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Questions On Notice Questions on notice are usually asked when a more detailed answer is required and are in writing, and are forwarded by the Clerk of the Parliament to the relevant Minister who prepares a written answer which is presented to Parliament.
Estimates Committee F-Sustainability, Climate Change & Innovation |
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| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Jul 24 2008 |
| Questions On Notice >> |
Question:
Mr LAWLOR: Minister, in 2007-08 the EPA received an additional $5 million to establish anenhanced compliance program. What outcomes have been achieved to date?
Answer:
Mr McNAMARA: I thank the honourable member for the question. The EPA has enhanced itscompliance program in 2007-08, and I can assure the committee that further improvements are planned for delivery in 2008-09. In 2007-08, the EPA received $5 million in new funding to enhance its compliance program. The two key enhancements were improved targeting of compliance activity to areas with the greatest environmental risk and the recruitment of additional staff to carry out this proactive compliance work. A new state regional office, as mentioned before, has been opened at Ipswich, and compliance
activity has been strengthened within the Brisbane north and south regions to meet the increased demands created by economic development and population growth. Decentralising staff out of the
agency's central office to focus on these outer suburban areas will bring the EPA closer to its client base and the businesses it regulates. The 50 additional compliance officers will strengthen the EPA's ability to focus on industrial estates and regulated industries undertaking high-risk activities.
These include mines, chemical manufacturers, aquaculture sites, quarries, food-processing facilities, metalworks, waste management and sewage treatment plants. A compliance and investigations branch has been established, pulling together existing and new teams with the common objective of raising the levels of voluntary environmental compliance in Queensland. The EPA has also improved its capacity to detect, deter and respond to noncompliance with environmental performance standards through the recruitment of additional regional officers, investigators and lawyers.
In 2007-08 major compliance projects such as the Clean and Healthy Air for Gladstone project and other major air projects were established. The EPA continues to deliver the three-year statewide
industrial estate inspection program just mentioned. More than 1,500 industrial sites were inspected in 2007-08, with an additional 900 site inspections planned for 2008-09. That is a very vigorous level of inspection and oversight by anyone's standards. The EPA will further improve its compliance program by identifying and targeting areas of greatest environmental risk. These areas of risk will be identified through an analysis of the environmental values, the inherent risks of an activity, and emissions data. The EPA is preparing to release a new compliance strategy for 2008-12 which will set out the EPA's commitment to fostering voluntary
compliance.
The EPA will also publish its tactical compliance plan for 2008-09 which will detail the major proactive compliance program commitments for 2008-09. The EPA will also further refine its compliance
planning methodology in 2008-09 with greater analysis of information regarding the environment itself, activities that impact upon the environment and the data in relation to releases to air and water Last changed: [PUBLISHED_DATE] at 10:25 AM
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