Environmental regulation
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME
Examples of specialised or joint task forces include: –– An inter-governmental task force in response to the enforcement of the China National Sword Policy, which limits the type of recyclable material China will accept. The taskforce aims to facilitate immediate interventions as well as long-term solutions in response to the changes. The taskforce is led by the New South Wales ( NSW ) Environmental Protection Authority ( EPA ) and includes partnership with NSW Treasury, Fire & Rescue NSW, Roads and Maritime Services ( RMS ), and the Department of Planning and Environment. –– ‘Operation Catapult’ established a task force with the NSW Police, RMS, and EPA in which 49 heavy vehicles working on the WestConnex project were inspected. The EPA inspected for environmental issues like contamination of soil, and RMS and NSW Police inspected for overweight loads, suspended licences, non- compliance vehicles, and driving under the influence. –– ‘Operation Dust Patrol’ is a NSW EPA task force to monitor compliance with controls on dust from coal mines in the Hunter Valley.
WHAT ARE THE EMERGING ISSUES?
–– Cooperation between regulators to detect environmental crime –– Use of specialised taskforces –– New duty to report in Victoria
NEW TASKFORCES
Environmental regulators are increasingly working together to widen their scope for the detection of environmental crimes. Specialised taskforces represent a new way for environmental regulators to identify non-compliance, beyond the usual sources of community complaints and self-reports. We have observed that regulators are working together to share information about non-compliance, leading to opportunities for multiple regulators to take action in relation to the same incident or offender.
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