What legal controls are there on noise pollution?
Pollution in the ACT is regulated by the Environment Protection Act 1997 (ACT) and its accompanying Environment Protection Regulation 2005. These are enforced by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA), a statutory office located within the Department of the Environment, Climate Change, Energy and Water. The Act and regulations are supplemented by Environment Protection Policies. There are three EPPs which deal with noise: • general noise; • motor sport noise; and • outdoor concert noise. The Environment Protection Policies are designed to provide guidance to the EPA in making decisions. The EPA is required to take any relevant EPP into account when making certain decisions relating to environmental authorisations, including a decision to grant an environmental authorisation [s.61(c)]. An environmental authorisation is essentially a permit to allow a person to undertake a certain activity that may have an environmental impact. Certain specified activities (‘Class A’ activities), inc
