person under section 43 or 92 of the Act.
The aim of the changes to the Act is to improve transparency and allow public scrutiny of important information about the environmental effects of industries operating in Tasmania's environment, further supporting public confidence in Tasmania's environmental regulatory system.
Environmental Monitoring Information Disclosure Policy
To provide guidance on how the Director, EPA intends to exercise the discretion to release environmental monitoring information the
Environmental Monitoring Information Disclosure Policy (the Policy) has been prepared.
The power to release environmental monitoring information under the Act works in parallel with and does not override the obligations to release information under the
Right to Information Act 2009.
This means that information not released under the Policy can still be requested, assessed and released under the RTI process.
Release of Environmental Monitoring Information (REMI) Project
A project team within the EPA has been established to undertake work to develop an end product that will allow members of the public to easily search for and access documents associated with environmental monitoring.
The REMI Project will be implemented in phases, as follows:
Phase One (April 2023)
Publishing of the
Environmental Monitoring Information Disclosure Policy on the EPA website and providing members of the public with the opportunity to request information via an online request form.
Phase Two (April - December 2023)
Development and implementation of internal processes and a central organisational repository for storing and accessing monitoring information.
Phase Three (early 2024)
Delivery of a product that allows members of the public to search for and access documents associated with monitoring.
What environmental monitoring information is available now?
The EPA is the independent environmental regulator of several hundred industrial, municipal and fish farming activities of various types and sizes. Environmental monitoring information received from permitted and licenced premises since
1 January 2022 is now available by request.
What type of information is available?
Information of the following types is available:
Annual Environmental Reviews
Environment Protection Notices
Site specific environmental monitoring reports that relate to approved discharges of pollutants beyond the area of the land/site
Environmental Management Plans required to be submitted to the Director by permit, environment protection notice or licence condition
Environmental surveys undertaken as a requirement of a management plan or condition, where the parameter being surveyed is beyond the area of the land/site or water
Environmental monitoring reports required to be completed following the release of a pollutant beyond authorised discharge limits
Environmental monitoring information requested and submitted under an Environment Protection Notice types 44(1)(a), (b), (c), (e), 44(1A) and 44(1B)
Environmental monitoring and assessment information requested and submitted under a request to vary a permit by way of an Environment Protection Notice types 44(1)(d).
Request for environmental monitoring information
Before submitting a request for environmental monitoring information, please consider the following:
Is the information you seek older than 1 January 2022?
Yes – go to
Right to Information for further information
No – continue to request form below
Is the information you seek related to environmental monitoring information?
Yes – continue to request form below
No – go to
Right to Information for further information
Is the information you seek related to a potential contaminated land site?
Yes – go to
Land Contamination Information
No – continue to request form below
Environmental Monitoring Information Disclosure Log
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