EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

 

Select Legislative Instrument 2007 No. 226

 

 

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Transport and Regional Services

 

Civil Aviation Act 1988

 

Civil Aviation Safety Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 3)

Subsection 98(1) of the Civil Aviation Act 1988 (the Act) provides in part, that the Governor‑General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act and in relation to the safety of air navigation.

Subsection 9(1) of the Act specifies that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has the function of conducting safety regulation of civil air operations by means that include developing and promulgating appropriate, clear and concise safety standards and issuing certificates, licences, registrations and permits.

The Civil Aviation Regulations (CAR) and the Civil Aviation Orders (CAO) detail the requirements in support of the Act and promote safety of air navigation. Since 1998, matters covered by the CAR and CAO are progressively being consolidated in the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998 (CASR).

The Regulations clarify the application of the CASR to gyroplanes.

Regulation 308 of the CAR allows CASA to exempt certain aircraft or classes of aircraft from certain provisions of CAR by issuing a CAO. Part 200 of the CASR contains regulations which exempt aircraft from certain provisions of CASR.

Section 95.12 of the CAO currently exempts certain single-place gyroplanes from certain provisions of CAR. Section 95.12 was amended in June 2005 to remove an arbitrary limitation on fuel capacity for these aircraft.

The CASR exemptions are contained in Part 200. CASR 200.003 was initiated to exempt these same aircraft from the provisions of CASR on the condition that they are operated in accordance with the conditions in CAO 95.12. However, unlike some other regulations in CASR Part 200, 200.003 currently repeats a detailed description of the exempted gyroplanes as it originally occurred in CAO 95.12. This has created inconsistencies between the CAO and CASR which could arise again on future amendment of the CAO.

Consultation on the proposed amendments was conducted directly with the CASA/Aviation community advisory committee, Standards Consultative Committee (SCC), and the membership of the various organisations/operators through the SCC, as it was considered that this form of consultation was suitable and sufficient for the amendments being proposed.

The Regulations create a direct link between CASR 200.003 and CAO 95.12, so that the exemption from the CASR continues to apply to the same aircraft as the exemption from the CAR.

The Regulations commenced on the day after they are registered.

Details of the Regulations are attached.

 

ATTACHMENT

 

Details of the Civil Aviation Safety Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 3)

 

 

 

Regulation 1 - Name of Regulations

Regulation 1 sets out the name of the Regulations as the Civil Aviation Safety Amendment Regulations 2007 (No. 3).

 

Regulation 2 - Commencement

Regulation 2 provides that the Regulations commence on the day after registration.

 

Regulation 3 - Amendment of Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998

Regulation 3 provides that Schedule 1 amends the Civil Aviation Safety Regulations 1998.

 

 

SCHEDULE 1 - Amendments

 

Item 1 - Regulation 200.003

 

Item 1 amends regulation 200.003 by omitting the existing regulation and substituting a new regulation 200.003 that refers to the related Civil Aviation Order (CAO) 95.12, which excepts certain single-place gyroplanes from certain provisions of the Civil Aviation Regulations 1988 (CAR), and adopts the drafting style of related regulations 200.004, 200.013 and 200.014.

 

This will reinforce the relationship between the CAO and the CASR, thus providing exemptions from the CAR and the CASR for the same particular class of aircraft that are defined by the CAO.