On 19 June 2007 the former Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks announced the Victorian government's plan to construct a 150GL sea water desalination facility on the coast near Wonthaggi.

Many groups objected to this plan. The information below describes some of the legal avenues they took to seek to redress their concerns.

The information below aims to provide a starting point to understanding the legal environmental issues involved in this issue. To learn about the political and social context of this issue you can see the websites of;

• Watershed Victoria
• Victorian Government - Our Water Our Future (Desalination),
• Friends of the Earth - Deslaination, and
• Melbourne Water, and
• Clean Ocean Foundation
• Victorian Government - Environment Protection Authority

Areas of environmental law and policy which may be relevant to this area:

Pollution control in Victoria

• State Environment Protection Policies (SEPPs)

• National Environment Protection Measures

• Environment Improvement Plans

• Licensing and works approval

• Offences, penalties and enforcement

• Integration of State Environment Protection Policies ("SEPPs") and the Planning and Environment Act

Commonwealth environmental impact assessment

• Matters of National Environmental Significance

• Likely to have a significant impact on a matter of National Environmental Significance

• Referring actions to the Commonwealth Minister

• Minister’s decision as to whether approval and assessment is required under the EPBC Act

• Minister’s approval under the EPBC Act

• Example EPBC Act fines, injunctions, compliance and enforcement

• Commonwealth environmental impact assessment

• Assessment of environmental impacts in Victoria – the Environment Effects Act 1978 (Vic)

• Opening Comments the the Planning Panel conducting the EES into the construction of the desalination plant.

• Coastal Management Act 1995 (Vic)

• Environment Protection Act 1970 (Vic)

• Constitutional Powers (Coastal Waters) Act 1980 (Vic)

• Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 (Cth)

• Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth)

• Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 (Cth)

• Hazardous Waste (Regulation of Exports and Imports) Act 1989 (Cth)

• National Environmental Protection Council Act 1994 (Cth)

• National Environment Protection Council (Victoria) Act 1995 (Vic)

• National Environment Protection Measures (Implementation) Act 1998 (Cth)

• Offshore Minerals Act 1994 (Cth)

• Protection of the Sea (Civil Liability) Act 1981 (Cth)

• Pollution of Waters by Oil and Noxious Substances Act 1986 (Vic)

• Parks Victoria Act 1998 (Vic)

• Seas and Submerged Lands Act 1973 (Cth)

• Submarine Cables and Pipelines Protection Act 1963 (Cth)

• Sea Installations Act 1987 (Cth)

• Underseas Mineral Resources Act 1963 (Vic)

• Watershed Victoria

• Victorian Government - Our Water Our Future (Desalination),

• Friends of the Earth - Deslaination, and

• Melbourne Water, and

* Clean Ocean Foundation

• Victorian Government - Environment Protection Authority

• World Wildlife Fund - Ocean Pollution

• WHOI Oceanographic Institution

• Australian Government - Coastal and Maritime Pollution

• Australian Government - Marine Pollution Control

• Australian Government - Australian Antarctic Division: Marine Pollution

• Clean Ocean Foundation