Hazardous materials storage and transport: strategies for local government in Melbourne's western region.

This study is one element of a Regional Action Program administered by the Western Region Commission (a coalition of the nine local Councils of the Western Region). The Regional Action Program has supported a number of initiatives related to urban development and environmental management. They provide the context for this study and include : 1) the Industrial Land Planning project which is continuing to examine key industrial locations in the Region and develop policy and statutory planning controls to address existing problems; 2) investigations by the EPA of air, noise and water quality at various locations within the Region; and 3) a major risk assessment study of the Altona Petrochemical Complex and Environs. The major impetus for the development of this study was provided by the perception of local government and the regional community of the seriousness of a number of hazardous materials incidents that had occurred in or near the Region in the past decade