May Policy Update

Cost of compliance project

Since the last update, the majority of data collection templates have been submitted, and a second industry workshop is being held on Monday 2 May 2022, which will discuss the preliminary findings, and work through and resolve any potential variations in the data that has been submitted to ensure consistency in interpretation and results.

Given the complexity of the data requirements, the project is about four weeks behind its original schedule, but will be completed this financial year.

The consultants will be presenting the preliminary findings of the project at the next Managing Directors forum, which is scheduled to be held on 2 June 2022.

Practical guidance documents to support the implementation of EPA revised guideline for water recycling

Since the last update, the workshop on drafting a Health and Environment Management Plan (HEMP) guidance document was held on Wednesday 27 April 2022.  The consultants undertaking the project have commenced the task of preparing a draft guidance document for stakeholder review and feedback.

The workshop on drafting a User Site Management Plan (USMP) guidance document will be held on 18 May 2022.

The workshop on drafting an auditing guidance document will be held on 15 June 2022.

Carbon Offsets project

At their 7 April 2022 forum, the Managing Directors agreed to proceed with the first phase of the carbon offsets project, which will look at the amount of carbon offsets that are required by water corporations to meet the water industry’s mandated carbon reduction targets, and the current state of knowledge about the amount carbon offsets available in Victoria, with the view of discussing potential ways forward for addressing any identified shortfall in available offsets.

The Project Steering Group is next meeting on Thursday 5 May 2022 to discuss the results of the supply and demand assessment, as well as a tour of one of Wannon Water’s current carbon offset projects.

VicWater ‘Puddle’ Model Financial Statements

The 2022 ‘Puddle’ Model Financial Statements were emailed out to water corporation representatives on Tuesday 26 April 2022.

If any water corporation did not receive the model statements, please contact David Sheehan, and he will send them to you.