A Compliance Investigation (CI) is opened by the EPA when further information and/or action is required in relation to a compliance issue at a licensed site. Under the CI, we can direct the licensee to provide additional information about the issue and to take specified corrective and preventative actions to restore compliance with the licence.
When opening a CI, the EPA inspector assigns a risk rating (Low, Medium or High) depending on the risk to the environment posed by the compliance issue. We consider the degree of risk when setting out timescales for the licensee to implement corrective actions.
The CI remains open until the licensee provides us with clear evidence demonstrating that they have completed the required improvements and achieved compliance.
The EPA maintains oversight of the licensee’s progress in resolving each CI. Unsatisfactory progress in resolving the issue may itself result in the escalation of enforcement action by the Agency.
Details of compliance investigations are available on LEAP Online (public access to compliance and enforcement records).
Compliance Investigations are used as an indicator in the National Priority Sites scoring system. The system allocates increasing scores for higher risk rating (Low to High).
A licenced site with an open CI is at risk of being included on our list of National Priority Sites.
See further details of the NPS scoring system.
