Ozone Protection Act 1989

This Act may be cited as the Ozone Protection Act 1989.

This Act commences on a day or days to be appointed by proclamation.

The object of this Act is to provide for a system of controls on substances which when released into and dispersed in the atmosphere act as atmospheric pollutants that contribute to depletion of ozone in the stratospheric ozone layer.

In this Act—

authorised officer means an authorised officer under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

Authority means the Environment Protection Authority.

controlled article means an article or other thing (including plant and equipment) that—

contains a controlled substance, or

uses, or is designed or intended to use, a controlled substance in its operation.

controlled substance means—

any substance specified in Schedule 1 (Ozone depleting substances), or

any substance prescribed by the regulations as an ozone depleting substance on the recommendation of the Minister under section 5.

premises includes—

a structure, building, aircraft, vehicle or vessel, and

land or a place (whether enclosed or built on or not).

sell means sell by wholesale or retail, and includes barter, supply for profit, offer or expose for sale, receive for sale, have in possession for sale, send, forward or deliver for sale and cause, suffer or allow to be sold, offered or exposed for sale.

use includes—

operate, and

use in the course of manufacture, and

have in possession for use.

In this Act—

a reference to a function includes a reference to a power, authority and duty, and

a reference to the exercise of a function includes, where the function is a duty, a reference to the performance of the duty.

The Minister may recommend that a substance be prescribed as an ozone depleting substance if satisfied that the release into and dispersal in the atmosphere of the substance—

will contribute to the depletion of stratospheric ozone, or

is reasonably likely to contribute to the depletion of stratospheric ozone.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to—

regulating or prohibiting the manufacture, sale, distribution, conveyance, storage, possession and use of controlled substances and controlled articles, and

regulating the design, installation, operation, servicing, maintenance, repair, modification or decommissioning of any controlled article or any plant or equipment used to manufacture such an article, and

requiring and regulating the recovery, re-cycling, disposal and destruction of controlled substances and controlled articles, and

regulating or prohibiting the emission of controlled substances into the atmosphere, and

the payment of compensation, out of money to be provided by Parliament, in connection with the operation of this Act.

The other provisions of this Part are examples of the way in which the power in subsection (1) to make regulations can be exercised and are not (unless the provision specifically provides otherwise) intended to limit the operation of that subsection.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to—

the licensing of persons engaged in activities authorised to be regulated by the regulations, and

the registration of premises used for the carrying out of any activity authorised to be regulated by the regulations, and

the registration of any plant or equipment that contains a controlled substance or that uses a controlled substance in its operation, and

the payment of licence and registration fees.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the recovery, re-cycling, storage, disposal and destruction of controlled substances and controlled articles, including provision—

requiring the manufacturer or seller of any controlled article to take specified steps to recover any controlled substance that the article contains, and

requiring such a manufacturer or seller to institute specified measures to ensure or encourage the recovery of controlled substances (including, for example, measures for the payment and refund of deposits on controlled articles), and

requiring the re-cycling of controlled substances so recovered, and

requiring the destruction or storage of controlled substances, and

authorising the Authority to undertake the recovery, storage and destruction of controlled substances and empowering the Authority to recover its costs in doing so from the manufacturer or seller of any article that contained the controlled substance so recovered, and

specifying the required means of disposal, storage and destruction of controlled substances and standards of the design and operation of, and permissible emissions by, disposal equipment.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to—

the formulation, approval, adoption and revision of industry codes of practice relating to any activity that is authorised to be regulated by the regulations, and

requiring compliance with any such codes of practice as in force for the time being.

The regulations may make provision, in connection with requirements as to the qualifications of persons engaged in the design, installation, operation, servicing, maintenance, repair, modification or decommissioning of plant or equipment, for or with respect to—

for the approval and accreditation by the Authority of training courses, training institutions and examining bodies, and

authorising the Authority to set up examining bodies and conduct examinations.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to requiring persons who carry on activities that are authorised to be regulated by the regulations to keep specified records and furnish specified returns to the Authority concerning those activities.

The regulations may require such a person to maintain the record for a specified period even if the person ceases to carry on the activities concerned.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to requiring controlled substances or controlled articles to be labelled or identified in a specified manner (including provision for the identification of substances by the addition of colours or odours).