City of Ipswich Council Mayor, Teresa Harding, has urged the Queensland Government to act swiftly on the recommendations of an independent review into the Government’s environmental regulator.
The review, which was ordered after floods in Ipswich last year exacerbated odour issues coming from waste facilities, made 18 recommendations for changes to the Environmental Protection Act 1994.
The review recommendations include:
- Greater emphasis should be placed on the concepts of human health, wellbeing, and safety, which will protect the community;
- Amendments to the definitions of environmental nuisance, and material and serious environmental harm to make it clear that certain emissions, such as odour, may also be considered material or serious environmental harm;
- Creating a new offence of contravening the existing general environmental duty;
- This will place an emphasis on prevention by operators rather than reactively waiting for harm to occur to the environment;
- Improved community safeguards while environmental harm is addressed;
- Ensuring environmental authority (EA) conditions remain fit for purpose, and to ensure they remain in force if an EA is cancelled or suspended.
“Since July 2019, there have been almost 21,000 complaints from our community. The most frequently complained about issue is odour,” Mayor Harding said.
“This situation escalated following the 2022 floods when a significant body of water collected in a waste cell at Cleanaway, New Chum, resulting in an intense odour blanketing several Ipswich suburbs.
“At the time, I successfully moved a Mayoral Minute calling for Queensland Health to launch a Public Health Enquiry into the odour event. While this was initially rejected by the State, I am reassured to see the health and human impacts of waste odours at the forefront of the review’s recommendations.”
She said Ipswich City Council and the community had long pushed for greater oversight and action around the impacts of private waste operators on residents and the environment.
“It is good to finally see recommendations from this important review finally coming forward.”
“Council is now considering the impacts of the 18 recommendations, which have all been accepted by the State Government for implementation.
“What we would like to see now is this resulting in stronger and swifter regulatory action from the State in the future,” said Mayor Harding.
The review concluded that the legislation generally has an adequate range of powers and penalties to enforce environmental obligations and reduce the risk of environmental harm, however powers could be improved for some issues.
The State Government is progressing some of these proposed recommendations while others will undergo stakeholder consultation, regulatory impact assessment and the development of detailed proposals.
Council Growth, Infrastructure and Waste Deputy Chairperson, Councillor Paul Tully said the recommendations couldn’t come fast enough for Ipswich residents still enduring the smell and impact from waste operations in the region.
“It’s important these recommendations are enacted promptly,” Cr Tully said.
“Council will continue to lobby for tough action to protect residents from harm from these noxious odours and will closely follow the implementation of this review.”
Queensland Minister for the Environment, Leeane Linard said the Ipswich community had been very clear: after last year’s floods, they want to see companies clean up their act.
“Every level of government has an important role to play in protecting our environment, and the Palaszczuk Government is committed to strengthening the regulator’s efforts,” she said.
“This comprehensive review by Mr Jones and Ms Hedge will help ensure state environmental odour laws are modernised and fit for purpose to meet the needs of the community.
“We will now make the necessary changes to ensure that it can take timely and effective action where the community is negatively impacted by operations.
“I am confident these recommendations will give the environmental regulator the ability to take stronger and more effective action against individuals and companies who put Queensland’s environment at risk,” the Minister said.
