Licensing reforms

Information for licensees on changes to the EPA's licensing system and what will be required from them. 

Why we’re making these changes

We are modernising our licensing system under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 to improve transparency, responsiveness and community access to environmental information. The initiative includes reforms for how licensees report to the EPA, new digital systems for sharing data in near real-time, and exploring the development of a public-facing platform to help communities access timely, local environmental information.

The reforms respond to feedback from community and industry about the need for smarter, faster and more transparent regulation.

By using near real-time data and digital systems, we can detect environmental risks earlier, target our responses more effectively, and make information more accessible.

Over time, a new online platform will be introduced to display near real-time pollution data from licensed sites, making it easier to stay informed about local environmental conditions.

What's changing

The reforms include:

• replacing retrospective annual returns with near real-time non-compliance reporting, improving responsiveness and public transparency. Annual returns will still be required for load-based licence holders, but these will be simplified.
• introducing a new risk-based system to replace Environmental Risk Assessments (ERA), enabling faster detection of potential issues
• updating the Environmental Management Calculation Protocol, resulting in minimal changes to most fees
• exploring a digital system for near real-time monitoring data submission to the EPA, with rollout planned through to 2028
• exploring a new public-facing platform (in development) to improve community access to monitoring information in near real-time.

What this means for licensees

The reforms will be rolled out gradually and include:

• changes to licence conditions from early 2026 that will replace the requirement to submit an Annual Return with near real-time reporting of non-compliances
• retaining a simplified Annual Return process for load-based licence holders
• future upgrades to streamline monitoring data submission, eventually reducing the need for separate, one-off reporting
• ongoing guidance and support for licensees throughout the rollout.

The changes are being designed to improve the experience for our licensees by making licensing clearer and more user-friendly.

Learn more about specific changes on our Licensing reforms: information for environment protection licence holders page.

The current EPA Public Register remains available.

Next steps

Feedback from licensees and industry stakeholders is being carefully considered. The EPA plans to confirm the start date for the new non-compliance reporting requirements in the first half of 2026. Until then, licensees should continue to follow existing reporting requirements as set out in their licence.