Call EPA 24 hours a day.1300 372 842 (1300 EPA VIC)
Air quality is important to the health and wellbeing of all Victorians. Most air pollution comes from industry, motor vehicles and domestic wood burning.
EPA plays a role in protecting the community from noise pollution.
Human health and wellbeing relies on the quality of our environment every day.
Our reporting system lets you dob in litterers in cars.
Many industrial activities require works approvals and licences from EPA.
EPA helps protect Victorians’ health from potential environmental hazards.
EPA works to protect Victoria from pollution during major infrastructure projects.
EPA periodically reviews environmental policy and regulation.
Guidance for business and industry, including licensing, works approvals and planning.
Information about the fees and charges levied by EPA.
EPA’s organisational strategy sets out five goals and how we'll work with Victorians to achieve them.
EPA welcomes the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into EPA.
EPA works with the community, businesses and other organisations to protect the environment.
EPA recognises staff who are leaders in the areas of air quality, inland water, marine water, waste, landfill, land and groundwater, and odour.
The process to submit complaints about the conduct of an EPA authorised officer.
We need to have:
EPA supports safe driving practices. You should use an appropriate, safe means of recording these details. These details enable us to cross-check the registered details on the VicRoads database to avoid mistakes.
We also need to know where and when you saw the vehicle:
We may not be able to process your report without all this information.
The Portal provides dropdown lists where you can select the relevant item.
If you don't have information such as vehicle make or vehicle body type, select ‘Unlisted’ from the list and enter any information in the ‘Vehicle model’ field that may help us identify the vehicle, such as any signage identifying the owner.
Be sure to keep your notes even after completing the online form, in case we need to contact you to clarify the information.
Yes, we require your name and contact details in case a query arises. This information is not released to anyone.
If the vehicle description registered with VicRoads doesn’t match the reported description, no further action will be taken. If the details match, we’ll send a letter to the owner advising them their vehicle has been reported as emitting smoke and may need repairs.
At this stage, EPA can only process reports for Victorian-registered motor vehicles. This is something we may revisit in the future. We encourage you to continue to report pollution – we couldn’t run the program without your help.
To help us process reports promptly, please submit them within seven days of the offence. In the date and time section, you will only be able to select a date from the last fourteen days. EPA cannot accept reports older than this.
Smoke from heavy vehicles (large trucks and buses over 4.5 tonne) can be reported to VicRoads, by calling 13 11 70 or messaging online: https://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/contact-us/feedback-and-enquiries.
Small trucks and buses less than 4.5 tonne can be reported to EPA. If in doubt, you can contact EPA in the first instance.
The legislation defines a smoky vehicle as one which continuously emits visible smoke for 10 seconds or more.
No. When reporting a smoky vehicle, take care that it’s not just emitting water vapour (steam). For a while after starting the engine, water vapour is emitted from the exhaust pipe, which, when cooled by the surrounding air, can look like smoke. The wispy looking water vapour is very evident when the vehicle is started on cold mornings.
Diesel-engined vehicles are not exempt. The Regulations apply to all cars and motorcycles, and all trucks and buses with a gross vehicle mass of less than 4.5 tonnes. Vehicles can be reported regardless of the engine type or even whether they are going up a hill.
EPA cannot process public reports of noisy vehicles. You can report a noisy vehicle to the highway patrol unit at your local police station. If a police officer assesses the vehicle as being too noisy, the vehicle will be referred to EPA for noise testing.
Get more information about motor vehicle, train and tram noise and motor vehicle noise testers approved by EPA.
EPA has recently upgraded a number of our systems into one centralised Portal. All active litter and smoky reporting accounts have been migrated from the old system into the Portal.
Unfortunately, this means that if you weren’t an active reporter you may need to re-register for a Portal account.
To register for litter and smoky vehicle reporting, click on the Create account link. If we already have a record of your email address, it means you already have an account. You’ll then be able to reset your password.
Please note that there is a limit of 40 characters in the username field for the Portal. Please contact EPA if you have an email address longer than this length.
Your username for the Portal is your email address.
You can reset your password using the Forgotten password? option on the Portal login screen. An email will be sent to you with instructions on what to do next.
Once you’ve logged in to the Portal, you can update your contact details or your password in the ‘Account management’ section.
Page last updated on 11 Dec 2018