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You can use Environment Online to pay application fees and other regulatory fees that apply to submissions made through the system. This includes fees for Industry Regulation and EPA related applications where payment is enabled online. Some fees may be calculated automatically during submission, while others may be issued after your application has been validated.

Part IV Environmental Impact Assessments

The Environmental Protection (Cost Recovery) Regulations 2021 introduced fees and charges to recover costs for proposals referred to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) under Part IV Divisions 1 and 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act). These fees are paid at referral and throughout the different stages of the assessment process. 

For further information refer to the Cost recovery: Part IV Environmental Protection Act 1986 webpage.
 

Part V Industry Regulation
Fees associated with application and approval processes when regulating prescribed premises under Part V Division 3 of the  EP Act are set out in the Environmental Protection Regulations 1987.

For further information refer to the Industry Regulation licensing fees webpage.
 

To submit an application and pay fees, your organisation must be correctly set up in Environment Online. This includes providing an Australian Business Number (ABN) or Australian Company Number (ACN) and invoice details.

Provide your ABN or ACN

• An ABN or ACN is required for the party submitting the application.
• For companies and body corporates:
  • the full legal entity name must be entered, and
  • the ACN must be provided
• ABNs will be automatically validated with the Australian Business Register.
• Invoices are issued to the validated party linked to the ABN or ACN.

Set up invoice address and invoice email

• At least one invoice address and invoice email must be recorded before you submit an application.
• These details are managed under My Entity in Environment Online.

Confirm who can manage invoice details

• Only an entity’s Service Administrator in Environment Online can add, update or remove invoice addresses under My Entity.
• If you do not have the required permissions, contact your entity’s Service Administrator to make the updates.

In Environment Online, invoice address refers to where invoices are sent for payment. To manage invoice addresses, you must be a Service Administrator in Environment Online. If you are a Service User and need an additional address added, contact your Service Administrator. If you are a Service Administrator and need help managing invoice addresses, refer to How to review or update your invoice email address.

If a Purchase Order reference is required on your invoice, it must be added during the application process, prior to submission. In the Contact details step of your application, a Payment details section will be available where you can add the Purchase Order number if a fee applies.

Part IV Environmental Impact Assessments

If a fee is payable at submission, you will be directed to an Estimated Fees screen to make the payment when submitting the application. If an application requires validation before a fee is issued, the fee will appear on your My Environment dashboard after the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (Department) has validated your application.

Part V Industry Regulation

If an application requires validation before a fee is issued, the fee will appear on your My Environment dashboard after the Department has validated your application.

A tax invoice is sent to the nominated invoice email address used on your application. If you cannot locate the tax invoice, submit an enquiry using the Submit an enquiry button at the bottom of the Invoice Overview screen.

If an outstanding fee exists for an application, payment can be made through the relevant payment tasks in the Tasks section of your My Environment dashboard. You can also select the Fees tab on the My Environment dashboard to view all fees and choose the fee you want to pay. Instructions on making payment are provided on the Estimated Fees or Invoice Summary screen.

Payments can be made using electronic funds transfer (EFT) or BPOINT (up to $100,000 per transaction).

Select the relevant application to open the Application summary screen, then select the Fees tab to view all fees linked to that application.

From the My Environment dashboard, select the Fees tab to view all fees associated with your account.

A copy of the invoice is issued from the Department’s finance system to the invoice email address nominated on the application.

Payment has been initiated but not yet received by the Department. Status will change to Paid once processed.

From the Invoice Overview screen, select Submit an enquiry to raise a question related to the invoice.

Review the invoice addresses available for your entity and ask your Service Administrator make any necessary updates before submitting your application.

The Department’s finance system allows one invoice email address per application. The invoice is sent automatically to the nominated invoice email address. Before submitting your application, check that the invoice email address is correct. Where possible, consider using a generic email address (for example, accounts@company.com).

Appeals can be lodged against decisions of the EPA to not assess a referred proposal, or against the content or recommendations in EPA reports on proposals and planning schemes.  

Any person can appeal against an EPA report or decision not to assess a proposal.

Only the proponent can appeal the implementation conditions issued under section 45(8) of the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (the EP Act), the content of an order issued under section 48(7)(b) of the EP Act, or the steps required under section 48(7) (c) or (d) of the EP Act.
 

Appeals against decisions or recommendations of the EPA should be lodged with the Minister for Environment through the Office of the Appeals Convenor.
Appeals on EPA reports and decisions not to assess must be received within 21 days of being published.

Proponent appeals under section 45(8) or section 48(7)(b), (c), or (d) of the EP Act must be received within 14 days of the date of issue of the conditions or order, or the date the last of the required steps is taken. 

For further information about the appeals process and procedures, please visit the Appeals Convenor’s website.