EPA Victoria deploys drone volumetric algorithms, AI sensors, and agricultural PFAS research

EPA Victoria Unveils Advanced Compliance and Monitoring Technologies

EPA Victoria has released details of a series of technical advancements developed by its environmental science division, marking National Science Week 2026 with a showcase of applied research now embedded in its compliance and monitoring operations. Published on 17 August 2026 and led by Chief Environmental Scientist Dr Jen Martin, the announcement covers drone-based volumetric measurement, autonomous sensor networks, agricultural PFAS research, and emergency biosecurity protocols. For an Australian environmental consulting sector accustomed to periodic guideline updates, this is something different: a regulator publicly demonstrating the analytical tools it now uses to test compliance data against.

The significance for Australian environmental professionals lies not in any single tool but in the direction of travel. EPA Victoria’s environmental science team has formalised methods, most notably a custom drone photogrammetry algorithm built with Macquarie University, that convert stockpile geometry into precise volumetric figures. When a state regulator has algorithmic capability to independently verify stockpile volumes, waste tonnages, and contaminant behaviour, the informal estimation practices that have long been tolerated in site reporting become a liability rather than a convenience.

Developers, landowners, legal advisers, and councils dealing with contaminated or waste-affected sites in Victoria, and by extension across other states watching EPA Victoria’s lead, should treat this as an early signal of where technical scrutiny is heading. The gap between what a regulator can measure and what a duty holder reports is closing fast.

Drone Photogrammetry and Autonomous Sensors in Practice

The centrepiece of the announcement is a world-first collaboration between EPA Victoria and Macquarie University to develop a custom drone photogrammetry algorithm for measuring complex waste stockpiles, with end-of-life tyre stockpiles cited as the primary use case. Tyre stockpiles present an unusually difficult volumetric problem because of irregular surface geometry, voids between tyres, and compaction variability, all of which make traditional survey or visual estimation methods unreliable. The new methodology is designed to produce accurate volume figures directly from drone-captured spatial data, removing much of the estimation error inherent in manual reporting.

Alongside the drone algorithm, EPA Victoria is expanding real-time autonomous sensor networks and machine learning analytics to track environmental pollutants, model contaminant transport pathways, and detect non-compliance as it occurs rather than after the fact. This shifts monitoring from periodic, point-in-time sampling towards continuous, algorithmically interpreted data streams, a capability that changes what counts as adequate evidence in a compliance response or licence variation application.

On the research side, EPA Victoria scientists are collaborating with counterparts in the United States and Europe on agricultural PFAS management strategies, specifically the uptake pathways of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances into agricultural soils and food supply chains. This work sits alongside existing national guidance under the PFAS National Environmental Management Plan and reflects a growing international consensus that agricultural land use, biosolids application, and irrigation water quality are material PFAS exposure pathways that conventional site assessment has historically under-examined.

The fourth strand covers emergency and public health protocols, including procedures for large-scale animal waste disposal developed in response to H5N1 avian influenza risk, and integrated methodologies that combine spatial data, epidemiology, and environmental monitoring for community health risk assessment. These sit under the broader General Environmental Duty framework in section 25 of the Environment Protection Act 2017 (Vic), which requires duty holders to minimise risks of harm to human health and the environment from pollution and waste, supported by the Environment Protection Regulations 2021 (Vic).

Implications for Victorian Duty Holders and Site Assessment Standards

For Victorian duty holders, the General Environmental Duty under section 25 of the Environment Protection Act 2017 already requires that reasonably practicable steps be taken to minimise environmental and health risks associated with stockpiled waste, including fire risk, dust, and leachate. EPA Victoria’s drone volumetric methodology gives the regulator an independent, defensible way to test whether reported stockpile volumes and waste mass balances under the Environment Protection Regulations 2021 actually reflect what is on the ground. Duty holders who have relied on rough visual estimates or outdated survey data for stockpile reporting no longer have the benefit of the doubt that comes with measurement uncertainty on the regulator’s side.

The agricultural PFAS research has direct relevance to how environmental site assessments are scoped under the National Environment Protection (Assessment of Site Contamination) Measure 2013. NEPM 2013 already provides the framework and health investigation levels used in Phase 1 and Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessments across all Australian jurisdictions, but the practical challenge has always been knowing where to target PFAS sampling on rural and peri-urban land. International research into soil-to-plant and soil-to-water PFAS uptake gives Australian practitioners a stronger evidence base for identifying which land use histories, particularly biosolids application, firefighting foam use, and irrigation with recycled water, warrant targeted PFAS investigation rather than generic scoping.

While this announcement is Victoria-specific, EPA Victoria’s environmental science division has historically influenced practice in other states, and the drone volumetric methodology in particular addresses a technical gap that exists in waste stockpile compliance nationally.

References and related sources

• Primary source: www.epa.vic.gov.au
• heliaehs.au
• sers.net.au
• https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/about-us/news-media-and-updates/media-releases-and-ne
• PFAS National Environmental Management Plan (NEMP)
• NEPM Assessment of Site Contamination
• EPA Victoria

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This is an iEnvi Machete news summary. Prepared by iEnvi to summarise the source article for contaminated land, groundwater, remediation, approvals and site risk professionals.

Published: 18 Aug 2026

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