a. The EPA’s performance and success

Regulatory review

Establish an approach to formally review and compare initiatives, systems and approaches taken by environmental regulators in other jurisdictions that could improve the EPA’s regulatory performance.

Striving to become a world class regulator

• The EPA has consulted broadly across its environmental and regulatory networks, other EPAs (including Victoria, South Australia and the USA) and other national and international organisations, to continually improve its services, boost its regulatory effectiveness and be consistent.
• The Audit and Risk Committee Charter and the EPA Internal Audit Charter are reviewed annually. Audit and assurance recommendations are recorded and shared with internal stakeholders. Implementing the recommendations is monitored and reported quarterly.
• The EPA Strategic Plan 2021–24 has the EPA setting new metrics in its first year towards measuring the achievement of environmental outcomes for NSW. The plan will be further supported by the EPA’s Regulatory Strategy. The EPA will also explore how feasible it is to set common benchmarks for environmental regulation in Australia or globally.
• The EPA reports its performance quarterly under the NSW Treasury and government reporting frameworks.

Data and strategy

Continue to improve the application and use of data collected by the EPA for trend analysis, development of priorities and risk-based compliance campaigns by progressing its Regulatory Strategy and Digital Transformation Strategy.

Learning mindset

The EPA’s Digital Transformation Strategy 2021–24, data strategy, draft approaches to science and science partnership services promote adoption of intelligent, efficient and effective digital tools.

In 2020–21 the way data is applied and used were improved by:

• using the EPA’s new Environment Protection Incident and Cases (EPIC) management system, which allows the EPA to track investigations and inspections from beginning to end
• undertaking intelligence work to understand emerging issues, trends, risks and opportunities. This information aids policy development, improves compliance approaches to regulatory challenges and supports environmental crime investigations.

Regulatory action

Take regulatory action (including prosecutions) when appropriate and apply the proposed update to public interest considerations in the EPA Prosecution Guidelines.

Responsive and adaptive

• The EPA continues to take appropriate regulatory action against breaches of the environment protection legislation it administers. This includes commencing prosecutions in court.
• The EPA Prosecution Guidelines were updated in 2020, adding extra factors to determine if a prosecution is required in the public interest. In 2020–21, the EPA commenced more than 100 prosecutions, completing 66 (more detail can be found in the EPA Annual Report 2020–21).

Forestry reset

Support the reset of forestry regulatory practice, including actions to improve regulatory consistency and coherence for stakeholder engagement, and enhance regulatory capacity, oversight, technology use and education.

Outcomes focused

In 2020–21 the EPA created two additional teams to enhance its regulatory capacity across regional NSW, with increased focus on native forestry compliance, noting that non-compliance with native forestry regulations was a persistent issue that placed considerable demand on the EPA’s resources.

• The EPA has created an automated risk-assessment tool for Crown native forestry areas to ensure high-risk operations were swiftly identified and inspected.
• Incorporating the Forestry Operations View into forestry regulatory practice has enabled a better intelligence-based vision.
• Focusing resources has helped the EPA account for native forestry operations against strict licensing approvals. Substantial reforms followed a health-check of native forestry operations and the results include improved governance, risk and stakeholder processes.
• The EPA has developed a forestry stakeholder strategy guide to lead effective communication about forestry operations on public land. Workshops with community stakeholders interested in forestry allowed the EPA to explain its role in forestry regulation, seek views and listen to concerns. The EPA also consulted with stakeholders on improvements to how the EPA receives and shares information about forestry regulation.
• Significant information on the EPA’s regulatory decision-making is now publicly available through its website and other media.

Emergency preparedness

Advise all environment protection licensees to consider the impacts of natural disasters in their pollution incident response management plans.

Purpose and people-centred

The EPA provides critical information and early warnings to prepare for emergencies, including storms and floods.

• During the 2019–20 bushfires, the EPA dispatched alerts to licensees to assist with their preparedness and contacted any who were managing premises in the fire paths, an approach well received by licensees.
• A new alert issued in November 2020 assisted emergency preparedness for the La Niña weather pattern forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology. This included advice from the bureau and the NSW Rural Fire Service about the increased risks of flooding and grassfires associated with a La Niña event. After the La Niña forecast, licensees were alerted to be ready to activate their pollution incident response management plans. The alerts gave specific advice about managing dam capacity and made sure any licensees undertaking high-risk activities had appropriate monitoring and controls to minimise potential impacts.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, an EPA campaign helped licensees and councils manage their operations. This included supporting and communicating with the waste sector and negotiating with government so the waste industry could continue operating essential services.

Industry participation

Encourage industry through targeted awareness and education programs aimed at industry sectors

Service oriented

The EPA consulted extensively with industry stakeholders and increased its engagement with them in response to its Stakeholder Survey findings.

In 2020–21 it took actions that included establishing:

• roadshows with forums for councils and licensees at 12 different locations around the state, with more planned to include community and peak interest bodies
• a local government advisory group and a waste advisory group to inform and consult with councils and the waste sector on key and emerging issues, including the EPA’s regulatory work and support
• education and consultation sessions for industry on key regulatory matters, which involved developing guides to make licensees more aware of their responsibilities in environment protection and what they can expect from the EPA
• a customer service strategy and new compost training resources that continually address technology, regulations and requirements for organics processing
• an online program, Your Business is Food, to help businesses reduce food waste under the Love Food Hate Waste program. Further resources for the aged-care sector will be published online by December 2021.