Vic mine plan inadquate, enviro group says

A plan to manage the Victorian coal mine which has been burning for over a month suggests the government is not properly regulating the state's coal mines, a peak environment group says.

Environment Defenders Office principal lawyer Felicity Millner says it has asked the state energy and resources department for the works plan for the Hazelwood coal mine, but only one document has been released.

Ms Millner says if this document is the works plan, then regulations on the rehabilitation of the Morwell mine site are weak and vague.

"The work plan they have provided does not ensure adequate fire management," she said.

"If this document is what the government is using to make sure the mine is well run and properly regulated, then in our opinion the government is not adequately regulating the mine."

Environment Victoria says the work plan shows fire prevention measures appear to be an afterthought.

The Victorian government this week announced an independent inquiry into the fire, headed by former Supreme Court Justice Bernard Teague, who led the Royal Commission into the Black Saturday bushfires.

Premier Denis Napthine says the inquiry will look into all aspects of the fire including how it started and spread to the mine, the emergency response and support provided to affected communities.

The town of Morwell in the Latrobe Valley has been blanketed by thick smoke since a fire began at the nearby Hazelwood open-cut coalmine on February 9.