The Environment
Protection Act 1993 (the Act) is the primary pollution
control and prevention legislation in South Australia. It promotes
the principles of ecologically sustainable development. The Act
provides for the following standards of care, which apply to industry
and the community, to safeguard the State's air, water, land and
ecosystems:
- the general environmental duty of care
- offences under the Act
- environment protection policies and regulations.
The Act protects water quality by providing for the licensing
of waste discharges that may affect water quality in streams,
rivers, coastal waters or groundwater.
The Act provides the opportunity for some areas of South Australia to be given special protection as Water Protection Areas (716KB PDF).
The legislation also requires that a State
of the Environment Report, including information on the state
of South Australia's water resources, be produced at least every
five years.
