BRANCH REPORTS

with commentary regarding odour nuisance, environmental nuisance and environmental harm. A public consultation period and regulatory impact statement are expected in the second half of 2023. Further information can be found here: https:// environment.des.qld.gov.au/management/policy-regulation/ independent-review

• A revised Environmental Protection (Air) Policy with revised air quality objectives that better reflect recent NEPM updates is also expected to be released shortly.

Dave.Claughton@wsp.com https://www.casanz.org.au/about/branches/qld/

SOUTH AUSTRALIA/NORTHERN TERRITORY BRANCH

Nothing to report.

Pushan Shah, Branch President

Pushan.Shah@sa.gov.au https://www.casanz.org.au/index.cfm//about/branches/sant/

VICTORIA/TASMANIA BRANCH

Committee and member outreach

The VIC/TAS branch committee is seeking further members (Including EAQPs), so please reach out to the Branch Secretary or CASANZ admin (admin@casanz.org.au) if you are at all interested. Short thirtyminute committee meetings (teleconferences) are held fortnightly for the Branch with the focus to reinvigorate Branch activities and enhance Branch member interactions.

The VIC/TAS branch is currently made up of 120 members and including 12 CAQPs and the Branch committee is made up of the following members.

Branch Committee 2022-2024

Committee President Craig McVie (GHD)

Committee Secretary Sophie Materia (Mott MacDonald)

Committee Treasurer Grant Kassell (Acoem)

Committee TAE Rep Paul Torre (EPA)

Lead: Maheshinderjeet Garg (Melbourne Uni)

Western Australia Branch

The WA Branch Committee was excited to present the first of our technical sessions this month; a site tour of the Avertas Energy Kwinana waste-to-energy facility held on Friday 12 May. The site tour was a fantastic opportunity for attendees to see the Avertas Energy Kwinana waste-to-energy facility up close, as they got to step inside the receivals area and (most impressively) the moving grate combustion chamber. The plant will be the first of its kind in Australia, integrating the recovery and reuse of waste with the generation of energy to provide a practical solution to two community challenges: waste disposal and renewable energy supply. Special attention was given to the air pollution control system, which includes lime injection (for acid gas removal), activated carbon injection (for Hg, other metals and dioxins removal) and a 4-chamber baghouse for particulate removal (which includes the lime and carbon fines). The lime and carbon dosing will be controlled in real-time using emissions concentrations measured in the stack (via a CEMS) and raw gas (upstream of the APCS), with monitoring data are fed to the DCS for immediate adjustment of injection rates as the pollutant levels vary (in line with best available technology (BAT)). Special thanks to Avertas Energy and Ramboll Australia for facilitating the tour, and to tour guide, Yudhi Yulius (Ramboll Mechanical Engineer). Feedback from attendees was of a brilliant tour and most interesting site visit.

The second of our technical sessions for 2023 was held on Tuesday 30 May, with Scott Bainbridge of the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation, delving into the operational challenges of the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI). The original objective of the NPI National Environmental Protection Measure (NEPM) was to address the public right to know about industrial activity in their community. However, as Scott explained, NPI data has been increasingly used more for regulatory processes and policy development than its original objective and while there may be overlapping objectives, they have different data requirements and can lead to misrepresentations of the data in both public and regulatory contexts. The technical limitations of the data the program deals in were discussed in depth and Scott shared his vision of how a future NPI could sustainably meet the modern needs of industry, regulators and the community. Many thanks to Scott his in-depth and thoughtful presentation.

Committee EAQP Rep

Backup: Sophie Materia (Mott MacDonald)

Committee Member Chris Bydder (EPA VIC)

Committee Member John Innis (EPA TAS)

Committee Member Michael Asimakis (GHD)

Events planned for 2023

A number of other activities have been planned for the year including:

• VIC/TAS Branch | Face to face AGM – November 29th 2023. Please join us for our Annual General Meeting. Each year we host a guest speaker and announce the winners of the Werner Strauss - Clean Air Achievement Award and the Student Air and Environment Award.

Also, we are planning to hold several other events in the coming twelve moths including workshops and interesting site visits with details to be provided later.

The VIC/TAS branch is looking for new ideas for EVENTS and wants your input. What events would you like to see run, what industries or disciplines (within the realms of air quality/greenhouse gas/sustainability) should we spend more time on?

Please reach out to the Branch Secretary Sophie Materia Sophie. Materia@mottmac.com or CASANZ admin admin@casanz.org.au

Craig McVie, Branch President Craig.McVie@ghd.com https://www.casanz.org.au/index.cfm//about/branches/victas/

The WA Branch would like to thank the WA EAQPs for hosting a fantastic night of mini-golf and pizza on Thursday 25 May. The event was a great opportunity to get to know both emerging and established AQ professionals in WA. Congratulations goes to Madeleine Behn of Ramboll Australia for her mini-golf skills and taking out the win!

The WA Branch Committee are planning delivery of additional technical sessions later in the year, including a graduate presentation in August 2023 and our AGM in November 2023, details of which will be shared soon. We also encourage members to reach out feedback or ideas for events to assist with planning and to ensure we continue to offer value.

Ruth Peiffer, Branch President ruthpeiffer@gmail.com

https://www.casanz.org.au/index.cfm//about/branches/wa/