reg 4

Terms used

In force

In these regulations —

activity means a petroleum activity, a geothermal activity or a greenhouse gas activity;

approved, in relation to an environment plan, means approved by the Minister under regulation 11;

environment means —

(a)

ecosystems and their constituent parts, including people and communities; and

(b)

natural and physical resources; and

(c)

the qualities and characteristics of locations, places and areas; and

(d)

the heritage value of places,

and includes the social, economic and cultural features of the matters mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d);

environment plan, in relation to an activity, means an environment plan submitted by the operator of the activity that is approved and revised from time to time under these regulations, but does not include —

(a)

if the environment plan is approved in part — that part of the plan that is not approved; or

(b)

an environment plan for which the approval has been withdrawn;

environmental impact means any change to the environment, whether adverse or beneficial, that wholly or partly results from an activity of an operator;

environmental performance means the performance of an operator in relation to the environmental performance objectives and environmental performance standards provided for in an environment plan;

environmental performance objective means an environmental performance objective included in an environment plan under regulation 14(5)(a);

environmental performance standard means an environmental performance standard included in an environment plan under regulation 14(5)(b);

environmental risk means the chance of something happening that will have an adverse environmental impact, measured in terms of the environmental consequences and the likelihood of those particular consequences occurring;

geothermal activity means —

(a)

any operations or works carried out in the State under a geothermal instrument; or

(b)

any other operations or works carried out in the State relating to geothermal exploration or development which may have an environmental impact,

and includes —

(c)

seismic or other surveys; and

(d)

drilling; and

(e)

hydraulic fracturing; and

(f)

construction and installation of a facility; and

(g)

operation of a facility; and

(h)

modification of a facility; and

(i)

decommissioning, dismantling or removing a facility; and

(j)

processing or transport of geothermal energy; and

(k)

care and maintenance of land, waters or infrastructure; and

(l)

rehabilitation of land or waters;

geothermal instrument means —

(a)

a geothermal exploration permit; or

(b)

a geothermal drilling reservation; or

(c)

a geothermal retention lease; or

(d)

a geothermal production licence; or

(e)

a geothermal access authority; or

(f)

a geothermal special prospecting authority; or

(g)

any other authority or consent granted by instrument under the Act for the carrying out of operations or works in the State relating to geothermal exploration or development;

greenhouse gas activity —

(a)

means any operations or works carried out in the State —

(i)

under a greenhouse gas instrument; or

(ii)

relating to a GHG operation that may have an environmental impact;

and

(b)

includes all of the following —

(i)

seismic or other surveys;

(ii)

drilling;

(iii)

construction and installation of a facility;

(iv)

operation of a facility;

(v)

modification of a facility;

(vi)

decommissioning, dismantling or removing a facility;

(vii)

processing or transporting a greenhouse gas substance;

(viii)

injection or storage of a greenhouse gas substance in a well, underground reservoir or subsurface formation;

(ix)

care and maintenance of land, waters or infrastructure;

(x)

rehabilitation of land or waters;

greenhouse gas instrument means any of the following —

(a)

a GHG exploration permit;

(b)

a GHG drilling reservation;

(c)

a GHG retention lease;

(d)

a GHG injection licence;

(e)

a GHG access authority;

(f)

a GHG special prospecting authority;

(g)

any other authority or consent granted by instrument under the Act for the carrying out of operations or works in the State relating to a GHG operation;

instrument holder, for an activity, means the registered holder of a petroleum instrument, a geothermal instrument or a greenhouse gas instrument for the activity, and includes a permittee, lessee, licensee or registered holder of a drilling reservation, access authority or special prospecting authority for the activity;

nominated address, for an operator, means the address of the operator of which notice has been given under regulation 38(5)(a);

operator, of an activity, means —

(a)

if there is a person recorded by the Minister as the operator of the activity under regulation 41 — that person; or

(b)

in any other case —

(i)

if there is a petroleum instrument, geothermal instrument or greenhouse gas instrument for the activity — the person responsible to the instrument holder for the overall management and operation of the activity (whether or not the activity has commenced); or

(ii)

if there is no petroleum instrument, geothermal instrument or greenhouse gas instrument for the activity — the person carrying out the activity;

petroleum activity means —

(a)

any operations or works carried out in the State under a petroleum instrument; or

(b)

any other operations or works carried out in the State relating to petroleum or regulated substance exploration or development which may have an environmental impact,

and includes —

(c)

seismic or other surveys; and

(d)

drilling; and

(e)

hydraulic fracturing; and

(f)

construction and installation of a facility; and

(g)

operation of a facility; and

(h)

modification of a facility; and

(i)

decommissioning, dismantling or removing a facility; and

(j)

storage of petroleum; and

(k)

care and maintenance of land, waters or infrastructure; and

(l)

rehabilitation of land or waters;

petroleum instrument means —

(a)

a petroleum exploration permit; or

(b)

a petroleum drilling reservation; or

(c)

a petroleum retention lease; or

(d)

a petroleum production licence; or

(e)

a petroleum access authority; or

(f)

a petroleum special prospecting authority; or

(g)

any other authority or consent granted by instrument under the Act for the carrying out of operations or works in the State relating to petroleum exploration or development;

produced formation water means natural aqueous fluid recovered from a natural reservoir or resources pool in association with petroleum or a regulated substance;

recordable incident, for an operator of an activity, means an incident arising from the activity that —

(a)

breaches an environmental performance objective or environmental performance standard in the environment plan for the activity; and

(b)

is not a reportable incident;

reportable incident, for an operator of an activity, means —

(a)

an incident that is classified as a reportable incident under the environment plan for the activity; or

(b)

an incident arising from the activity if —

(i)

the incident has caused, or has the potential to cause, an adverse environmental impact; and

(ii)

under the environmental risk assessment process described in the environment plan for the activity, that environmental impact is categorised as moderate or more serious than moderate;

revise, for an environment plan, includes to extend or modify;

State has the meaning given in section 26 of the Act;

treatment fluid means any fluid introduced into a well for the purposes of an activity and includes drilling fluid, drilling mud, stimulation fluid and fracturing fluid.

[Regulation 4 amended: SL 2026/82 r. 9.]

Research tools for this sectionPro

Cited by Analyse Interrogate History Equivalents

The statute text is free to read above. View Pro plans to unlock the case-law research tools for each provision.