Crown Minerals (Decommissioning and Other Matters) Amendment Bill - Amendment paper No 086
Crown Minerals (Decommissioning and Other Matters) Amendment Bill - Amendment paper No 086
No 86
House of Representatives
Supplementary Order Paper
Tuesday, 16 November 2021
Crown Minerals (Decommissioning and Other Matters) Amendment Bill
Proposed amendments
Hon Dr Megan Woods, in Committee, to move the following amendments:
Clause 2
In clause 2(2)(c), replace “89ZZU”
(page 7, line 5) with “89ZZV”
.
Clause 16
In clause 16, new section 42B(1)(a), replace “; or”
(page 9, line 25) with “(if any); and”
.
In clause 16, new section 42C(1)(a), replace “; or”
(page 10, line 19) with “(if any); and”
.
In clause 16, new section 42C(1)(b), replace “; or”
(page 10, line 20) with “; and”
.
Clause 17
In clause 17, new section 89I(1)(a)(iii), after “infrastructure”
(page 16, lines 37 and 38), insert “(irrespective of whether any of the preceding paragraphs apply to the class or item of petroleum infrastructure)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89I(1)(b), after “petroleum infrastructure”
(page 16, line 41), insert “(irrespective of whether any of the preceding subparagraphs apply to the class or item of petroleum infrastructure)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89J(a)(iib), replace “trace”
(page 14, line 18) with “occurrence”
.
In clause 17, new section 89J(a)(iii), after “older well”
(page 18, line 22), insert “(irrespective of whether any of the preceding subparagraphs apply to the class of well or individual well)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89J(b), after “older well”
(page 18, line 20), insert “(irrespective of whether any of the preceding subparagraphs apply to the class of well or individual well).”
In clause 17, new section 89K(1)(a), replace “; or”
(page 18, line 33) with “; and”
.
In clause 17, new section 89L(1)(a), replace “or”
(page 19, line 20) with “and”
.
In clause 17, new section 89M(2)(b), after “section 41 of”
(page 20, line 16), insert “this”
.
In clause 17, new section 89O(1), replace “by”
(page 22, line 5) with “before”
.
In clause 17, new section 89OA, after “decommissioning”
(page 23, line 23), insert “are”
.
In clause 17, new section 89OA, after “the Minister”
(page 23, line 24), insert “, the Minister”
.
In clause 17, new section 89OA(d), replace “estimated decommissioning cost”
(page 23, line 28) with “decommissioning cost estimate”
.
In clause 17, new section 89R(1)(a), replace “; or”
(page 25, line 15) with “; and”
.
In clause 17, new section 89V(1), replace “by”
(page 28, line 26) with “before”
.
In clause 17, new section 89V(5)(b), replace “decommission the petroleum infrastructure”
(page 29, line 25) with “plug and abandon the well or wells”
.
In clause 17, new section 89VA, after “decommissioning”
(page 29, line 35), insert “are”
.
In clause 17, new section 89VA, after “the Minister”
(page 29, line 36), insert “, the Minister”
.
In clause 17, new section 89Y(1)(a), replace “; and”
(page 31, line 35) with “; or”
.
In clause 17, new section 89Y(1)(b), after “of petroleum”
(page 31, line 37), insert “by the person to be granted the exemption”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZE(2), replace “practicable”
(page 38, line 13) with “is reasonably practicable”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZF(1), delete paragraph (f) (page 39, lines 27 and 28).
In clause 17, new section 89ZG(1)(b), delete “in”
(page 41, line 2).
In clause 17, new section 89ZG(4A)(b), replace “clause 16”
(page 41, line 26) with “clause 12(1)(a)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZH(2), replace “section 89ZF(1)(b) and (c)(i) to (viii)”
(page 42, lines 10 and 11) with “section 89ZF(1)(b) to (j)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZL, delete “or was,”
(page 43, line 18).
In clause 17, new section 89ZO(1), replace “subpart 2”
(page 44, lines 23 and 24), with “section 89K(1), 89L(1), 89R(1) or 89S(1)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZO(1), replace paragraph (a) (page 44, lines 28 to 30) with:
(a)
pay the chief executive an amount in accordance with the prescribed criteria (if any), to meet the costs of any post-decommissioning work required on petroleum infrastructure or, as the case requires, 1 or more wells, that have been decommissioned:
In clause 17, new section 89ZP, replace “may take into account”
(page 45, line 8) with “must take into account the prescribed criteria, (if any)”
.
In clause 17, replace the heading to new section 89ZQ, (page 45, line 11) with “Details of payment or financial security”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZQ(1), replace “89ZO(a)”
(page 45, line 13) with “89ZO(1)(a)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZQ(2A), replace “89ZO(b)”
(page 45, line 22) with “89ZO(1)(b)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZS(2)(a) delete “42A,”
(page 46, line 26).
In clause 17, new section 89ZS(2)(b), replace “decommissioning work”
(page 46, line 27) with “post-decommissioning work”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZT, replace “89ZO(a)”
(page 47, line 11) with “89ZO(1)(a)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZT, replace “89ZO(b)”
(page 47, line 12) with “89ZO(1)(b)”
.
In clause 17, new section 89ZZQ(3) replace “a current permit holder or licence holder that is body corporate, and”
(page 56, line 24) with “a permit holder or licence holder that is a body corporate who, during the period while they are a current permit or licence holder”
.
After clause 17, new section 89ZZQ(3) (page 56, after line 27), insert:
(3A)
If A is a body corporate who commits an offence under subsection (2) in relation to decommissioning obligations under section 89O(2) or 89V(2) (which impose decommissioning obligations when a permit or licence is revoked), any person who is a director of A when A commits the offence also commits an offence).
In clause 17, new section 89ZZS(2), replace “has been commenced for an offence in relation to the same conduct”
(page 57, lines 21 and 22), with “for that conduct results in a conviction”
.
Clause 19
After clause 19(3), (page 59, after line 10), insert:
(3A)
In section 90(10), replace “subsection (9)”
with “subsections (8A) or (9)”
.
In clause 19, new section 90(11), replace “send or make available”
(page 59, line 12) with “send, make available, publish, or otherwise disclose”
.
In clause 19, new section 90(11), delete “gathered under subsection (1A), including information gathered”
(page 59, lines 14 and 15).
Clause 20
Replace clause 20(1) and (2) (page 59, lines 19 to 21) with:
(1)
In section 90A(1), replace “42A”
with “42B, 42C”
.
(2)
In section 90A(1), after “61C”
, insert “89ZAAB, 89ZAAC, 89ZAAD, 89ZA, 89ZE, 89ZF, 89ZR, 89ZS, 89ZZA”
.
Clause 20A
In clause 20A, new section 97(5), replace “money”
(page 59, line 29), with “monetary deposit or bond”
.
In clause 20A, new section 97(5)(a), replace “refunded until any required decommissioning is completed”
(page 59, lines 32 and 33) with “released until any required decommissioning is completed, unless they are released under section 89ZG(4B)”
.
Clause 24
In clause 24, new section 104A, definition of infringement offence, replace “against”
(page 60, line 25) with “in”
.
In clause 24, new section 104F(c), replace “must”
(page 61, line 37) with “may”
.
In clause 24, new section 104J(a)(i), after “this Act”
(page 63, line 16), insert “or regulations”
.
Clause 25
In clause 25(2), after new section 105(gaaa) (page 63, after line 36), insert:
(gaaaa)
prescribing matters for the purposes of section 42B (field development plans), section 42C (notice of expected cessation and nature of cessation) and section 89ZAAC (asset registers):
In clause 25(3), new section 105(1)(qa), replace “petroleum installations”
(page 64, line 11) with “petroleum infrastructure”
.
In clause 25(3), new section 105(1)(ql), after “89ZO”
(page 66, line 7), insert “or 89ZP”
.
In clause 25(3), after new section 105(1)(ql) (page 66, after line 7), insert:
(qm)
prescribing matters for the purposes of section 89ZZL.
In clause 25(3), new section 105(3B), replace “or (1)(qc)”
(page 66, line 14), with “subsection (1)(qb), (qc), or (qd)”
.
Schedule 1
In Schedule 1, new clause 35, delete “(or also under relevant provisions enabling the duration of the licence to be extended for some purpose in force at the applicable time)”
(page 68, lines 33 to 35).
In Schedule 1, after new clause 35, (page 68, line 38), insert:
35A Power of Minister to extend licence
If clause 35 does not apply but a current licence holder has or will have decommissioning obligations under subpart 2 of Part 1B of the Crown Minerals Act 1991, the Minister may extend the licence for such period as the Minister considers reasonable, to enable the licensee to comply with their decommissioning obligations under subpart 2 of Part 1B of the Crown Minerals Act 1991.
In Schedule 1, replace the heading to new clause 36 with “Section 34 of Petroleum Act 1937”
.
In Schedule 1, after new clause 36, insert as subclause (2) (page 69, after line 5):
(2)
On and after commencement no further consent may be given in reliance on section 37(4) of the Petroleum Act 1937.
Explanatory note
This Supplementary Order Paper makes minor changes to the Crown Minerals (Decommissioning and Other Matters) Amendment Bill, which amends the Crown Minerals Act 1991 (the principal Act).
The changes made to new sections 89ZL and 89ZO(1) clarify that only current permit and licence holders are liable to make payments or take out a security to cover post-decommissioning costs.
The changes made to new section 89ZO(1)(a) require an amount determined by the Minister to be payable to meet post-decommissioning costs to be calculated in accordance with prescribed criteria (if any), to facilitate consistency in decision making.
The changes made to new section 89ZP require the Minister to take into account the prescribed criteria (if any) when deciding whether to require a payment or a financial security to cover post-decommissioning costs, to facilitate consistency in decision making.
New section 89ZZQ(3A) clarifies that if a body corporate commits an offence in relation to its decommissioning obligations after their permit or licence is revoked, any director of the body corporate when it commits the offence also commits an offence (subject to the available defences under new section 89ZZR).
New section 89ZZS(2) is amended to restrict the circumstances in which a civil action for pecuniary penalties cannot be brought to those situations where a person has been convicted of a criminal offence for the same conduct.
The rest of the changes made by this Supplementary Order Paper are intended to—
correct errors:
clarify provisions that are unclear:
make changes to ensure consistency of terminology:
ensure that the provisions of the principal Act (section 105) empowering regulations properly describe the provisions throughout the Act that enable or require the making of regulations.