Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006

If:

an application for a site closing certificate has been made under section 386; and

either:

the responsible Commonwealth Minister is satisfied that operations for the injection of a greenhouse gas substance into the identified greenhouse gas storage formation concerned have ceased; or

the responsible Commonwealth Minister is satisfied that there have not been any operations for the injection of a greenhouse gas substance into the identified greenhouse gas storage formation concerned;

See also section 391.

If the responsible Commonwealth Minister is satisfied that there is a significant risk that a greenhouse gas substance injected into the identified greenhouse gas storage formation will have a significant adverse impact on:

navigation; or

fishing; or

any activities being lawfully carried on, or that could be lawfully carried on, by way of the construction or operation of a pipeline; or

the enjoyment of native title rights (within the meaning of the Native Title Act 1993);

Subsection (2) does not limit the matters to which the responsible Commonwealth Minister may have regard.

The responsible Commonwealth Minister may refuse to give the applicant a pre‑certificate notice in relation to the identified greenhouse gas storage formation if:

the responsible Commonwealth Minister is not satisfied that the greenhouse gas substance injected into the identified greenhouse gas storage formation is behaving as predicted in Part A of the approved site plan for the identified greenhouse gas storage formation; or

the responsible Commonwealth Minister is satisfied that there is a significant risk that a greenhouse gas substance injected into the identified greenhouse gas storage formation will have a significant adverse impact on:

the conservation or exploitation of natural resources (whether in an offshore area or elsewhere); or

the geotechnical integrity of the whole or a part of a geological formation or geological structure; or

the environment; or

human health or safety.

Subsection (4) does not limit the matters to which the responsible Commonwealth Minister may have regard in deciding whether to refuse to give the applicant a pre‑certificate notice.

The responsible Commonwealth Minister must not give the applicant a pre‑certificate notice in relation to the identified greenhouse gas storage formation unless the responsible Commonwealth Minister is satisfied that:

either:

the relevant statutory requirements have been complied with; or

any of the relevant statutory requirements have not been complied with, but there are sufficient grounds to warrant the issue of the site closing certificate; or

if any conditions are specified in the regulations—those conditions have been satisfied.

For the purposes of paragraph (6)(a), each of the following is a relevant statutory requirement:

the conditions to which the greenhouse gas injection licence is, or has from time to time been, subject;

the provisions of this Chapter, Chapter 5, Chapter 5A, Chapter 6 and Part 8.1;

the provisions of the regulations.

If an application for a site closing certificate has been made under section 386, the responsible Commonwealth Minister must make a decision on the application within 5 years after the application was made.