Environmental enforcement |
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The Department of Environment and Conservation is responsible for administering the legislation concerning environmental regulation in Western Australia. The legislation includes the following acts:
In January 2001, after extensive consultation, the Department (then the Department of Environmental Protection) adopted the Enforcement and Prosecution Guidelines to help in enforcement of environmental conditions. In August 2002, the Minister for the Environment commissioned a review of the Guidelines to assess whether the Department's enforcement performance was adequate. The Robinson review, released in February 2003, resulted in 33 recommendations for improvements related to the Department's enforcement and prosecution functions. The Department's Environmental Enforcement Unit was established in July 2003 as the key vehicle for driving the recommended reforms and creating a new enforcement focus for the Department. This unit provides specialist support, management and enforcement quality control in respect to environmental enforcement, including all investigations, prosecution actions, and licensing activities.
Environmental Enforcement Unit Mission
Statement
The Policy was drafted as a tool to help the department fulfill its role in protecting and conserving the State's environment and to provide an understanding of how the department approaches enforcement of the legislation it is responsible for administering.
Enforcement and compliance statistics Information on environmental prosecutions is published in DEC's annual report. Additional enforcement and compliance statistics will be made available on this page in the near future. Until such time as it is ready, you can email the Environmental Enforcement Unit directly for the information. |
DEC Enforcement and Prosecution Policy (
