The department is responsible for the administration of the airport environmental regulatory regime at 20 leased federal airports around Australia. These airports are managed under a comprehensive environmental regulation framework established by the Airports Act 1996 and the Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 2026. This regulatory framework applies to the management of all on-ground environmental issues, including air, soil, water, noise and chemical pollution on-airport as well as biodiversity and heritage matters.
As leased federal airports are located on Commonwealth land, state and territory laws do not apply where matters are regulated under Commonwealth environmental legislation.
Examples of other Commonwealth legislation that may apply to the environmental management of airports includes:
- Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999
- National Environment Protection Council Act 1994
- Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Act 2021.
Additionally, the department works collaboratively with all federally leased airports to ensure the adoption of relevant national guidelines and standards, including:
- National Environment Protection Measures (NEPM)
- Australian and New Zealand Guidelines for Fresh and Marine Water Quality
- Industrial Chemicals Environmental Management (Register) Instrument 2022
- National Water Quality Management Strategy
- Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Management Plan
- PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP)
Further information on per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is available at: www.pfas.gov.au - Relevant Australian and International Standards (e.g. ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems).
- The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.
Transitional Arrangement for Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 2026
The Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations were originally made in 1997. They were repealed and replaced by the Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 2026 (the Regulations) which commenced on 1 April 2026.
To give airports and their tenants time to adjust, the Regulations include a 12‑month transitional period ending immediately before 1 April 2027. During this time, the Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 1997 (1997 Regulations) continue to apply as if they had not been repealed.
The Regulations also include saving provisions to ensure that existing decisions and enforcement actions made under the 1997 Regulations remain valid after the new Regulations take effect. This avoids disruption and allows approvals, authorisations, local standards, orders, infringement notices, approved remedial action plans and any other regulatory actions or decisions to continue without needing to be reissued.
Our Governance Framework
Our Governance framework sets out how we make decisions, apply regulatory requirements and hold ourselves accountable, supporting consistent, transparent and proportionate environmental regulation of leased federal airports.
To support this, the department has developed a suite of governance documents and policies aligned with the Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 2026. These documents articulate our regulatory approach, decision‑making principles and expectations for compliance.
Together, they provide transparency in our regulatory decision-making, support consistent and fair application of regulatory action across airport operators informing them and other stakeholders of their environmental responsibilities.
Our Regulators: Airport Environment Officers
The department appoints Airport Environment Officers (AEOs) responsible for the day to day regulation of environmental management at leased federal airports. This includes overseeing each airport's compliance with its environmental obligations.
AEOs are authorised to determine whether airports and their tenants have complied with relevant environmental legislation and standards, and to take regulatory action if they reasonably believe a breach has occurred.
The Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 2026 (the Regulations) set the roles, responsibilities, and decision-making powers of AEOs.
AEOs work collaboratively with airports and their tenants to build shared understanding of how the Regulations can support outcomes-focussed, evidence-based and risk-based approaches to environmental regulation. A key component of this is early identification, assessment and management of risk.
AEOs assess risk against environmental objectives and agreed criteria enabling activity and effort toward higher-risk and higher-consequence environmental matters.
AEOs are assigned to each leased federal airport. For enquiries relating to Environmental Regulation at leased federal airports, please see:
How airports manage environmental issues
Airport Lessee Companies are required to develop and implement an Airport Environment Strategy (AES) as part of their Master Plan under the Airports Act 1996.
The AES sets out how environmental impacts at the airport will be managed, including:
- environmental objectives, targets and actions for managing impacts of airport operations
- identification and protection of areas of environmental, heritage and Indigenous significance
- environmental standards, requirements and expectations for airport tenants, including compliance and audit arrangements
- planned environmental monitoring, studies and reviews, including timeframes
- measures to prevent, control or mitigate environmental impacts, including progressive improvement of existing pollution
- management of non‑aviation land within the airport site
- environmental training and capability requirements for airport staff and major employers
Together, these elements provide a structured framework for managing environmental risks and improving environmental outcomes at leased federal airports.
Compliance monitoring and regulatory responses
The department takes a cooperative and educative approach to environmental regulation. AEOs assess compliance by airports and their tenants against the Regulations, considering factors such as the risk of environmental harm and the seriousness of the potential breach.
AEO responses ranges from helping entities comply through guidance and support, to taking proportionate enforcement action where there are suspected or actual breaches.
If an AEO decides a breach of the Regulations has occurred, they may issue an Environmental Remedial Order, Environmental Protection Order, or Notice to:
- provide more information
- prevent or reduce pollution
- protect environmental or heritage values, such as sites, habitats, and species
- prevent or reduce offensive noise.
Airports and their tenants may also apply for authorisations, local standards and permits. These provide flexibility in managing site-specific environmental conditions while still complying with the Regulations.
A list of our compliance activities, authorisations and other regulatory responses are available at the link below.
Changes to the Regulations
The Airports (Environment Protection) Regulations 2026 have been updated to address a variety of minor and technical issues to streamline processes and clarify regulatory obligations.
This includes authorising the Minister to replace the existing Schedules of the Regulations with a Ministerial Instrument. This change will provide greater flexibility to update the regulatory framework over time, including to incorporate additional environmental pollutants and ensure investigation levels remain aligned with current national environmental standards and guidance.
The Ministerial Instrument will contain equivalent content to that currently set out in the Schedules. The updates are expected to be in place April 2027, following full consultation with stakeholders.
Frequently asked questions
For further information on how environmental management of airports is regulated and the role of the AEO, please see our FAQs webpage: