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2013-2014-2015
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OFFSHORE PETROLEUM AND GREENHOUSE GAS STORAGE (REGULATORY
LEVIES) AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS) BILL 2015
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Industry and Science,
the Honourable Ian Macfarlane, MP)
OFFSHORE PETROLEUM AND GREENHOUSE GAS STORAGE (REGULATORY
LEVIES) AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS) BILL 2015
OUTLINE
The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage
(Regulatory Levies) Act 2003 (Regulatory Levies Act) as a consequence of amendments to
the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act). The
amendments will:
Provide for the imposition of annual titles administration levy with respect to a
boundary-change petroleum exploration permit; and
Replace references to `OHS inspectors' with references to `NOPSEMA inspectors'.
Annual titles administration levies for boundary-change petroleum exploration permits
Amendments to the OPGGS Act that are contained in the Offshore Petroleum and
Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Miscellaneous Matters) Bill 2015 provide for the grant
of a `boundary-change petroleum exploration permit' if there is a change in the boundary of
the coastal waters of a State or Territory which causes an area of a State/Territory petroleum
exploration title to cease to be in State/Territory coastal waters and instead fall within
Commonwealth waters.
The Regulatory Levies Act imposes an annual titles administration levy on a range of titles
for the year commencing on the day on which the title comes into force, and each subsequent
year commencing on the anniversary of that day. The titles on which levy is imposed include
a work-bid petroleum exploration permit, a cash-bid petroleum exploration permit and a
special petroleum exploration permit. The purpose of the levy is to provide for the National
Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator (the Titles Administrator), which operates on a fully
cost-recovered basis, to recover the costs of its title-related functions under the OPGGS Act.
As a boundary-change petroleum exploration permit will function in the same way as other
types of petroleum exploration permit, the Titles Administrator will need to undertake similar
administration and compliance work as is undertaken for those types of permits. This Bill
therefore makes consequential amendments to the Regulatory Levies Act to allow for the full
ongoing cost recovery of the Titles Administrator by imposing annual titles administration
levy with respect to a boundary-change petroleum exploration permit.
NOPSEMA inspectors
The Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Compliance Measures)
Act 2013 (the Compliance Measures Act) amended the OPGGS Act to strengthen the
offshore petroleum regulatory regime in respect of compliance, safety, integrity and
environmental management objectives. Amongst other things, the Compliance Measures Act
abolished two previous categories of inspector (petroleum project inspectors and OHS
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inspectors), and instead provided for the Chief Executive Officer of the National Offshore
Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) to appoint
`NOPSEMA inspectors' under the OPGGS Act to conduct inspections to monitor and
investigate compliance with the Act and regulations.
The relevant amendments commenced on 1 October 2014. However, consequential
amendments to the Regulatory Levies Act have not been made to replace references to an
`OHS inspector' in that Act with references to a `NOPSEMA inspector'. This Bill therefore
makes consequential amendments to the Regulatory Levies Act to ensure the ongoing validity
and effectiveness of the relevant provisions in that Act.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
This Bill has no financial impact.
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STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Amendment
(Miscellaneous Matters) Bill 2015
This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny)
Act 2011.
Overview of the Bill
The Bill makes consequential amendments to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas
Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003 (Regulatory Levies Act) to:
Provide the ability for the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator to collect
an annual titles administration levy with respect to a boundary-change petroleum
exploration permit; and
Replace references to an `OHS inspector' with references to a `NOPSEMA inspector',
as a result of previous amendments to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas
Storage Act 2006 that replaced two former categories of inspector (petroleum project
inspectors and OHS inspectors) with one category of inspectors (NOPSEMA
inspectors).
Human rights Implications
The amendments in this Bill are mechanical in nature and do not engage any of the applicable
rights or freedoms.
Conclusion
This Bill is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.
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OFFSHORE PETROLEUM AND GREENHOUSE GAS STORAGE (REGULATORY
LEVIES) AMENDMENT (MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS) BILL 2015
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short title
This is a formal provision specifying the short title of the Act.
Clause 2: Commencement
Sections 1 to 3 of the Act and Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Act will commence on the day after
this Act receives the Royal Assent.
Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act will commence at the same time as Division 2 of Part 4 of
Schedule 1 to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment
(Miscellaneous Matters) Act 2015 (Miscellaneous Matters Act). The Miscellaneous Matters
Act will, on commencement, insert new provisions into the Offshore Petroleum and
Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 (OPGGS Act) that provide for the grant of a boundary-
change petroleum exploration permit if there is a change in the boundary of the coastal waters
of a State or Territory which causes an area of a State/Territory petroleum exploration title to
cease to be in State/Territory coastal waters and instead fall within Commonwealth waters.
The amendments to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory
Levies) Act 2003 (Regulatory Levies Act) made by Part 1 of Schedule 1 to this Act are
consequential to that change to the OPGGS Act.
Clause 3: Schedules
This clause gives effect to the provisions in the Schedule to this Act.
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Schedule 1 - Amendments
Part 1 - Boundary-change petroleum exploration permits
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003
Item 1: Subsection 10E(7)
This item inserts a definition of `boundary-change petroleum exploration permit' for the
purposes of section 10E of the Regulatory Levies Act.
Item 2: Subsection 10E(7) (after paragraph (b) of the definition of eligible title)
Section 10E of the Regulatory Levies Act imposes annual titles administration levy on an
`eligible title' for the year commencing on the day on which the title comes into force, and
each subsequent year commencing on the anniversary of that day. This item ensures that
annual titles administration levy is imposed with respect to a boundary-change petroleum
exploration permit, by including such a permit in the definition of `eligible title'.
Part 2 - NOPSEMA inspectors
Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Regulatory Levies) Act 2003
Item 3: Section 3
This item inserts a definition of `NOPSEMA inspector' for the purposes of the Regulatory
Levies Act.
Item 4: Section 3 (definition of OHS inspector)
This item repeals the definition of `OHS inspector'. Amendments to the Offshore Petroleum
and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006 which commenced on 1 October 2014 abolished the
category of inspectors known as `OHS inspectors', and instead provided for the Chief
Executive Officer of the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental
Management Authority to appoint `NOPSEMA inspectors' to conduct monitoring and
investigations under the Act and regulations. The definition of an `OHS inspector' is now
therefore redundant.
Item 5, 6, 7 and 8: Paragraph 5(1)(b); Paragraph 6(1)(b); Paragraphs 9(1)(b) and (g);
Paragraphs 10(1)(b) and (g)
These items replace references to `an OHS inspector' with references to `a NOPSEMA
inspector'. See discussion under item 4.
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