Energy and Resources Legislation Amendment Bill 2008
Introduction Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
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BILL LA INTRODUCTION 15/4/2008
General
The Bill amends the Electricity Industry Act 2000, the Electricity Safety Act 1998, the Electricity Safety Amendment Act 2007, the Geothermal Energy Resources Act 2005, the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990, the Petroleum Act 1998 and the Pipelines Act 2005.
Clause Notes
PART 1—PRELIMINARY
Clause 1sets out the main purposes of the Bill.
Clause 2is the commencement provision. The Bill (other than section 8 which will be proclaimed to coincide with the commencement ofPart 2 of the Electricity Safety Amendment Act 2007), will come into operation on the day after the day it receives the Royal Assent. Ifsection 8 does not come into operation before 1January 2010, it comes into operation on that day.
PART 2—AMENDMENT OF ELECTRICITY
SAFETY ACT 1998
Clause 3amends section 31 of the Electricity Safety Act 1998 to provide that the registration period of electrical contractors continues for periods of up to five years.
Clause 4repeals sections 34(2)(a) and 41(2)(a) of the Electricity Safety Act 1998 as they are redundant provisions. Sections 34 and 41 set out the range of disciplinary measures that Electricity Safe Victoria (ESV) may take against aregistered electrical contractor or licensed electrical worker. Sections 34(2)(a) and 41(2)(a) allow ESV to impose fines, however, ESV has not used these powersand does not intended to do so in the future. Theremaining disciplinary powers that ESV will retain under sections 34 and 41 are adequate. Thesepowers include the ability to suspend or cancel registration or a licence.
Clause 5amends section 45(4) of the Electricity Safety Act 1998 to increase the penalty for licensed electrical inspectors who fail to record defects in electrical work when issuing a certificate of inspection.
Clause 6substitutes section 93 of, and inserts new section 93A into, the Electricity Safety Act 1998 to make it clear that the owner of a cathodic protection system must not operate the system unless it is registered by Energy Safe Victoria and must ensure that the system is operated in accordance with the Act and relevant conditions of registration. The defence of reasonable belief applies under certain circumstances.
Clause 7substitutes the definition of prescribed offence in section 140A ofthe Electricity Safety Act 1998 to mean an offence against various sections of the Act for which an infringement notice can be served. These offences are currently prescribed in regulations.
Clause 8substitutes the definition of prescribed offence for the commencement of section 140A of the Electricity Safety Amendment Act 2007 to mean an offence against various sections of the Act. This amendment is necessary as a consequence of changes to section numbering that will occur after Part 2 of the Electricity Safety Amendment Act 2007 commences operation.
PART 3—AMENDMENT TO GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RESOURCES ACT 2005
Clause 9amends section 23 of the Geothermal Energy Resources Act 2005 to make it clear that where a tender application has not resulted in exploration permits being issued, it is open to the Government to invite another tender application for the remaining land at any time. Clause 9 also makes other amendments to make clear that the Minister may specify new chief factors that will be taken into consideration in assessing further applications and places an obligation on the Minister to state whether he or she will consider those chief factors in her or his decision making process.
Clause 10inserts new section 23A into the Geothermal Energy Resources Act 2005 to enable the Government to assign an order of priority, based on a merit assessment, to geothermal exploration permit applications received in response to an invitation from the Minister under section 23 in respect of the same land on the same day.
Clause 11amends section 34 of the Geothermal Energy Resources Act 2005to make it clear that an application for a retention lease must be made at least 90 days before the applicant's permit is due to expire, failing which the Minister may consider such applications on payment of a late fee set by regulations.
PART 4—AMENDMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES (SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT) ACT 1990
Clause 12substitutes reference to subsection (4) in section 41(6) of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 with a reference to subsection (3).
Clause 13substitutes a reference to"Fire Protection Regulation 1992" in section 43B(2) of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990with a reference to the"Forests (Fire Protection) Regulations 2004".
Clause 14amends section 59 of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 to clarify that a tourist fossicking authority (TFA) may be granted to both an individual and a company.
Clause 15increases the penalty from 10 penalty units to 50 penalty units for a breach of section 62(3) of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990. Section 62(3) outlines the obligations of a TFA holder.
Clause 16repeals sections 108 and 124(1)(e) of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 as they are redundant. Section 108 provides for proof of prior convictions in relation to infringement offences and is being repealed as a consequence of the Infringements Act 2006. Section 124(1)(e) is a specific regulation making power for the purposes of section 22 of the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 which has been repealed.
PART 5—AMENDMENT OF PIPELINES ACT 2005
Clause 17amends section 14 and section 15 of the Pipelines Act 2005to increase the penalties for breaches of the offences in those sections from 120 penalty units for a natural person and 600penalty units for a body corporate to 240 penalty units for anatural person and 1200 penalty units for a body corporate. The offences relate to the construction and operation of a pipeline without a licence to construct and operate the pipeline.
Clause 18inserts new section 95(1A) into the Pipelines Act 2005 to provide that when making a decision for access to land for pipeline, the Minister may consider whether the proponent or licensee has satisfied the requirement set out in an approved consultation plan.
PART 6—AMENDMENT OF OTHER ACTS
Clause 19substitutes in section 16(2) of the Electricity Industry Act 2000(which does not prohibit the transmission, distribution or supply of electricity by and for the use of the Public Transport Corporation) the words "the Public Transport Corporation established under the Transport Act 1983"for "a passenger transport company within the meaning of the Transport Act 1983".
Clause 20amends section 7 of the Electricity Safety Amendment Act 2007to substitute in proposed section 117(3) of the Electricity Safety Act 1998 the words "the network operator referred to in section 116" for "the person". This provision will ensure that if ESV accepts an electricity safety management scheme, ESV may exempt a person from compliance with any of the regulations relating to the installation and operation of electrical installations or supply networks.
Clause 20 also amends proposed new section 120H(4) of the Electricity Safety Act 1998(being inserted by section 7 of the Electricity Safety Amendment Act 2007) which ensures that anaccepted ESMS operator must comply with a requirement of ESV. The amendment to section 120H(4) increases the penalty provision from 50 penalty units to 200 penalty units.
Clause 21amends section 38 of the Petroleum Act 1998to provide that the holder of an exploration permit must make an application for a retention lease at least 90 days before the applicant's exploration permit is due to expire. The Minister may on the payment of any late fee consider a late application for a retention lease.
PART 7—REPEAL OF AMENDING ACT
Clause 22provides for the automatic repeal of this amending Act on 1January 2011. The repeal of this Act does not affect in any waythe operation of the amendments made by this Act (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).
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