Our role and responsibilities
The National EPA administers Commonwealth environment laws that previously sat with the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW).
The National EPA is responsible for:
- education, compliance, and enforcement of national environmental laws
- issuing permits and licences
- assessing and approving projects and setting approval conditions.
The National EPA has not changed the scope of what is regulated by the Commonwealth. The Minister for the Environment retains responsibility for setting environmental policy and national environmental law. We develop our own operational policies, but don’t have broader environmental policy functions.
Legislation we administer
We administer functions under a number of laws, including:
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
- Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981
- Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989
- Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Import Levy) Act 1995
- Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989
- Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas (Manufacture Levy) Act 1995
- Product Emissions Standards Act 2017
- Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020
- Underwater Cultural Heritage Act 2018.
The role of state and territory environmental regulators
The National EPA does not take over the role or replace state and territory environmental regulators.
Under Australia's environmental framework, the Australian, state and territory governments all have a role in protecting the environment.
Your project or activity may have obligations under both Commonwealth and state or territory laws. As a result, you may need to work with us as well as the relevant state or territory regulator. Check your requirements early to ensure you obtain the correct approvals, permits or licences.
Some environmental matters involve shared interests. We work with state and territory regulators to coordinate decision-making. This will lead to better environmental outcomes.
In some cases, written agreements are in place between governments. This helps to:
- reduce duplication
- strengthen cooperation
- streamline processes.
Find out more about existing bilateral agreements for environmental assessments.
We work with other regulators including through the Heads of EPA (HEPA). This is an alliance of heads of environment protection regulators from Australia and New Zealand. It supports:
- collaboration
- knowledge sharing
- regulatory best practice.