Pollution Control
Overview
All Australian States and Territories have legislated to protect the environment from the effects of land, water, air and noise pollution. Environmental agencies are armed with sophisticated enforcement mechanisms, which can require an owner or occupier of property or the operator of industrial plant, to comply with pollution control standards.
The legal and commercial risks associated with contaminated site remediation, criminal prosecution for pollution offences and being required to upgrade plant and equipment to comply with regulatory standards are of ever-increasing significance. This is borne out by recent evidence that environmental authorities in Australia are more willing to prosecute breaches of environmental laws than they were five years ago, and that Australian courts appear more willing than ever to impose higher penalties, including prison sentences, on environmental offenders.
Freehills' team of environmental lawyers are intimately familiar with Australian environmental and pollution control legislation, and are experienced in advising clients on legal risk management strategies, counselling clients who have been served clean-up, remediation or pollution abatement notices, advising and assisting clients who have been directed to attend interviews with environmental agencies, and in defending clients who have been prosecuted for environmental offences.
All Australian States and Territories have legislated to protect the environment from the effects of land, water, air and noise pollution. Environmental agencies are armed with sophisticated enforcement mechanisms, which can require an owner or occupier of property or the operator of industrial plant, to comply with pollution control standards.
The legal and commercial risks associated with contaminated site remediation, criminal prosecution for pollution offences and being required to upgrade plant and equipment to comply with regulatory standards are of ever-increasing significance. This is borne out by recent evidence that environmental authorities in Australia are more willing to prosecute breaches of environmental laws than they were five years ago, and that Australian courts appear more willing than ever to impose higher penalties, including prison sentences, on environmental offenders.
Freehills' team of environmental lawyers are intimately familiar with Australian environmental and pollution control legislation, and are experienced in advising clients on legal risk management strategies, counselling clients who have been served clean-up, remediation or pollution abatement notices, advising and assisting clients who have been directed to attend interviews with environmental agencies, and in defending clients who have been prosecuted for environmental offences.